- Joined
- Jun 18, 2015
- Messages
- 391
- Reaction score
- 845
I am currently putting together my application and I'm debating on what to list my CNA experience at a nursing home as. Looking back at previous threads, I see that @LizzyM has stated that you are working with 'residents' and not 'patients' and therefore this should be listed as non-clinical on AMCAS. I totally understand and respect this viewpoint. I feel inclined, however, to list it as clinical based on what I actually did there. The nursing home I worked at did not only house elderly residents, but also long-term patients who were moved there from the hospital. I helped with therapy exercises for a 30 y/o man who had a cerebral aneurysm. I cleaned middle aged residents with C.Diff. (Definitely developed a certain type of tolerance with this one). Alongside this, I have been in several emergency situations, such as helping the nurse with a resident who had hypoglycemia. I stepped into the room of a resident on hospice who was having a stroke. She later passed away that night.
I have ~130 hrs working at the Emergency Department and the Medical Intensive Care Unit at a hospital and while these experiences have been beneficial, I would argue that my experience at the nursing home taught me a lot more about what it means to be a part of a clinical setting than simply bringing families back to rooms and changing the linens in patients rooms. The relationships I developed with the residents and their families, the patience it took to help the elderly with dementia, the feelings of elation what Steve (the 30 y/o with a cerebral aneurysm) was finally able to hold a normal conversation and walk across the hall... These experiences have contributed greatly to my answer to the question 'why medicine' and were extremely similar (albeit much more involved) to the experiences I had at the hospital. Would it be fair to call this experience clinical?
I have ~130 hrs working at the Emergency Department and the Medical Intensive Care Unit at a hospital and while these experiences have been beneficial, I would argue that my experience at the nursing home taught me a lot more about what it means to be a part of a clinical setting than simply bringing families back to rooms and changing the linens in patients rooms. The relationships I developed with the residents and their families, the patience it took to help the elderly with dementia, the feelings of elation what Steve (the 30 y/o with a cerebral aneurysm) was finally able to hold a normal conversation and walk across the hall... These experiences have contributed greatly to my answer to the question 'why medicine' and were extremely similar (albeit much more involved) to the experiences I had at the hospital. Would it be fair to call this experience clinical?
