What to do, what to do..

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Hi, I am keen to start a career in a hospital setting.

A few points:

  • I am English but living in the USA (St Charles ) thus I have no GED

  • I am (or will be ) a *cough* Mature Student

  • I have just received my work permit but am not employed at the moment, but I need to change that sooner rather then later.

The main areas I am interested in are:

Phlebotomy

Lab Assistant

Histology Aide

Possibly Radiology, Surgical or Ultrasound Tech

Now I cannot seem to find any Hospitals that train or courses in my area, they only courses offered (at great cost) are Medical assistant.

Now I was doing some more research this morning and my local community collage offers a Certified Nurse Assistant course (12 weeks) for a reasonable price.

Would taking this course get me on the road I want to be or should I go for the more expensive and longer medical assistant course offered by a private school?

Or would I be better off trying to get any job in a hospital eg: linen aide, house keeper etc and try to get on the job training by the hospital?

Are there any hospitals in the St Charles/ St Louis area that will train people from scratch ?

Any pointers would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

*Update.

I just spoke to the lady from the community collage and she said that most CNA's actually work in long term care homes very few work in hospitals.

Thats not what I want but I wonder if I would still benefit from taking the course?

Thanks.

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

Hi there and welcome!!

I honestly don't know a lot of the answers to your questions, but I'll try to help here.

I think a lot of the hospitals do their own training for CNAs/Techs, whatever you prefer to call them. I know St. John's has a very good program from what I understand. St. Luke's has a couple of fellow students who work in tech positions and I don't believe they had prior experience. Call recruiters/HR folks at your local hospitals and ask.

As far as some of the specific "tech" positions such as radiology, surgical, etc., you might try checking our Forest Park Community College. They have several different programs: Surgical tech; radiology tech; respiratory tech

These are not quick fixes and are, for the most part, 2-year programs I believe (but do look at each of them; I didn't look that close at each one).

I will add that I would not pay for a CNA course somewhere. With a bit of diligence and perseverance, you should be able to find a hospital in this area that will train you. Make the phone calls: St. John's Mercy; St. Luke's; SSM hospitals; Barnes Jewish.

As for your work permits/GED status, I'm not real familiar with those issues. Did you graduate from something equivalent to our high school in England? Do you have any prior work experience?

And as for the "mature" part, join the club, I am in my early 50's and just finishing up my 3rd semester of a nursing program. Don't let THAT concern you. In the medical field, this does not seem to be an issue from what I've seen.

Best wishes!!

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wdwpixie Thanks so much ( fellow Pixie ;) )

I will start calling on Monday!- I have sent in several applications - they say they prefer exp but I thought it was worth a shot!

I completed high school in England but we do not "graduate" as such we just take our final exams and thats about it.

I spoke to the lady at St Charles Community collage about the CNA course and she told me most CNA's do not work in hospitals at all so I have pretty much put that idea out of my head.

I think there are that many schools that offer MA etc that I am being led to believe that hospitals over here don't train at all but from what you have said you have now given me another direction to persue.

Thanks so much!

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.
I think there are that many schools that offer MA etc that I am being led to believe that hospitals over here don't train at all but from what you have said you have now given me another direction to persue.

I think you might try checking under different titles...in some hospitals (not LTC), they're known as techs. I work at an SSM facility and we're Clinical Partners. I don't know that the term CNA is used as much. I see St. John's uses the term "Patient Care Associate". Click on the link to see a list of those jobs and the requirements. Keep in mind that those requirements are usually the "ideal"; I know of at least two students in my class who started there with no experience and they were trained.

Here's the basics of one of the positions:

High school diploma or equivalent. Successful completion of Basic Skills I course within one month of hire or transfer. Must complete successfully 5-week, Mon-Fri, day time orientation/training, PCA program prior to placement as a Patient Care Associate.

I believe that all that training is THEIR program; not something you can get elsewhere or have to pay for. I had talked to them before I started school but waited too late to be able to do their training as it was full-time and my classes were starting before I would've been able to complete it.

Check on other hospital websites under some of these other titles -- and don't give up!!

Good luck!! :Snow:

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