Help please? :)

[cmt2013]

Hello everyone! I want to apply to UF's PA program when I graduate. They require 2000 hours of "direct" patient care and ask for 3 letters: one from a doctor, a PA, and a health care professional. I got a job at our local hospital where I thought I would be getting direct patient care. I had told the interviewer of why I wanted the job and she didn't mention that I wouldn't be getting my hours there :/ Throughout my orientation for the past few months, I thought maybe we would be trained to help with bathing, dressing, etc but they never seemed to get around to training us to do it. I'm only getting what counts as "related" patient care hours. In addition to that, I don't have contact with the doctors or PAs on my unit.

 

I love what I'm getting exposed to at my job, it fits with my schedule, and it's great pay. However, I know that it's not as beneficial as a different position at the hospital where I could actually get direct patient care. The thing is, I don't want to quit the job. I'd feel pretty bad since they spent all this time training and orienting me only to have me transfer to another unit. What would you do in my situation?

[adjk1229]

Hey,

When you say "graduate" do you mean from high school or college? Direct patient care can be obtained by getting your CNA, or becoming an EMT or a patient care tech (although it's similar to a CNA). To be honest, it sounds like you were straight up with the place that hired you and yet they misled you by not allowing the "direct" portion of the patient care. I've been a CNA for about a year and a half and it is definitely DIRECT! It's typically a quick course and you become licensed which may get you better pay than what you're getting now. Also, most hospitals are more than happy to set you up shadowing a PA and once you get in there, you can explain to them what you're doing and get to know them and their SPs. Just my thought, hope it helps :)

[Acebecker]

Take care of your priorities. You got the job to get HCE in order to become a PA. That isn't happening. If you want to become a PA, you'll need to get over "feeling bad" and find the job that will get your needs taken care of. Now, dumping the job you've got may look bad on a resume, so you need to proceed with caution. You'll need to sweat it out for a few weeks/months until you can transfer to another department to get the HCE necessary. If you can't transfer, gonna' have to dump that hospital and move on to a different health care environment. You gotta' take care of you - you have something very valuable to learn before PA school and that is patient care. The school requires it for a reason. Good luck with your decision.

 

Andrew

[JCrownover]

2000 hours is pretty close to 1 year full time. So...if you aren't getting the type of experience you need now you should handle the situation asap. You MIGHT get close to enough before applications are due next year.

 

The way you present the story leads me to believe that your employer misled you (whether intentionally or not). You accepted employment based on them providing the experience you require and now they are not fulfilling their end of the deal. You really should not feel bad for wanting to modify this employment arrangement. I suggest you speak with your supervisor or the hiring manager as soon as possible - maybe they can supplement your training and duties with what you need and/or help you transfer departments.

 

Which brings me to my second point. Never burn bridges! If you feel you must leave, give notice, act ethically and be courteous, but don't stick around longer than you have to.

 

Good luck.

[HopefulPA]

So who is bathing, dressing the pts? If it your position but it is just that you haven't been trained. Then find out who does the training and geterdone! If it a totally different position (you never said what your title is). Then you need to see if there is openings in a direct pt care position and apply for a transfer. If there aren't any openings or they won't transfer you well then start looking for a job that will get you your direct HCE.

[cmt2013]

Thanks everyone for your help! What I meant was graduating from college before applying. I realize now that I need to do what I gotta do and that is to take care of my HCE.

[chiaroscuro27]

You've received great advice so far. Don't burn bridges, but don't waste your time either.

 

It's good to see you are giving the HCE portion of the application the attention it needs and deserves. Good luck to you!

[crobe]

Do you need a job? How long do you have till you graduate? If you have a couple of years I recommend sticking with the hospital unless you can find something better. A lot of hospitals will offer internal transfers after you've worked there for a certain amount of time and that can be your leg up on getting paid patient contact. If you quit, you're not going to have a medically inclined job at all. Keep the job until you can find something better/ transfer. CNA/EMT/etc markets are super saturated with people who will have the same qualifications as you, any kind of prior experience can give you a leg up.

[MC99]

I would get a job as a EMT/CNA like everyone else said. IT seems like in my area it's easier to get a CNA job even though you may need to get experience at a nursing home before you get hired in a hospital. But even in a nursing home it still counts as experience. One reference leter could be a manager at the nursing home/hospital you work at. THen try to get a job at a hospital where you may have contact w/ a PA/MD. Maybe you could keep the job and get a quick cert like CNA and doing an internal switch would be easier than quitting and trying to get a job at the hospital. At the ER where I live, there is something called a scribe where you could learn a lot so maybe see if your hospital has that and ask the school you wantto go to if that counts as direct HCE