Resident Assistant count as HCE?

[curiousprepa]

I have not had any luck finding experience as a certified nursing assistant, or a clinical research assistant. I recently got an interview for a resident assistant. If I get the position, should I take it to fulfill heatlh care experience?

[jennifer4293]

A resident assistant is basically a certified nursing assistant. I was certified, became a CNA, and only worked as a RA. Worked for me.

[fakingpatience]

What is the setting? Will the people have medical needs?

[curiousprepa]

I will be certified to hand out mediciations. According to the facility, the role is like a CNA, except I don't take vitals.

[gamecaco4]

I have a position much like that. I'm a Residential Instructor for a 16 bed psych transition home. I pass meds, do BSL-INS, vitals, etc. I also cook, clean, lead groups, direct/redirect as needed and basically keep track of all of the residents daily comings and goings. I've been told it's acceptable by the schools I plan to apply to due to the med passes and healthcare needs.

[Guest MedLib42]

Because of your previous posts, where you've mentioned you failed out of a nursing program and have a few other red flags on your app as well, you are going to need not just "average" or "decent" HCE, you're going to need killer HCE - the strongest you can possibly get. I don't know what all of your duties will entail, but you'll want to make sure it's more than just handing out meds. 

 

I would advise making sure whatever position you take include some or all of the following duties (or similar):

- Assistance with bathing, toileting, dressing

- Taking histories

- Taking vitals

- Giving injections

- EKGs

- Blood draws

- Helping to prep for procedures

- Placing IVs

- Providing emergency care / transport 

 

I'd say for you, given your situation, it will be worth the time to take a certification class to become an EMT or patient care tech. You could also look into becoming an MA (although the extent of your duties can depend on where you get hired). Resident assistant may be a good place to start and get your feet wet, but unless you have a lot of other great hands-on duties (that are medical in nature) that you didn't mention, you might need to add other HCE in order to be a really competitive applicant.

 

The best thing to do would be to start a list of programs you're interested in at this point. Contact them and ask what they consider to be strong HCE, and what they consider to be weak HCE (some actually have a list of accepted professions on their website). You can also specifically contact them and ask about your position as a resident assistant. Every school will tend to rank HCE differently (although usually EMT and MA are considered fairly universally strong). In your situation, you want nothing but the strongest possible HCE.