And thus...

My dreams of being an Orthopedic Nursing Attendant (NA) are shattered.

Luckily, it was only my dream for about 3 days, and I actually have very little interest in orthopedics anyways.

So, for those of you who don't know (which is pretty much everyone except 5 or so people) I went around the hospital last week, dropping off resumes in search of an NA position. I wasn't expecting to hear back from any of the units so quickly, but I got my first interview call on Friday (thankfully after I was out of hearing range from the Beer Gardens!) and we scheduled my interview for today.

I suppose this counts as my first "real" job interview - as in, this position will help me in my career as opposed to just being a paycheck like all my other jobs - and while I didn't expect it to go perfectly, I didn't expect it to fail either.

(Okay. It wasn't a total fail. I'd say it was ... a 70% fail.)

I got hints from other students, so I was prepared for questions like:

- Why do you want to be an NA? / What does being an NA mean to you?
- What do you think an NA does?
- Why do you think you deserve this position?
- What are your greatest strengths? Weaknesses? Etc, etc.

And while I was asked some of those questions, I got grilled on topics like:

- The exact repositioning(s) of a patient with __(insert random, very specific fracture)___.
Seriously. He asked me where I would put the pillows, how many I would use and why I put them there.

- How to gown/glove/mask up when going into an isolation room, and the order in which to take those protective barriers off when leaving.

- What my mom would tell me to do if I sprained my ankle at home. I think I did well with this question. I said get myself onto my bed or the couch, put the injured ankle on a pillow and ice it. The unit manager said that is what they do on the unit!

- What I consider to be "abnormal" vital signs. Luckily this has been drilled into my head forever, so I got that one no problem.
- Signs of infection regarding a surgical site.

- A step-by-step description of how I would get patients up to shower or how I would go about doing a sink/bed bath. Seriously. Step-by-step.

- The mechanics of how to work the patient beds

- The mechancis of how to work lifting devices

I know there were others, but I can't quiet remember what else he asked me. But, those are my hints to anyone else going to NA interviews.

So, I'm fairly certain he won't hire me, but at least I know what to expect for next time. Fingers crossed for more interviews.