Nursing student working as a care assistant

[MarySmyth]

Advice please for my niece who has completed 1st year general nursing. She was offered a post as a care assistant (at a local nursing home) for the summer and was thinking that she might like to continue this for weekened work while at college. Normally, she works weekend in a coffee shop and would do full time in summer.

However, despite having completed 3 placements at work - totalling 14 weeks- she says that the nursing home work is particularly hard and challenging- and even meals are not provided!

Any suggestions/ advice- should she stick to nursing home?

 

[mathepac]

...
However, despite having completed 3 placements at work - totalling 14 weeks- she says that the nursing home work is particularly hard and challenging- and even meals are not provided! ...

What is it that she finds hard and challenging about the care assistant work? Has she had training and induction? Is she sufficiently qualified for the work?

It is unusual for an employer to supply meals for staff on duty. There are exceptions: - catering staff, where meals are taxed as a benefit in kind if supplied, now often have to pay for food; nurses, whose working time includes their meal-times, generally use hospital canteens like other workers. Has the nursing home a staff canteen where food can be purchased or a "lunch-room" where they can eat their own brought-in / bought-in food?

 

[BoscoTalking]

I'ed say she should continue with it and she will learn so much about care and empathy which is what nursing is all about. as well as having hands on experience to complete projects etc. The role of care assistant is usually hard graft especially because she is actually doing the job and has to have her wits about her for a full shift as the person responsible to the nurse. As a student she is not doing the job, she is learning and on a placement with partial duties mostly "shadowing" and observing, which also does not include non-nursing duties like heaven forbid, dressing beds etc. when she is the nurse she can expect it to be as tough as a care assistant, as she will have the ton of paperwork to boot.

Its a great lesson for her though. She will fully appreciate those who work with or under her direction. She obviously thought the job of care assistant was easier than it actually is, and as they say sense bought is better than sense taught.

 

[Ann1]

Any suggestions/ advice- should she stick to nursing home?

A change in working environment at the weekends would be good for her if she needs to work part-time. Placement work in the hospital during the semester will involve three 12 hour shifts..... equal to 36 hours. If those shifts fall on a Wed.. Thurs.. Fri.. she then has to head into maybe two 8 hour shifts in a nursing home. That takes her up to a 52 hour week without a break....all before she opens a book to study or complete an assignment.

Nursing /Midwifery degrees are tough going physically mentally and emotionally because of the placement work on top of the study.

 

[tech3]

My Daughter is in her final year of nursing and she worked as
a nursing assistant in the first 3 years to help pay the bills .
However one 12 hr shift at the weekend was all she could do while she was at university and during her placements she didnt do any extra work at all. Its just too much.
12hr shift on placement and go home to complete assignments and study and then do extra shift on the weekends.,no way it can't be done or something will give .

 

[johnno09]

Maybe do one shift over weekends and see how it works out juggling it with course work. She would only realise the full benefit of having done this when she's preparing a cv after her degree, it would be invaluable experience to be presenting to an employer in a competitive market.
Meals on duty in jobs would be rare unless you work in a hotel or similar. So I wouldn't let this be the deciding factor.

 

[SPUDZ]

elmosong....couldn't agree more with everything you said...spot on in every aspect.