gregmotz

Does this happen a lot, charting what someone else does?

i have personally seen this behavior in more than one patient later diagnosed with bowel impaction. it is frightening to watch and was described later as being very painful 7/10. one went to the er. another underwent digital disimpaction confirming the diagnosis. a patient for whom i was responsible.. well, we missed all the other symptoms. in addition, no one was watching preventative steps, like stool softeners, hydration, fiber, checking when was the last bm, and connecting the dots with meds that increase the likelihood of constipation. i've never let it happen twice. probably wrong, 'cause two cases does not a study make.

Correct. It is usualy also provided (mandatory by FAC in most settings) by employer training within the first 30 days of employment. An "HIV Certificate" is often not included with "test prep" classes. Asking for an "HIV Certificate" is an efficient pre-screening method of assuring (a) completion of state approved NAT and/or (b) prior employmet in a health care facility.

Ah ha! Thanks for that. My seeing the requirement on several (count that as dozens) of CNA applications can be attributed to the Internet job search engines that duplicate each other ad infinitum. Searching on HIV certificate CNA leads to 84,000 hits, mostly from one employer. After I knew what HIV certificate might be, I found a similar answer amid the documents at the Florida Association of Nurse Assistants. They confirm in-service certificates normally provided by employers can be attained by online or at-home study just like the course to which you linked. Since it looks like this is one employer out of thousands, and not thousands of employers, one phone call should end any doubt.

In Florida, I've seen several help wanted ads that specify CNA certificate, CPR, and "HIV Certificate" required. Anyone know the definition of "HIV Certificate"?

Yes I think consulting an attorney is wise. I would also evaluate how life would change were you to throw the hospital or co-workers under the same figurative bus. These attorney driven busses do travel in two directions.

I had trouble until I got this inexpensive solution. It is good for practice. Noise in the classroom prevented my learning at school. Later I found another person who bought the same thing. Go to Walgreen's and look for Walgreen's Healthy Living Self-Taking Manual Inflate Blood Pressure Kit at $16.99 minus 10% (since it is a Walgreen's brand using their saver card). The bell is attached lightly near the cuff edge so it stays over the brachial artery by itself when inflated. The sphygmomanometer clips to the cuff. This allows one-handed operation. You can practice on yourself. This is worthwhile experience gaining dexterity with reading and deflating smoothly. Helps definitely learning what to listen for. Helps learning what it looks (and feels) like to over inflate. It matches the sound quality of the teaching stethoscopes with two sets of earpieces you will be required to use at the test. Can use it on others too and it helps keep the bell placed correctly. Later I was able to detach the bell from the cuff and re-fit another unattached bell. I went very cheap at first more expensive later. Worked for me. GL

It would seem your debate might be stoked after a visit to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities website. Without occupational restriction, I'm saddened at the reminder suicide is the second leading cause of all deaths among 15-34 year olds with alcohol, opiates, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines secondary, contributory causes in about a third of those. MVA is of course tops until 30 y/o where heart disease begins to take over the top spot.

Things are much better now. It was a poor resume and equally bad online application submission method I was doing. Treat those "job duties" areas on stuffy applications as a chance to use flowing prose to match skills and former duties to the job description. Also this isn't a gather what you need as you go process. Everything from cover letters to thank you notes need to be ready for quick customization to the occasion well before putting in the first application or resume. On addendum worth note I think. Depending on the size of the HR department or facility in general and keeping in mind the other responsibilities the person might have, the most powerful person in the hiring process is the receptionist/telephone answerer. While I wanted a job of course, I was also interviewing the interviewer and taking in the vibe. If I have been treated like crap during the hiring process or on the phone by someone, you can bet I will not be taking the job. Or I will take the job, continue the job search, and leave the place hanging in a month. Because when the facility is short staffed and I am in desperate need of help from new co-workers, I know HR will be treating applicants like crap and it will take forever to scrape the bottom of the barrel for help.

Some US hospital's policies, and European countries' regulations, mandate a uniform change into hospital-provided scrubs when arriving at work and a change back into street clothes before leaving work. The Doctor’s Hands Are Germ-Free. The Scrubs Too? Probably the worst offender is that necktie with the little gravy stain we see and know hasn't been dry cleaned in a month.

