CapeCodDreamer

Thank you for the validation---coming from someone who knows the MA market, it helps tremendously. Unfortunately, one of the two hospitals in the area just bought out the other one, and they just don't seem to be hiring. Period. Whether you have 0 years of CNA experience or 7, like my friend who also applied. 30 minutes later, we both had received an automated rejection notice. Maybe I'm seen as too desperate/"easy"? I only have one completely unavailable day, because I scheduled my classes all on that day to free up ALL the others. I show enthusiasm for working holidays because I don't have a lot of family in the area, I don't have a problem working weekends, and I'm a natural night owl so I don't mind working the night shift.

What do you guys think? Where can I chip away/add in/reformat? Name Street Address | Town, State, Zip | Phone | Email OBJECTIVE I intend to use my training and experience as a nursing assistant/home health aide, as well as my experience as a volunteer, to obtain a Certified Nursing Assistant position. SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE *Infection Control Procedures *Vital Signs, Intake/Output *Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) Assistance *Patient Transfers (Hoyer lift, one person, two person) *Knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology *Range of movement exercises *Strong organizational and time management skills *Personable and respectful intergenerational communications skills *Understands the importance of confidentiality and Privacy/HIPAA Regulations EXPERIENCE xxxxxxx Facility, City, MA Certified Nursing Assistant, August 2012-November 2012 Duties included: [brief description of duties] xxxxxxx Hospital-______ Unit, City, MA November 2011-April 2012 Assisted the Unit CNAs and Unit Secretary for three hours every week as a volunteer. Duties included: [brief description of duties, basically those of a CNA] xxxxxxxx Festival-Children’s Game Booth Attendant, City, FL Volunteer, Seasonal, January to April, 2006-2010 [brief description of duties, position listed because it corresponds to one of my few professional references] Personal Care Assistant, Town, FL July 2004-May 2011 Assisted elderly relatives, including those recovering from medical issues and age-related mental decline, in maintaining their independence in their own home for as long as possible. EDUCATION __________ COLLEGE, City, MA September 2012-Current, GPA 4.0 Member of: *Phi Theta Kappa Society, Academic Honor Society *The National Society of Leadership and Success (Name of CNA/HHA Training Facility), Town, MA Home Health Aid/Nursing Assistant Certificate, 21 clinical hours Graduation Date: July 2012 _________ COLLEGE, City, MA Associate of Science in Liberal Studies Graduation Date: May 2012, GPA 4.0 ________ HIGH SCHOOL, Town, FL High School Diploma Graduation Date: June 2008 Member of: *National Honor Society *Student Government Association; Officer CERTIFICATIONS *Certified Nursing Assistant in Massachusetts *Home Health Aide Training Certification *Certified in BLS for Healthcare Provider (CPR/AED) through the American Heart Association

Please forgive me if this post for advice also turns into a mini-rant, but I don't know where else to turn! I was on the employment roster at a place from late August to mid-November, but was out with an injury from mid-September until my position could absolutely no longer be held at the facility. This was my first CNA job right out of training. Ever since, I have been applying for jobs everywhere within 30 miles of where I live, but even when I get interviewed I never receive a call back (despite thank you letters and politely-worded follow-up e-mails/phone calls). I checked with my reference people, and they haven't received checks on my references from any of the positions that interviewed me. I really don't want to give up. I don't. But (and here is where the rant starts), I am beginning to feel really hopeless. I spent all of my high school years and several college semesters caring for my grandparents, rather than a minimum wage job, since the job market where I used to live was so bad in FL. Now that I'm up here in MA, it is no better---and worse, to a degree, because I am overqualified academically (4.0 GPA, member of multiple honor societies, A.S. in Liberal Arts---Pre Nursing and accepted into the Fall 2013 Nursing Program) but pathetically under-qualified when it comes to paid employment. I have numerous years volunteering, but that doesn't seem to count for ANYthing. I see people ranting about not being able to get nursing jobs without any experience, but what if you can't get any (I've applied for CNA positions, Home Health Aide positions, Home Companion positions, as well as your average min. wage retail/restaurant jobs as backup) job without experience? How am I even going to have a CHANCE once I graduate from nursing school? I just feel like a complete loser---that I'm not even seen as qualified enough to wipe people's butts for even minimum wage. I've busted my behind to do well in school, taking volunteer jobs when I couldn't find paid work, being enthusiastic, respectful, articulate, and well-dressed during interviews...to what end? I just feel like there is no place for me in this world sometimes. Getting accepted into nursing school---something I wholeheartedly wished for---was great for about 15 minutes, and then reality hit that if I can't get a CNA job now then I have no chance once I graduate of landing a nursing position, at least based on what I've seen on these forums.

1. All of the programs around here either have waiting lists, or don't accept students who are transferring into the program with already completed college credits (because they fill up with recently-graduated-from-high-school freshmen). So, I'm looking at a decent wait up here where I currently live now on top of having already done a couple years of waiting in Florida (moved for personal reasons). My first concern is not getting into my ADN. program until several years out, and having it be worth nothing (and have to go back to school---again---to get my BSN) because my state has begin to hire no one but BSN nurses. 2. But perhaps this is a good thing (number 1). I'm so conflicted about going into nursing, based upon my experiences working as a CNA in LTC and volunteering in a hospital setting. I just keep hoping that, since nursing is such a large, diverse field, I've just yet to find my niche. I love the health care atmosphere, helping people, the science of it, the hours (I'm a total night shift person), but I hate the nastiness, lack of accountability, and lack of support nurses receive that I've seen so far. 3. I'm afraid of waiting, getting into the program, hating it, and having wasted so many years of my life waiting to get into the program that no one else in the job world will take me seriously as a "late starter" by the time I scramble, find something else I can possibly make a living at, and graduate with a different degree. 4. I'm afraid that I'll go through the expense and heartache of sticking with nursing school because it really IS something I enjoy, and then not being able to use my degree because I don't have the in-vogue degree of the time or experience as a nurse, something which I can't get unless someone is willing to hire me to begin with. *sigh*Thank you for letting me vent, at least.

