Update on Job Status -- Receptionist Position

I still haven't heard anything back from the people I interviewed with recently for the receptionist position at the nursing home, but my current boss told me that they had called to ask about me. I guess that is a good sign. I get nervous thinking that they are calling around to that long list of previous employers I gave them. I think most of those folks would give me a positive review, but I know there's a chance one or two might not just to circumstances at the time, and it makes me nervous, that's all.

There is another woman who worked in the tutoring office last semester who is going to start the nursing program locally this fall. She came in briefly today to talk to our boss, and I asked her if she was excited about starting in August. She said, "Yes!...but I am a little nervous about what it will be like, with all that they put us through just to try and get in at all." She also said that she had bought her required uniforms, and that one of the required scrub shirts was like 50 bucks (the school has an embroidered insignia on there, but geez!!)

Academia vs. nursing...

I have been a little concerned occasionally when I hear someone who's been to nursing school or is a nurse themselves talking about older nurses eating their young, etc. That is part of the reason I left academic research --- because there was a whole lot of that.

But I was browsing around catching up on a few blogs I read sometimes and I found this post on the "Head Nurse" blogspot:

http://head-nurse.blogspot.com/2011/06/thank-god-im-nurse.html

It turns out she's got a unique perspective in that her whole family is entrenched in the academic world, while she's a nurse. My favorite quote from the blog entry:

"See, Dad was talking about academic politics and who gets what professorship and what one's ranking in the department was dependent on, and how that was affecting this, that, and the other thing. And I was sitting there, alternately casting my eyes Heavenward and thinking, "Y'know, if some jackass tried *that* shit around me, they'd never set foot in my unit again.""

I also enjoyed this comment made by an anonymous reader:

"Thanks to the nasty politics in academia, I made the transition from academician to nurse and haven't looked back. My former colleagues are still shocked about my decision (I get some version of the "how can you can go from thinking profound thoughts to wiping dirty butts?" question from them everytime). I try to be polite when I tell them it's better than believing that some minutae of lyric poetry is going to change the world and sucking up to some quack of a dean to keep your pathetic job of teaching 6 sections of composition day and night."

So someone else out there has successfully made the jump from academia into nursing and seems to be much happier with it. Looks like he/she was in literature before, where I was in science, but I'm sure a lot of the stupid politics and infighting are common to the two.

More confirmation that I'm headed in the right direction is always welcome...!

Senior Living Community Receptionist Position

Another catch-up post to stay up-to-date on my job search.

About 4 months ago I had seen a receptionist position posted on craigslist at a senior living community. Honestly, I barely remember applying for it. It was with the same company that I have applied to be an activities director, a caregiver, or a medication technician at various points in the past year.

A couple of weeks ago they called me up and asked if I was still looking for work. I guess they had hired someone around the time I turned in the application, but she had only been working for a month or so when she had to move out of town or family reasons. Okay, yes -- I was still looking for work, and yes, I could come in for an interview.

I had a (not so close, but friendly) acquaintance who happens to work in the same place, and she called me up when she found out about my interview to tell me more about the position, the people who work there, what hours they were trying to cover, and any questions she thought they might ask me during the interview. This helped boost my confidence a lot; none of the questions I was asked were exactly the same but I took what questions she brought up and thought of some of my own and actually wrote down what I thought would be good answers that were true for me the night before the interview for practice.

The interview went really well. I felt like skipping when I left. The lady who interviewed me seemed super-nice, and I felt I'd been able to come across as their best pick for the job. About 2 hours after I left, I got another call from them asking me to come in for a second interview. The time they wanted me to come conflicted with a scheduled office appointment and tutoring appointment, but I juggled my schedule around and told them yes.

I felt a little less confident after the second interview, but again, warm feelings about the people who were involved (3 of them this time: the CEO of the company, the lady from the first interview who's a manager, and the lead receptionist).

A couple of days went by, and I started to think, well, I guess since I haven't heard anything I must have flubbed the second interview; maybe I was too informal or something. Maybe they chose someone else. I kept expecting to get a form letter in the mail saying "thank you so much for your application but..."

However, that night, two days after the interview, that friend who works there called me about 11pm, sounding a little drunk to be honest, and told me that they had loved me at both the interviews, that they were super excited about hiring me, and went on and on about the things they liked about me. It sounded like a done deal. Whew.

But now it's been a full week since that 2nd interview and I still haven't heard anything from the company. Maybe tomorrow will be the day.

It's another part time gig, so no benefits. About 24 hours per week. My friend that works there makes $9 per hour but she thought they'd start me at a higher wage (she sounded bitter about that, so I'm not sure if I should tell her if they do).

When I'd talked myself into the idea that I hadn't gotten the job, I was thinking, okay, well maybe that's not a bad thing; it leaves my schedule open for a better, full-time job. But I do hope I get it.

In either case, it was nice to get some positive feedback after all the run-around I feel like I've been getting on the job hunt for the last year.

