You’ll never again be as young as you were when you started reading this sentence.
It’s the one thing we all have in common: aging. According to the California Department of Aging, “By 2030, 10.8 million Californians will be an older adult, making up one-quarter of the state’s population.” This means that the need—and opportunity—for entry-level healthcare workers is greater than ever, and that’s why California created the Master Plan for Aging. The plan has five major goals, including one target to create 1 million high-quality caregiving jobs. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a nurse, home health aide, occupational therapist, or another entry-level healthcare position, now is the time!
You can:
have your education paid for,
start in healthcare to grow your career, and
get support from career counseling and placement programs.
Have Your Education Paid For
If you want to be a nurse but education is cost prohibitive, know that there are lots of resources to help. First, California law requires employers to reimburse you for required training if you’re applying for a direct patient care position or at general acute care hospitals. Second, nursing students can often get loan forgiveness that other students can’t get.
Additionally, some skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities will reimburse your nursing school tuition while you work as a CNA for them. For example, Generations Healthcare’s Gramercy Court in Sacramento will reimburse $2,000 of your tuition as you work for them as a CNA.
There are so many financial resources to help you become an entry-level healthcare worker. Don’t let the cost keep you from pursuing a fulfilling career in healthcare!
Start in Healthcare to Grow Your Career
What’s the difference between different entry-level jobs that pay the same? Well, if you work in a warehouse, on an assembly line, or in fast food, say, you likely won’t be able to apply that experience to a long-term career.
But if you start as a CNA, you can rise through the ranks to LPN, RN, APRN, and beyond. Every step builds upon the previous one, so you can always feel confident that you are bettering yourself and making a positive impact. And if you decide to become a long-term RN (which typically takes three years), you can expect your salary to start somewhere between $56K and $89K per year, with the potential to make more as you gain experience.
Look for CNA training programs that put you in close contact with employers. This local 12-week program, for example, offers job placement assistance and has a graduate placement rate of 94%, and there is no cost for income-qualifying applicants.
Get Support from Career Counseling and Placement Programs
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when you think about the 45 or so years that you will be in the workforce? There’s a lot of pressure to make the right decision now so that you can navigate the changes and challenges that everyone faces along their career path.
The good news is that you don’t have to make these decisions alone. There are career counseling resources available to help you successfully transition to higher education and develop the career self-management skills you need for life-long career success.
At California CareerZone, you can take an assessment to see the best options for you, make a budget so your choices will support your plan, do some research into your options, and keep track of your career plan.
CareerOneStop is a repository of resources for career exploration, training, job searching, and local resources. You can see resources specific to your stage in life so you can get tailored advice.
Facebook groups like CA Pre-Nursing & Nursing Students can be a great place to bounce ideas off of your peers and learn from their experiences.
The need for healthcare workers is greater than ever, and California aims to increase opportunities by creating 1 million caregiving jobs. Training is convenient, and many healthcare facilities will pay for it. There are so many resources available to help. Check out the resources in this article or find job openings near you to take the first step toward a fulfilling long-term career you’ll love!
If you’re interested in getting started, follow these links to get trained and become a more confident healthcare worker and a more attractive job candidate:
The California Department of Public Health has further requirements for certain jobs (like to get your CNA license), but online certifications can be a quick and easy place to start.
The health care industry is expected to grow over the next decade, and some of the top gainers are either entry level or early career jobs with only a few years of experience required, which is good news for prospective nurses looking to gain some experience while studying to become a nurse and for those who already have their licensure and are looking to launch their career.
HospitalCareers.com recently put together a list of some of the best early career hospital jobs for health care professionals. Here are five of the best hospital jobs to consider as a minority nurse.
1. Home Health Aides
Home health aides help play an important role in providing care for patients who are stuck at home. These patients still require careful monitoring, and assistance doing basic tasks that others would normally take for granted. Some of these basic tasks include helping patients with bathing, dressing, bathroom assistance, eating, and repositioning. The training that nurses receive will pay off in this entry level career as home health aides are also asked to check vital signs and record pulse, respiration patterns, and temperature readings from time to time.
In addition, nurses are needed for these roles as increasingly home health aides need to spot more symptoms. The training that registered nurses receive help spot symptoms with greater efficiency than those who just receive a certification. In this role, you can help identify challenging care behaviors, home safety, and aging disorders such as dementia.
Typically, home health aides will transit back and forth between a hospital to update necessary physicians and maintain close contact with those who oversee the care plan of individual patients.
Over the next decade, home health aides are expected to grow roughly 47%, which makes it a great hospital job to consider for nurses looking to get their career started.
2. Medical Assistant
Medical assistants work closely with physicians in hospitals, medical offices, and smaller clinics. Currently, there is a surge of elderly patients who will require care from medical assistants, and nurses can find a great career starting point as a medical assistant. Medical assistants typically play a key role in preparing patients for examinations.
In addition, medical assistants help with measuring vital signs, maintaining accurate medical records, authorizing prescription refills with the authorization of a physician, and the collection and preparation of a laboratory specimen.
New nurses are needed for medical assistant roles to help assist physicians during examinations, draw blood, remove stitches and dressings, and instruct patients about medications and diet plans.
Nurses can start a career with a positive trajectory by becoming a medical assistant, as they are expected to grow roughly 29% over the next decade.
3. Licensed Practical Nurse
Becoming a licensed practical nurse is perfect for those who would like to start their career in nursing and garner some experience with an entry level job. Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) typically work under the supervision of a registered nurse.
Working under the supervision of a registered nurse is great for those nurses who would like to gain some valuable experience working firsthand with patients, and also see the future opportunities that their nursing career might hold.
LPNs typically take vital signs, provide treatment for bedsores, prepare and administer medications, monitor catheters, observe patients, collect lab samples, and record food and fluid intake/output.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of LPNs is projected to grow 12% over the next decade.
4. Health Coach Nurse
Health coach nurses are essential in educating patients about taking care of themselves moving forward. Often referred to as health coaches or wellness coaches, health coach nursing is a great way to gain some experience interacting with patients. Health coach nurses provide vital education to patients about their future treatment plans, and how they can best stick to those plans.
Essentially, health coach nurses educate patients on dealing with chronic conditions, improving overall well-being, and promoting various healing options. Health coach nurses typically work closely with physicians to ensure that the recommendations and coaching they provide are accurate and best meet the patient’s treatment needs.
To become a board-certified nurse coach, you’ll need: a current RN license, a minimum of 2 years of experience as an active RN, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN), and completion of at least 60 CNEs in order to be eligible for the exam. To learn more, visit the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation’s website.
5. Informatics Nurse
Becoming an informatics nurse is a great way to combine big data and nursing expertise for those who are looking to have a job that combines technology and patient care. Informatics nurses incorporate big technology from various clinical settings into readable data that can help predict future care trends or opportunities to change existing care.
As more health care facilities and hospitals look to treat patients more efficiently, informatics nursing will continue to become more vital. While informatics nurses typically don’t work closely with patients, they do work with data that will impact patients in the long run. You will get to see firsthand why some policies are implemented based on data trends.
While some informatics nurse jobs may not require clinical experience, employers often prefer to hire a licensed nurse who has a few years of clinical experience under his or her belt and at least a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN). You will also need to become certified through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. For those interested in advancing in this field, you may also wish to pursue an advanced degree, such as a master’s in health informatics.
Summary
As you can see, there are plenty of great early career jobs to consider as you begin your nursing journey. These jobs offer a great way to gain experience that can be useful for finding future RN positions that require more experience and offer additional skills that can be used to separate yourself from other qualified candidates when job hunting.
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