Love, love, love night shift! I don't think I could deal with the, albeit controlled, chaos that is 7-3 or 3-11 where I work! :-)

The competition and sometimes downright absurd requirements (that are, seemingly, ever-changing) just to get into the nursing program can be very frustrating. I can totally relate with you there. I have a 4.0 college GPA, but because I didn't choose nursing as a major right out of high school, and I have prerequisite transfer credits under my belt, the only program that had space for me was the local community college's ADN program...on the waiting list...in a state that has just about turned all Bachelors-only for hiring. I can only assume that the powers that be try our patience now so that we have the staying-power once we get into our nursing classes and into the oft-frustrating world of nursing practice. What part of Micro are you having a hard time with? I'd be willing to help you if you want!

Definitely look at the prerequisites your school is requiring and get working on them! Nursing school is hard enough without having to worry about random Humanities (or other G.E.) courses at the same time. You might want to also get your CNA, PCT, or MA certification so that you can build up some "related" experience in the meantime, if you're not already working in a healthcare setting.

Just curious for all those who answered "no"...What would you rather be doing for work? I ask this in all sincerity, because I'm on the fence, myself, and trying to get an idea of all the options out there.

Just check around this site, and I'm sure you'll find lots of different places: adult day care, hospital settings (and all the units contained therein), pediatric LTC, recovery programs, home health, rehabilitation facilities, etc. I'm still surprised at some of the places that will utilize CNAs!

I graduated my CNA program this past summer, for reference. I loved clinicals, aside from a couple of issues that ended up leading to my instructor's resignation at the end of our program. But the clinicals, themselves, weren't at all bad! If you have a supportive instructor who encourages questions (since you are still learning), you will do fine! Just be sure to really watch your infection control and resident safety aspects, so that no one gets hurt, and ask questions if you are unclear about something! Good luck!

If you absolutely hate it (the very thought of doing any CNA-related work causes anxiety, the thought of doing it day-after-day causes you to sink into a depression), don't be a CNA. If you're going into it because "being a CNA is the only way you might even possibly get hired as an RN", there are still other medically-related jobs/certifications that can look good on a resume. If you just hated working geriatric LTC (it made you uncomfortable for whatever reason), have hope! There are other areas that require CNAs, even though you primarily hear of new CNAs only being able to get into geriatric LTC. Don't let what your LPN instructor get you down. Did you volunteer the information that you want to be an RN before this happened, or was she saying it as a generality? Frankly, through my CNA program, I learned to keep my mouth shut from then on about my long-term career goals. Some people you are training or working with wanted to be RNs, themselves, and never got/took the opportunity; some assume, just by the fact that you want to be an RN and not [enter other medical career], that you feel superior to them; and, generally speaking, the job market is so bad right now that lots of people just feel insecure and threatened by any fresh meat. Note that I used "some"; let me rephrase the above: the only time I ever had a problem that didn't benefit from receiving my superiors' constructive criticism, it was because of my personal career plans conflicted with someone else's thoughts on the matter. The majority of the time, you are going to find v-e-r-y helpful staff and coworkers, please don't get me wrong, but I prefer the non-confrontational approach of just keeping quiet until I'm very sure of the people I'm around.

This is the basic structure of my resume that got me hired on the spot, with no paid work experience in the field: First and Last Name Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Phone Number E-mail Address OBJECTIVE State what you have to offer the facility and long-term goals EDUCATION List any CNA/HHA training programs and college degrees CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSURE List any BLS, CNA, HHA, or other relevant certifications/licenses CLINICAL EXPERIENCE Listed my clinical experiences for my CNA course RELEVANT WORK/VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE I hadn't had paid work in the field, but I'd volunteered in a hospital NON-MEDICAL WORK/VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE I used this to highlight my volunteer work with kids, since it was a pediatric position, plus my work history to show I was reliable REFERENCES I gave 3 professional (clinical instructor, volunteer/work supervisors) references with phone and address Always remember, keep it neat, use a professional e-mail address, and basic font (Times New Roman, etc)

Are you at a major university or smaller community college? Even if you plan on doing your nursing program at uni-level, I highly recommend getting the math basics done at a community college for two reasons: A) the class sizes are usually smaller, and B) classes usually cost less, so if you need to take more pre-req math courses to get to where you have to be, it's less of a hit on the wallet. Plus, I don't know about the CC's in your area, but my community college only requires the College Placement Test, not the ACT, which I found to be much less stressful for some reason. A bit of a background: though I did very well in all my subjects in high school, I always hated and stressed over math. Two years after graduating, I took the CPT and found out just how much math I'd lost from high school in those two years. However, college was...different. I don't know how to otherwise describe it. Not only did I finish up my College Algebra courses with A's (and lasting comprehension!!!!), but I also went on to College Stats and excelled in that as well (as in, not only was this my first-EVER college course I finished with a 99.8% average, but I-the self professed math hater-loved it). A lot also depends on your professor, as well, which is why I always recommend researching your options with those professor rating sites out there. You can do it! Just remember: bite sized pieces, make sure to get the basics down pat, and go easy on yourself if you don't get it right away. It will all come together in time!

In my area, there is only one type of CNA program. The program, itself, was geared toward the care of the elderly. Our clinicals were in a geriatric nursing home. Right out of graduation, I was hired at a pediatric long-term care facility. So, there is hope!

I got my CNA card in the mail this past Tuesday! I passed!