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Patient Contact Hours Disaster....???


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Hello everyone, I need some advice for patient contact hours (I know....common question, but I have very specific circumstances/challenges).

 

I am 35 years old, have a health related B.S which I've never used (moved to China and did real estate for most my professional career), and have recently decided to get back into my original medical aspirations and pursue a PA education. This means I have to redo all my science pre-requisites since too much time has passed and most schools require (recommend) more current class time in these subjects and go from 0 patient contact hours to 2,000 patient contact hours.

 

I have really bad tendinitis in my forearms/hands. This is actually the driving reason to pursue a PA education because I can no longer use a computer 6-8 hours a day as I did in a business/office setting and I've always wanted to go back towards my original aspirations.

 

Most advice I've seen says that CNA experience is regarded as very good, as is ER, EMT, or other Emergency Technician type positions. Given I'm already 35, can't work too much due to my arm issues, and have a 2 week old newborn, I'm looking for the QUICKEST way into a hospital so spending a year+ getting my EMT certifications is not going to work. This is why the CNA route looks good because it's just a semester of study and I'm good to go!

 

The problem, however, is I'm worried that my arm issue will limit my ability to perform the tasks of a CNA. Lots of lifting, transferring, cleaning, dressing, etc. Instead of spending time and money on CNA certification, only to find out I can't perform the job for 2,000 hours, what other routes would you suggest that allow me to get PAID patient contact hours that PA schools look highly upon? What about EKG Tech? Anything else? Note it has to be paid, primarily for my personal financial obligations and 2 because most the schools I'm looking at require PAID experience and do not count volunteer or shadowing.

 

Thank you in advance for your help. 

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I'd like you to consider that electronic medical records are (becoming) the norm for documentation. That likely means computer typing and clicking for each and every patient seen in your desired career. Not to mention fine motor manipulations (suturing, holding an otoscope).

 

I don't want to dissuade you, but you may need to think about the real world stressors of the career field you want.

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I agree with the above - and will throw in that PA school itself will require a lot of time either typing or writing for a very intense didactic year.  Every program has technical and physical standards that you must meet - obviously with reasonable accommodations should you require them - but if you're concerned about CNA work as well as computer/writing work, I don't see how PA is your go-to with limited arm dexterity.

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Thanks everyone. I'm not so worried about my long-term arm abilities, just my short-term. I know that everything is turning to depend on computers, but that isn't just PA, that's everything! That means there isn't a single job that exists that doesn't or won't require computer work and / or working with my hands. Construction, service, management, driving, and any other career on the planet uses arms too.

 

Sitting at a desk and typing email after email and sifting through spreadsheet after spreadsheet is very different amount of computer usage than patient notes and records. Especially considering that dictation software improves every year. My fine motor skills are fine. It's really just repetitive movement and excessive use of my arms that aggravates my current condition. Constantly lifting, cleaning, more cleaning, and more lifting is also very different than typing notes in between moving around.

 

Besides, if EVERY job I do requires computers and hand work then I'll be in pain no matter what and I'd rather deal with the pain doing something that I enjoy rather than sitting at a desk moving more units of X or marketing Y or planning Z. Regarding typing required for school, I can use voice dictation software at home on my own time, but finding (and enjoying) an office job that's cool with talking to my computer out loud the whole day (as well as taking 3 times longer to write every email and do every task) isn't going to happen.

 

I'm going to PA school. I'm going to be a PA and if that means taking 3 years and being on welfare while working as a CNA part time to not aggravate my arms then fine, I'll do it! BUT....if anyone has any other routes, rather than CNA, that would be helpful.

 

Thanks again for your time.

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I personally challenged the CNA test here in NC without taking the class after studying from YouTube videos. Then I worked as a CNA in an assisted living for the majority of my patient care hours. Not too much heavy lifting, especially compared to a CNA in a hospital or skilled nursing setting.

 

Best of luck to you. I admire your determination.

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Half the CNA jobs out there are in-home care, which is pretty low intensity.

 

I second Rev's suggestion about talking to a professional.

 

Also, you didn't post any stats. Make sure you actually have a shot at getting an acceptance (or know what it will take to make yourself competitive) before you embark on this path.

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Yeah definitely! At my current job, where I work as a CNA, they gave me all on the job training. But I work in psych and am looking to gain some different (i.e., medical) experience before I apply to schools in April, so I had to take the class bc the other units in the hospital require the state certification. Just finished this past weekend!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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If you're willing to work in developmental disabilities to get your health care experience (it's what I did), some schools will consider you.  The manual work tends to be light for some positions.  I really enjoyed it.  It doesn't pay well, but can foster a string sense of advocacy for underserved populations.  Most agencies hire students, and can work around school schedules.

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Half the CNA jobs out there are in-home care, which is pretty low intensity.

 

I second Rev's suggestion about talking to a professional.

 

Also, you didn't post any stats. Make sure you actually have a shot at getting an acceptance (or know what it will take to make yourself competitive) before you embark on this path.

Stats? Not sure what stats you mean. I have a B.S. in Health Ecology with a 3.4 GPA, but am retaking Chem, Biol, A & P, Micro, & Biochem. I've only retaken A&P so far (1 year) and received a 4.0  and was going to take EMT, EGK, and Phlebotomy courses next semester before continuing the science courses. I speak Mandarin as I lived in China for 7 years, but other than that all my experience was in business, not hospitals so I need some hospital experience that has easy entrance, decent pay (I have a family) and doesn't require a lot of heavy hand use until my arms heal. Was thinking EKG tech or something, but dont' know what else is out there.

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