Essential Advice for CNAs Seeking a New Job
You’ve qualified as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) but are now finding it hard to get a job as a CNA. There just aren’t the roles available. What do you do?
Perhaps you are going about your job search the wrong way. This article will help you focus on the skills you have, and give a few ideas of jobs that could be a perfect fit for you.
Identify Your Skills as a CNA
You’ve got a lot of skills. These can be used in other jobs. In fact, they are highly valued. But you don’t realize the wealth of skills you possess. By identifying your unique skillset, you can target other jobs more effectively.
Here are a few key skills that we’ve found CNA’s possess. These skills are highly transferrable to other roles:
- You’re a good communicator, both verbally and written, and able to communicate effectively with patients, colleagues, doctors, and nurses
- You’re empathetic and compassionate. You’re a people person. You listen, understand, and find it easy to build rapport with others. In short, you connect with others easily
- You’re disciplined, and used to working to established protocols. You follow instructions and operating procedures well, and understand why it’s essential to ‘follow the rules’
- You’re detail oriented, recording patient information accurately and ensuring that records are updated consistently
- You’re focused and diligent, able to concentrate for long periods – such as when you are responsible for observing a patient at night and monitoring their vital signs
- You understand medical terminology, making it easier to follow instructions and healthcare facility protocol. You also understand how the body works – and may have gained some specialized knowledge from your experience in healthcare to date
You have the full set of skills. That makes you highly attractive to potential employers. You may also have specific work experience that makes you even more hirable.
Highlight Your Experience
As a CNA you are likely to have performed many nursing duties, such as:
- Monitoring patients for their vital signs
- Checking on and dressing wounds
- Recording patient symptoms
- Helping patients with daily living functions, such as bathing, dressing, and eating
- Recording and relaying information to colleagues, nurses, and doctors
- Helping patients to transfer position and move
You may also have worked in a variety of healthcare settings, including:
- Hospitals
- Nursing homes
- Assisted living centers
- Home health services
You may have worked with children, the elderly, disabled, patients with mental health problems, or severely ill people, among others.
Identify Other Ideal Roles for You
Are you getting the picture?
You have a unique and envious set of skills and experience. This makes you highly attractive to employers in a wide range of healthcare and healthcare-related roles. Here are a few potential jobs that you could fill – and this is by no means and exhaustive list:
EVS Technician
You’ll be responsible for keeping public spaces clean within a health facility. The role of an EVS technician is physically demanding, and you’ll also need to be detail oriented, observational, and able to work to established protocols.
Patient Transporter
You help transport patients to their destination in a hospital or other healthcare facility, for example by helping them in and out of motorized transport, lifting on and off beds, and moving them between departments.
You’ll be compassionate, a good communicator, and disciplined in your approach. You may also be required to transport equipment and lab specimens, so you must ensure safe working procedures.
Dietary Aide
Working with dietitians, dietary managers, and chefs, you will be a good communicator with a high attention to detail. You’ll be patient and compassionate, and possess physical stamina.
You may be required to carry out housekeeping tasks, including kitchen cleaning, and washing pots and pans. Your main focus, though, will be to ensure that patients or residents ensure healthy meals that conform to individual diet plans.
· Medical Health Technician
Keys skills for this role include empathy and compassion, good communication, and excellent observational skills. You’ll also demonstrate good patient care. For these reasons, experience as a CNA is often coveted by employers hiring for medical health technicians.
· Nurse Technician
As a nurse technician, you’ll be caring and compassionate, with bags of patience. You’ll be a good communicator, and adept at taking and monitoring vital signs. While some nurse technician jobs will stipulate a master’s degree as essential, this is not always necessary. Your experience as a CNA will be a bonus.
· Phlebotomist
As a phlebotomist, you’ll be detail-oriented, conscientious, and compassionate. Your job will include drawing blood, record keeping, and talking with patients and donors to help allay fears and nervousness.
You may need to earn professional qualifications, but your experience as a CNA will prove invaluable.
· Direct Support Professional
As a direct support professional, you will assist people with their development, helping with everyday tasks such as preparing meals and preparing meals. You may also be required to administer medication, maintain medical records, and provide help through crisis intervention.
Your skillset and experience should include good communication, attention to detail, empathy and compassion, and working with patients who need help to live independently.
· Medical Records Clerk
Responsibilities of this role include creating new records, retrieving existing records, verifying accuracy, and inputting to databases.
For this role, you’ll be detail oriented with good communication skills, and with experience of patient care. You’ll also understand medical terminology.
· Mental Health Technician
Mental health technicians work with patients who suffer from a variety of conditions. These include disabilities, addictions, and chronic illnesses. You’ll also work with physicians, social workers, and psychiatrists, among others.
Key skills required in this role include compassion and empathy, good communication ability, and observational skills. You experience as a CNA will make you more attractive to an employer of this role.
What Role is Best for You?
We find that the knowledge, skills, and experience of CNAs make them perfect candidates for many other roles in healthcare. When you limit your search to only CNA jobs, you limit achieving your full potential.
A confidential chat with one of our recruiters will help you identify your unique skillset, highlight your invaluable experience, and provide a direction for your career in healthcare. Don’t let it all go to waste. Speak with HireCarePersonnel today, and find the perfect healthcare job to step into tomorrow.