Within Nursing Home CNA Training Program Applications

I haven't been keeping up to date on this blog as things happen as much as I'd like. Part of that reason is that I keep applying for jobs and not getting them, and it's a drag to write about those experiences. But this one has sort of a hopeful ending, so I'll share.

One of my classmates in physiology had told me that she interviewed at an elder care facility in a nearby town that had an in-house CNA training program. I hadn't been aware that these existed; I thought that you had to either just work for such places as a non-certified "caregiver" or else do the CNA education at the local community college and then go interview.

In these programs, if you can get in, they train you for the first 2-3 months (while paying you minimum wage) and then bump up your pay a dollar or so after you've been certified. I thought this would be a good way to get a foot in the door of the medical industry, as I haven't had much luck so far.

I looked online for every local program like that I could find, and called them all. Several of the programs that were listed online as having CNA training programs actually didn't, but I found a few that did. One of them had an application to fill out online; I did that right away and still haven't heard back about 2 months later. Two others required that you come pick up and fill out an application in person.

So I did that. One of the CNA teachers that called me back said in her message that I should ask for her once I was done filling out the application and she would come out and talk to me (ie informal interview). I felt like it went well; she seemed very kind and caring, and I had a good feeling about the whole thing. I still hadn't heard anything about 3 weeks later, so I sent a follow-up note, and an updated resume, just reiterating that I was still interested and expressing that I really appreciated her taking the time to show me around and it felt like a great atmosphere to work in.

She called me a couple days later and left a message on my phone that sounded really appreciative of the note; she said that I was exactly the kind of person that they were looking for, that my application looked great, but unfortunately all the spots had already been filled for the summer. She said they had over 70 applicants and they could only take 12. She told me that she would keep my follow-up letter with my application and indicated that I would be one of her first couple of choices for their fall class, and that she'd call me again then.

So that doesn't solve my immediate concerns about finding a good job and supporting myself, but it is good news. If I can make it through the summer financially, and get into that program, at least for the fall, I could have a year of full time income before nursing school starts, and a basic certification to fall back on. I could also probably continue to take side classes like phlebotomy in my time off if I wanted to.

The other application that I needed to fill out in person, I really put extreme care into filling it out thoroughly and precisely, and writing a nice cover letter to go with it. It feels like it's been longer, but I just checked my calendar and it has only been a couple of weeks since I turned that one in. The person who returned my call about that program said that they were going through the re-certification process for their teaching program and they hoped to be able to start another class in July. Here's hoping.

Update on the Parents' Reaction...

My dad...sweet dad...when hearing of my good grades in anatomy and physiology, says, well congratulations, and I'm not surprised you did so well.

My mom over the last several weeks has repeatedly brought up the fact that I am going to be exposed to AIDS and other communicable diseases (today going so far as comparing it to working at the power plant and being exposed to lots of radiation).

Then, on other days she will say something like she's been talking to a friend, and that they think I should really take nursing to the next level, and become a nurse practitioner rather than "just a nurse".

Or last week, one of her friends had been watching some show on t.v. (CSI or similar) and been exposed to the fact that there are "forensic" nurses who specialize in collecting necessary evidence following rape, violence, child abuse, etc, and she thought this was really what I should do.

Then she'll quiz me; I'll be sitting their in the living room with her and my dad, and she'll randomly ask me if I know where the parotid gland is, that some friend in her sewing class has a growth in hers that may need to be removed if it gets any bigger.

I think I've finally gotten her to stop calling me "nursey-nurse" in a sing song voice. Occasionally she will stop what she's saying mid sentence, giggle, and say "I almost said it, but I didn't!" and at first when she did that I was confused what she meant, but it turns out this is her way of calling me "nursey-nurse" in her head without breaking the "rules".

She bought some sort of nursing text book online, and explained that it was for herself, but that I could look at it if I wanted to. W.t.h.? Recently she's been wearing scrub pants around the house "because they are comfortable".

Medical Terminology Course

After my human anatomy and physiology prerequisite courses were done, I wasn't planning on taking any more classes until nursing school started, that is, unless I wasn't able to find work, and as a back up I planned to sign up for phlebotomy and medical assisting for Fall semester.

However, spring term ended, I still haven't found work, and the tutoring center called me to ask if I wanted to keep working for the summer. They said I needed to be enrolled in at least 1 unit to keep working through the summer. A couple of weeks later, after the 6 week summer term had already started, they told me they had made a mistake, that as long as I had been a student in spring it was okay to keep working in summer without having a course.

By that time I had already signed up and taken the first test for Medical Terminology, an online course offered through the nursing department. It is 3 units, and let me tell you, it is probably the easiest class I've ever experienced. With the combination of my background in biology and having studied some languages, and then the fact that it's an online course, I can work at my own pace and it's basically open book, I really can't imagine not doing well.

I almost dropped it when I found out I didn't need it for my tutoring job, but I had already paid the enrollment fee, and I thought maybe it could help me study for the TEAS, and perhaps be a good resume builder, maybe land me a job as a medical transcriber or something.

I probably should spend a little more time on it, rather than whooshing through it breakneck speed, so that the words that have been new to me actually stick in the old 'noggin.

