thelittledoe

If you remember the woman's name who called for the interview, it may be helpful in finding out which jobs she was calling for. Google her name along with the hospital's name and see if you can find out which department she is from. Sometimes it is j...

Similarly, that awkward moment when your demented old man thinks you're his wife and leans over for a kiss then exclaims "Come on just jump in bed with me!" OR when said dementia resident hears a family crying in the hallway and shouts (within earsho...

Hey All! Hope everyone is having a fabulous 2012. I know it is early but I am curious to see if there is anyone else on the site planning on applying to the Rutgers ABSN program. I plan to start gathering my transcript requests by the end of this mon...

I already am a PCA at a hospital I would LOVE to work at when I am finished with my degree, but I would like to know what else I can do to improve my chances of becoming an RN there in the future. Are there any national nursing "clubs" that I can jo...

IMO, you might be better off leaving an 11 year old at home alone, than a teenager. I am not a mother, so I'm not sure if I should even be commenting. But I believe that a teenager can get into a lot more trouble (drinking, drugs, sex) than an 11 yea...

Normally, I would say to people to try and test out the nursing field as a CNA or PCA first, but you already have hospital experience which is great! If you love the hospital environment and the people you work with, it helps a LOT. There are always ...

In NJ I paid $1200 for a CNA class at a vo-tech school. Books were included, uniforms were not. I'm not sure how expensive of a state DE is, but that could be a factor. I talked to my employer and they said the reason they gave me a change (without a...

CNA is a great way to start out! As for the comment about CNA work being a small skill set that is easy (can't figure out an exact quote on my iPhone) I completely disagree. I think it is a baseline of good nursing skills. The nurses that haven't mas...

I just started per diem at the community hospital here in NJ. $12.50 per hour + $1.00 evenings and + $1.75 nights. Hope this helps!

Wow, it sounds like some of the nursing staff on your floor needs a reality check. We do blood glucose check on our patients too. Our patients are mostly middle aged with quite a few geriatrics and some younger folks mixed in. There are usually about...

Thanks for this post, I was about to post a new thread but searched instead. I'm thinking about sneaking in some lotion to the hospital. Same thing with our infection control: we are not allowed our own lotions and must use the hospital lotion (which...

Thank you so much, this was so so helpful! All of my required materials have finally arrived, so now its just the waiting game. I hope to get in because I don't have a backup program right now. Thanks again!

I don't think it has anything to do with you being male, as there are many male CNAs and there are many male patients as well. However, some hospitals may not hire you as a volunteer because your duties will be that of a volunteer but since you are c...

Have you tried looking at jobs closer to central NJ? Not sure how much of a travel that would be for you. Most openings just state that experience is "preferred" for CNAs or PCAs. Not sure about PCTs as most of the hospitals near me only use them in ...

I answered both 12-14 and 15 or more. I am a PCA on our med-surg floor (it's supposed to be just surg, but a lot of med-surg overflow is brought to us). There are 36 beds on the floor and 3 PCAs on day shift (12 patients each) and 2 PCAs during some ...

This might be a silly question, but where do you put your hospital name tag? I see that most people wear it on their chest pocket, but I just looked at my scrubs and they only have hip pockets! Left hip, right hip or neckline? Thanks!

I finished up my application almost a month ago and I'm just patiently waiting for all of my required materials to get there (from three different colleges, yikes!) How about you?

I have three pieces of advice: 1. Retake those courses for higher grades if you can. If you have no other courses left to take then you'll have a lesser courseload and you will be able to fully focus on those courses you need higher grades in. It wil...

Thanks so much Werty! Very helpful. Everyone at the hospital seems to happy and their employee satisfaction survey shows that everyone actually is happy. I'm so glad I found such a great organization. I'll definitely keep your points in mind about ma...

Hey everyone, So after a long wait (finished my CNA course mid-November) I'm finally starting my job on Monday at the local suburban hospital. I'm on what they call the 36 bed pre/post-op floor where I'll be taking care of patients who are higher ri...

I'm doing the same thing. It's great because you can write the days down that you definitely cannot work for the following month and you can schedule yourself for four shifts to start. Then they'll call you the days they need extra help (i.e. higher ...

I guess it depends on where your working and the difficulty and number of the patients you will be dealing with. How many hours of clinical training did you receive during your CNA course? We received 40 hours, which seemed to cover the basics. Of co...

I just read and outlined the first chapter of each of my books. I don't like to get too ahead of myself because I'm never sure what the professors are going to assign. I've done this in the past and then my professors have skipped the first three cha...

I recommend taking them separately. I think its better to take them apart and get better grades than to cram them in altogether to have a free summer. As for other tips, apply early to your nursing program. If you are transferring your credits (whi...

A few of the nursing programs that I'm looking at will admit you to the program and you can start the program so long as you have your first two Hep B shots and so long as you receive your third on schedule during your clinicals. Sorry to hear about ...