I think you'll do great. You sound like a person who cares about things being done right. I bet you'd have similar worries about any new job you'd be starting in few weeks. And you've had the same concerns on the first day of jobs you've already had. Maybe the first day at a new school was nerve wracking. It's part of what makes you you. To be nervous and frightened is OK. However, I'm not comfortable issuing blank cheques for two or three free freak outs. :wink2: For some real world comparison, I too watched the series of videos before gaining any clinical experience. They are great videos for sure. But remember they are presented to teach about all the difficult situations you'll encounter, not the mundane daily routine. I had a grim outlook after taking in all that video information without benefit of an instructor to soften and humanize it. I was relieved to discover later that some patients can actually get up and go to the bathroom with just some help walking. Some do the whole task all by themselves:D Not everyone needs spoon fed. Not everyone is suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's or senile dementia. Not everyone needs help dressing every stitch of clothing. Some just need a little help with buttoning buttons and tying shoes. While there may be surprises, there always are, full bedpans don't materialize out of thin air. You'll have warning and time to gradually prepare. For example, you'll have helped raise the bed and already helped get them onto the bedpan. I thought I was big and brave but even I had a breakdown about the third time I toileted a patient. It was in a small enclosed patient bathroom, all concrete and tile. For some reason the smell was really bad and it got to me. While trying desperately not to vomit, I dry heaved. Loudly. Echoing off the walls it sounded like a lion's roar. Luckily I had an empty stomach or there would have been quite a mess. The most important thing was that I stayed with the patient. I said something honest and apologetic, "Wow, Mr. Smith, I'm sorry. That caught me by surprise. Hope I didn't startle you. Are you OK...?" I believe staying with the patient regardless of the situation is paramount. You can excuse yourself after help arrives. You can apologize after if needed. I try to look at any potential apology being about my behavior, not what may have caused it. The biggest motivator for me to develop a stronger stomach was that someone else was relying on me, counting on me, for strength and help. I just didn't want to let them down. That's something I read in what you're asking. You fervently want to do well. And that will get you through.

Thanks that fits. I'm also finding that having a few different formats readily available is helpful. Examples might be having one resume specifically formatted for the "Copy and paste the text of your resume here" scenario. Within reason, for those situations caps, dashes, and tabs or spaces are preferred for delimiting sections instead of bulleted lists, italics, bold, or the table created by some programs. Copying and pasting the text from an existing resume into a plain text editor (Notepad) can show just how odd it might look on the other end. Make it look pretty, but resumes are not an exercise in impressing the recipient with mad MS Word skillz.

I'm struck that sl33y's focus returns back to charges and the DEA regardles the response. It's a valid concern. sl33y please visit the Bar Association web site for your State or County of Employment. Search for, or get the Lawyer Refferal Service phone number for, a Criminal Trial Attorney, and a Health Law Attorney. Contact each. Ask a few questions. Put their number in your cell phone or PDA. IF needed, one will be available to get you out of jail. One will help you keep your license. It's not overkill to have the numbers handy. It can convey professional appearance in front of a Federal Agent or Sheriff's Deputy for one to to see you are ahead of the game and can contact an attorney right away. Be sure to ask an attorney about what and when or if at all you need to report to your professional liability insurance carrier.

On a resume for a prospective CNA, should healthcare related abbreviations be used? Following the sticky links in the career advice section leads to conflicting opinion. Standard practice is never use abbreviations. The example resumes do use abbreviations. Some were, understandably due to my experience level, cryptic. For example, would you use the abbreviation ADL or write out Activities of Daily Living when submitting to a Long Term Care (LTC) facility? On the flip side I can't imagine writing out Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator (CPR & AED). Where's the line? A former boss would go bonkers if he rec'd an e-mail that contained an acronym he didn't know where the writer just asumed he knew it. So I'm sensitive...

I try to let the interviewer know I'll work any or all shifts, but would prefer afternoon and nights, and that weekends are not a problem. In two of three interviews after being asked my shift preference and giving the response above, I was instantly asked, "What about mornings?" To which I said, "Mornings are fine. I prefer 3 - 11, 11 - 7, and point to prior experience at other jobs on those shifts." I did mention I was aware of a pay differential for those shifts and that was attractive to me. Lord, now I'm grasping at straws. But that can't be a "wrong" answer. Can it be? Congratulations on the first night. So, yes I'll be applying at companies that contract out nurses and nursing assistants to fill gaps in schedules right away now. I don't want to, but others too have also suggested it's a way to get experience. I see these "health care temp agencies" perpetually looking for CNA's. I don't know what to call them other than that so I mean no disrespect. I heard from others when I took my CNA state exam that their dealings with such agencies resulted in being sent across the county one day every other week into some very difficult situations for a newbie. This was more than one person talking about more than one agency. So I put the agencies a little lower on my list. Now I guess they get a bump. The agencies do specify no experience required but then ask for HHA certification and other in-service training that I'm not certain can be gained without prior employment (which means experience is required). I have saved a few links to outside resources (some are already mentioned in a forum sticky around here somewhere) that helped rewrite my resume and change my process. I'll post them to the thread here if they prove valuable. /me looks for the "crossed fingers" icon

