LMG3990

I'm still waiting for my license number too, but I just tested a week ago, so I'll have a while to wait. In the meantime, and I might check this out myself, check with your state nurses registry. However, you can and should still submit your application with a note that you're waiting for the license number, and if necessary give them a copy of your test results (if you were given your "Pass" sheet on testing day). I actually started applying for jobs even before my test day. I just started a new job in a LTC/Rehab facility and still don't have my actual license #. Give it a shot. Good luck!

Yippee!!!! Just passed my state exams today! I couldn't believe how easy my skills were...radial pulse and dressing with a weak side. That's it (besides handwashing, of courser)! Wow! I think I had an angel watching over me or something. It's done, thank God, and I start orientation at a facility on Monday working 7-3 in the Rehab/Hospice wing. Can't wait! Then I'll start my pre-requisites (A&P and Micro) before applying to an ADN program nearby. I'm so excited! Congrats to everyone else who passed!

I should clarify that the CNA work I did mostly pertained to those elderly patients I described. Standard mental health patients did not require that level of care unless they were detoxing or recently came out of surgery. The rest were able to care for their own ADLs. I was also one of those clinicians that couldn't stand sitting around, so if I was done with my work, I would ask the nurses if there was anything I could do for them or assist them with. So I created opportunities for myself you might say. A job is always what you put into it. If you want more out of it, and have good time management skills, you can find ways to challenge yourself and learn more. -Lynn

Congrats on your decision to return to school and focusing on mental health! My situation is kind of opposite. I'm a 43yo mom with a 15+ year history working as a mental health clinician (I have a masters in counseling), who is now switching gears trying to get into nursing by taking the CNA training through the Red Cross (I'm halfway done). I have, however, worked on our behavioral medicine unit (psych unit) on a per diem basis as a mental health clinician. So I thought that maybe if I shared my experience with you, you might get a better idea of how some units use their staff. The position was quite different from my other jobs with the same title. Let me explain. As part of the multidisciplinary team on that unit, my tasks included 1:1 and group counseling, taking vital signs, helping with admissions and discharges, safety checks, 1:1 for high-risk patients, getting patients into and supervising them while in the dining room, and a variety of CNA-type tasks (including the vitals) such as ambulating patients that needed it (We would have a lot of elderly patients from nursing homes/long-term care facilities who, after being medically cleared on the med/surg floor, were admitted to our unit, usually for UTIs, while all meds were withdrawn and therefore the patient needed monitoring and the typical CNA care). I toileted people, bathed them, etc., and this was all long before I was a CNA. We treated patients as young as 16 on up to 90, for a wide variety of mental health diagnoses, as well as for substance abuse, and dementia. So, I was thinking that maybe you might have more luck asking about a similar position, sometimes called mental health counselor, associate, tech, etc. It's worth a shot. This will definitely give you the best of both worlds in terms of experience, especially as they only usually require a bachelors at the most! Good luck and please keep us posted! -Lynn:up: