What is Nursing On-The-Job Training Like?

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When choosing a career in nursing, you will need to attend formal education in order to become certified and licensed. With formal education, you will receive classroom time, lab time and practicum that will educate you on all the aspects of nursing, medical terminology, procedures, pharmacology and much more. Some students will volunteer before actually getting into formal training to become a Licensed Practical Nurse or Registered Nurse, or by taking classes for Certified Nurses Aid (CNA) through the American Red Cross and other organizations. This allows them to gain education and experience that they will need to provide basic care and support in different facilities and other healthcare settings.

Training Programs

Nationwide, the numbers are growing for people who need some kind of assistance with daily activities. There are many different nurse related positions at many levels that are in demand. For those who chose to get their foot in the door of nursing by starting as a CNA through the Red Cross will change their lives forever.

Sara Graceffa of Venice Florida states, “I had no idea that the Nurse Assistant Training program at The Red Cross would change me and my life forever.” Once she took the training through The Red Cross, she went on with her education and now works as a trauma nurse.

“I wanted to attend The Red Cross classes to get on-the-job nurse training, education and skills to learn how to properly care for another person,” stated Jaleesa Snyder of Baltimore Maryland.

What It Is Like

Illnesses and conditions affect people of all ages and all backgrounds. On-the-job nurse training will take place under the supervision of another seasoned, licensed and experience healthcare professional to learn how to work with people in real life situations. As caregivers to a vulnerable population, nurses must be compassionate, empathetic, patient, and non-judgmental, have impeccable communication skills, be emotionally stable, and with excellent self-management skills. They must have strong problem solving and critical thinking skills to help them navigate emergency and difficult situations with a keen attentiveness to detail. They must have a professional demeanor and know procedures, etiquette, and laws and regulations.

Along with learning how to deal with different situations and different types of people, there are certain protocols that must be followed for the well being of all involved. Nurses do a lot of heavy lifting such as moving patients, administering meds whether orally, by injection or through an IV and proper procedures must be followed. There is a lot of recording of patient’s history and charting and there may be certain ways that the facility of the employer wants to have things done. There are inner company computer programs that need to be taught and many different types of medical equipment that will need to be taught. Some facilities specialize in certain fields such as children’s hospitals, mental health clinics, at home hospice care and so on. At these different locations there will be protocols, practices and equipment used in relation to that field of medicine.

Many nurses who have gone through on-the-job nurse training will say that it was a nightmare and it seemed like after all the education they felt lost and knew nothing. Nursing is stressful, physically demanding and truly challenging.

Conclusion

Many different branches of nursing and related salaries can vary by region and education levels. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median salary is around $65,000 per year.