I just noticed the subject of my own thread. I may have it now. It's only meaningless experience because I'm not making it meaningful. I should highlight the caregiver tasks I've performed. I'm underemphasizing that experience even on paper. I've been assuming someone else reading a resume or application, or listening to me, would recognize the word "caregiver" and form the same mental picture I have about all the things I did. I did like all twenty Fla. CNA skills on which we could be tested, daily, for years. And I hardly list any of them, for example, in the "duties performed" section of an app. I bet that's it Ideas? Following up on other comments, normal looking would seem to fit me. No tattoos or piercing. I'm afraid of needles.:chuckle Being old (school) I wouldn't dream of showing up anywhere without a pressed shirt and pants, shined shoes, clean shaven, and recent haircut. Personal hygiene is important. There is nothing negative in my background. I passed the check for my certification and the mandatory check for working/volunteering in an LTC. Not sure what to do about former employers that are hard to contact. I don't think any apps have gotten to that point in HR but I need to look at that. It's early. I haven't even come close to applying at all the possible places available to work. I did start looking close to home and then moved outward based on convenience. Perhaps I should focus on monitoring the newspaper, job boards, Craigslist, etc. for new postings and be first in line anywhere within 30 miles. Before I start though, I'll revise the resume and look at printed copies of applications I've submitted online. I need to come up with a concise, descriptive list of skills and duties I did and can do. And then sell it in person when given the opportunity. A little more assertive and flexible wouldn't hurt.

To clarify, I've applied twenty-some places. But I actually don't think I've ever gotten face to face with someone who hires. I did a variety of requirements to apply such as come sit at their computer and apply, submit a resume, fill out a paper application, etc. I always try to get my smiling face in front of someone. Not much good luck. One interview response I received from HR face-to-face was that interview notes and app would be forwarded to the person doing the hiring. Other two interviews, again at HR, resulted in no response at all. Unless the smiling, "Thank you very much for coming in" counts. I didn't receive what was the typical, "We'll let you know" answer. But it has been ten years since I did job hunting. Not sure what to expect. These are real basic interviews, with questions like. "Tell me about yourself?" "Why do you want to work here?". According to recent tips on interviewing, I am prepared and give the "correct" answers. The other twenty or so places have been very cold to the idea of follow-up. That is, it seems the hiring system is designed specifically to prevent applicants from talking to HR. I feel more than one voice message is pushing it. Maybe I need to skip leaving messages and keep dialing my fingers bloody until a human answers. Something totally odd was a 200 bed facility where the "operator" took a written, dictated message after several calls where the HR person (correctly asked for by name) was always out of the office or on the phone. Difficult to believe someplace that size runs on paper. Odd to me. As I write this I realize that my follow up is lacking and I will remedy that. In addition, I like the idea of asking what I need to do to better my chances when I reapply. I thought my own choice of volunteering was a good one. And that has reinforced my feeling this is something I want to do. I see others doing the job I am applying for and am further convinced I'm right for it.

Recent Fla. CNA looking for work. I worked as the caregiver for my mother who passed away after a difficult eight years with Parkinson's. I was the only caregiver. We went together through the very best early times to some pretty tough times at the end. After getting on my feet ten months later, I took a full time job and stayed for a year and a half. At some point I realized that nursing was something I was good at, and that I wanted to do. I challenged for the exam (Florida) and passed first try. In the meantime the other job went away --- now using employees from another country. Now I'm wondering what I need to overcome to get hired. I'm male, late forties, recent CNA with AHA HCP CPR/AED. It seems like what should be the best experience builder for a CNA skillset, full time and only caregiver (no siblings) and eventual Hospice caregiver for eight years doesn't mean anything. In other areas I have a good employment record: three good jobs in twenty years but with that eight year gap at the top of the resume., and ten months of reassembling myself in there somewhere. I'd like to work in a skilled nursing facility or ALF. I am enrolled in a college with an LPN and RN school, have good recent grades, but haven't applied for the programs because it looks like it really doesn't matter what certifications, licenses, or experience I obtain, I won't get a job regardless. I really believe I come across OK in the three interviews I have had. I am volunteering two days a week at an LTC facility. I have yet to be there long enough to feel comfortable that I should reapply as a CNA for hire. I actually don't think Volunteer Services remembers I am a CNA which I disclosed in full early on. What's holding me back? Age? Sex? Employment gap? Disbelief that I actually provided the health care I claim? One other item that I hope isn't a problem is that I moved away from friends when I went to help Mom. When asked for personal references that know me three years or more, I only have one. Everyone else is gone. Businesses I used to work at disappeared too. Or at least were gobbled through acquisition or divestiture. Two closest friends passed away before their time. Tips? Hints? I'm feeling pretty glum that I made a real bad career choice and probably could have been told I never would be hired had I asked here a few months ago. I don't see very many forty-something male nurses' aides today. I can't recall meeting any while taking care of Mom. Help appreciated. If not, encouragement would be accepted too. :) TIA