The process of joining the volunteer team at the hospital

I was surprised how long it took the hospital volunteer auxiliary to get back to me about my application. I turned in applications to both major hospitals in town on March 28th. I never heard from one, and the other finally called me on May 11th to set up an appointment for an interview, 2 weeks later.

Most of the people that work there are little old ladies who want to do something good with their time now that they are retired. I know that some other classmates of mine from last year also volunteer there or other places but I haven't seen anyone wearing the volunteer uniform --- white pants, white close toed shoes, and a blue jacket --- under the age of oh, say 60, yet. I think this actually impressed the CEO at a recent interview I did, that I would do volunteer work that had me hanging out with little old ladies all day (I recently had 2 interviews to be a receptionist at a senior living community, more about that in another blog).

At my interview, the head volunteer lady did most of the talking, telling me about the various rules and regulations, and what to expect. She was dressed in her volunteer uniform (elastic around the bottom of her white pants) and was pretty energetic, talkative, and enthusiastic. She had lots of pins and buttons on her uniform, rewards, I'd guess from all the volunteering she has done. Oh, and she warned me not to sign anything other than... what was it? I'd better check with her. She said the nurses and doctors will sometimes ask the volunteers to be a witness to something on a form, and there are some things it's okay to sign and others it is better to stay away from. She actually had to go be a witness in a court hearing once because she signed something that usually wouldn't be her job to help out with.

My next step was to go for an appointment with the human resources office. There was a large sheaf of papers to fill out and read, with a quiz (no kidding) at the end. The process took about an hour and a half. Then they did a TB test (I'd had one about 8 months ago, but they needed it to be a 2 step test, and I guess I'd had a different kind). And they walked me over to the lab to get blood drawn for titers to check my immunity to various viruses, to see if I needed updated vaccines on anything. That's great, because both the testing and the vaccines, if I need them, are free through their volunteer program, and I will need to do all that anyways once I start nursing school, so it will be good to have it already done at their expense.

While I was filling out my paperwork, there were a couple of nursing students that came in to take care of some stuff for their clinical rotation over the summer. I talked to one of them a little while she was waiting. She's going to a program about an hour south of here, but lives 20 minutes north of here, so she's been commuting about an hour and a half to attend the nursing program down there. She said it was easier to get in there than the school locally, and she was tired of waiting so long. She was glad to be able to do her summer externship closer to home.

The next step in the volunteer sign up process is an all day long orientation, on a Wednesday about 2 weeks from now. I will have to take the day off from work (at my tutoring job) which is frustrating because that's the day I have the fullest schedule. Hopefully I can reschedule some of them to Monday. I will get the results of my lab tests then, and should be able to sign up for shifts soon afterward.

I think it will be a good thing. I hope I don't feel over committed; they require you to volunteer at least 4 hours per week for a year if they are going to go through the process of "hiring" you. It will be too late to get the 200 hours I need for the nursing school application, but I hope that at some point in the future it will help me land a job, having had that experience.

TEAS, Test of Essential Academic Skills, Preparation

I’ve begun studying for the TEAS test, the Test of Essential Academic Skills.

At first, I didn’t think this was something I really needed to study for. I mean, I’m well educated, I help other students with their writing, science, and math, and I haven’t been out of school for a long time. But I took an online practice test, just to see where I was, and although I did very well in some areas, there are still areas that could use some practice if I want to score maximum points when I take the real thing.

Here is where the practice test said I’m at right now:

TEAS: Reading - (42 Items) 90.5%
Paragraph and Passage Comprehension 78.9%
Informational Source Comprehension 100.0%
TEAS: Mathematics - (30 Items) 93.3%
Numbers and Operations 100.0%
Algebraic Applications 100.0%
Data Interpretation 100.0%
Measurement 50.0%
TEAS: Science - (48 Items) 83.3%
Human Body Science 72.7%
Life Science 93.3%
Earth and Physical Science 78.6%
Scientific Reasoning 87.5%
TEAS: English and Language Usage - (30 Items) 76.7%
Grammar and Word Meanings in Context 86.7%
Spelling and Punctuation 66.7%
Structure 66.7%
Individual Total Score: 86.0%

A couple of things to keep in mind looking at that, one: I know that for the last third or so of the practice test I was getting fairly impatient and perhaps moving more quickly than I should have; I need to remind myself to slow down and read the questions very carefully. It will also be important to be well rested and fresh on the day of the real test. The other thing is, I didn’t read up on what time requirements were for this test, or perhaps it is one of those adaptive exams like the GRE. If anything I think I was moving more quickly through the questions than I probably needed to. I should find out more about the format and time limits for the test before next fall when I’ll be taking the real deal.

I am surprised that I only got a 73% on the human body science, seeing as I just finished taking anatomy and physiology… I would be interested to go back and see which questions I missed if that were possible; I’m not sure if it is.

In any case, I got well over their 70% minimum in each large subject area, so passing won't be a problem; from here on out it's just studying to get a few more points on my admission criteria for nursing school. I can do that.