This is a true career story as told to JustJobs. If you are considering a career in health care, check out our website for interviews with a phlebotomist, a substance abuse counselor, and a myriad of other health care professionals.
I worked as a nurse’s aide for three years for a convalescent home dealing with various aspects of elder patient care. As a caring, hard-working and positive individual, I helped many people carry on with their daily lives well into their old age.
A white, female in this field is a positive point because I was very non-threatening to both sexes. Women in the field do not generally feel discriminated against. They are seen as humanitarians and caretakers, which is natural for them.
In this position, a day would consist of attending to a list of patients. You must take care to dress them, take them to meals, and help feed and clean them. No medications are administered through a nurse's aide. Instead, nurse’s aides assist the nurses.
A nurse’s aide position requires much patience. There should be timely breaks, though when there is a busy day that does not always happen. The people that do this type of position work full shifts, but there are part-time positions available that might not be as stressful.
As most people do, when I first became a nurse’s aide, it was my first step in becoming a nurse. I wanted to go into nursing, so I looked at the various nursing homes in the area and applied. When I was offered work with the nursing home for which I currently work, I didn't hesitate to take the job.
One lesson I learned the hard way was to always check the equipment you must use. A blood pressure cuff is an important tool and if does not work properly, it must be replaced. Several readings on patients that were almost alike prompted me to take it in for a check. It was faulty and was replaced immediately.
Commitment to the job is important. It is something that you don’t learn, but something that you feel. You return to perform your duties because you know they are very important.
Sometimes strange things can happen on the job when you are a nurse’s aide. You might have to help assist when a patient forgets where they are and they want to go home. It can be a little frightening that they forget where they are, but when you are patient with them they usually are okay within minutes.
At the holidays, a nurse’s aide is considered part of the family for the sick person. It is wonderful to see the family all together enjoying that their older person is still with them. They are very joyous and the holidays are special. You become very close to your patients when you are a nurse’s aide.
Challenges are part of life and being a nurse’s aide is a position that has several of them. It will make a huge difference when you manage them and face them head on.
There is stress involved in being a nurse’s aide, as in all jobs. The key is to know your duties well and perform them within the time limitations that you are given.
I was paid the minimum wage salary in my regional area, plus two dollars an hour roughly. A good worker will receive raises usually once or twice a year. It can be a decent living for some, but for others they might wish to pursue their nursing degree so that they can make more money.
If you work full time in this profession, you will usually start out at a one-week paid vacation per year. It will then lead to more, the longer your duration with the establishment you work for.
There are many places that will hire someone one and train them to be a nurse’s aide. Other institutions require a certificate. The certificate does not take long to acquire and will ensure a person to be employable for a nurse’s aide position in almost any establishment.
If you want to be a nurse’s aide, you first must have immense patience and compassion. You need to also be able to lift people and heavier items and be able to perform physical duties that might not necessary be part of other jobs. You must not mind wearing a uniform because all nurse’s aide’s must wear them.
Being an instrumental part in the medical field is very important. In order to see myself in this field in the future, I would educate myself to the level of nurse or doctor (practitioner) to help to continue to improve the quality of life for other people.
JustJobs.com is a job search engine that finds job listings from company career pages, other job boards, newspapers and associations. With one search, they help you find the job with your name on it.Read more » articles by this approved business partner | Click here » if you’re a businessNurse's aide image from Shutterstock
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
BigstockMake a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
- How did I learn about this job?
- How did I apply for the job?
- Did I earn an interview?
- What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
BigstockAre you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
BigstockYour job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
- Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
- Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
- Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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