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.

More Job Applications: Nursing Homes

I've put in two job applications for caregiver type positions at residential care for the elderly places in the last week. Both were advertised on CraigsList. The first was a reply by email application and I just sent them my resume and a cover letter. It was for a self-described "small" facility in town and they wanted someone who specifically could cover weekends.

The other position I applied for was in a moderate sized care facility in town that is known as one of the posher places like that locally. It looks really nice inside. They had openings for both full and part time, but I said I just wanted to work 20 hours per week on the days that I didn't have class.

I plan on keeping my tutoring job through the end of the semester (May) to build up a better job history, and then go for full time positions again, whether in the rest homes or maybe in the hospitals doing monitor tech work. I'm also still keeping an eye out for teaching positions.

I hope they don't just look at my resume, see that I have a couple degrees, declare me overqualified and move on. I need the money, and the experience. My application for a school loan at the community college was denied (the appeal, too) because I already have a degree/too many units. I need to get some more work hours in somewhere!

BTW, I got a 94% on the first physiology exam that I was posting about in the last entry. So far my average in the class is about 96%.

Why Community College?

When I started looking into this whole nursing thing, I had basically come to the decision that I wanted to move home. I was living out of state at the time, the only one of my family so far away, and especially since the birth of my first niece, it was really bothering me to be so far away.

Things had come to a screeching halt with my research career. Total melt down with my academic advisor, realization that academia really was not going to be a good fit for me (this article explains part of the reason: The Disposable Academic), and realizing that without my grad student stipend and no immediate job prospects where I was living at the time, it was going to be difficult to get by.

Nursing, and more broadly, the all-encompassing "health professions" were something I had considered in the past. I think I may have first considered nursing specifically in early high school, but my family basically told me I should do "better" and I moved on to other things. It is an idea I have revisited several times since then, and especially since starting grad school.

So when I decided that I was definitely going to pursue a career change, and narrowed my decision down to nursing, I started looking into the various training programs: The most efficient way for me to become a nurse at this point would be one of those accelerated BSN programs. I already have a bachelor's in biology, so I could enroll in one, and graduate all snappy like in 18 months, ready to search for my new job as an RN. The problem with that plan goes back to my yearning to be closer to my family; my family lives in a small-ish town, well-removed from any of the big cities where those programs are offered. Also, those programs cost upwards of 50 grand. Yes, I could take out a loan, and hope that whatever hospital hires me afterward would have a partial tuition reimbursement program, but geez... and there's also a lack of confidence issue there. I already chose one career, pursued it pretty doggedly for about a decade, and then admitted to myself it wasn't for me. I don't think that's going to be the case again, but if it is, I don't want to jump into a huge vat of debt right away.

Conveniently, where my family lives, the local community college has a well-respected ASN program.

The shortfalls are:
* it will be 4 years before I'm an RN (prereq's, application period, 2 year program)
* when I'm done I'll only have an associates in nursing
But on the plus side:
* it's cheap (about $2,000 for the 2 year nursing program)
* I can work part time while I'm in the program (not possible in the accelerated programs)
* the graduates are well-recruited by local hospitals from what I've heard
* I can stay local to my family (emotional and financial benefits)
* I'm tip-toeing into my new career field rather than diving, giving me opportunities to alter my course if necessary
* If I complete the ASN and then decide I need the BSN later, I can easily complete one of those online bridge programs (using my future employer's continuing education reimbursements) while working full time

Until I found local full-time work, I was somewhat doubting this decision, but I feel good about it now.

Pre-Nursing Jobs

In talking to my pre-nursing classmates, many of them have part or full time jobs, some in the health professions. Right now I am tutoring biology and english part time. It's not really enough to live off of. Some of the jobs I have been either applying for or preparing to apply for, or some of my classmates are doing are:

-working at a blood bank
-phlebotomy (requires a small amount of schooling and a license)
-cardiac monitor tech
-medical assisting (usually after going through a 4 or 5 month program)
-ward clerk
-home health aide
-admitting clerk
-medical transporter
-certified nurse assistant (requires more schooling/training/testing)

I think getting a job at a hospital, where often 3 twelve hour shifts are considered full-time, might be ideal in working with my 3 day per week student schedule next semester. At this point though, I would be thankful for any full time job. Any pre-nursing or nursing student readers? What did you do to earn money or experience before nursing school?