Now is the Time to Become a Unit Clerk
Exploring a career in healthcare during a pandemic may seem like bad timing, but in truth, there couldn’t be a better time to research, take courses and become a unit clerk. Unit clerk courses expose you to the true inner-workings of a health care unit and whether you choose to work in a hospital, clinic, ambulatory or other settings, you will be ready to contribute the minute you start in your first unit clerk job.
That is what makes a unit clerk course (also known as a nursing unit clerk program) ideal right now. In the healthcare environment, there is little time for those who are working in a unit to “hand-hold” and show someone the ropes when they first join the team. An intensive unit clerk course, like the one through Ashton College, will give you the information you need to navigate your new job far more successfully without constantly needing help, even during a pandemic.
There are several other reasons you’ll want to get your career as a unit clerk going now – in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis:
Pressure will never be this high again
If you take a nursing unit clerk program, get a job in the field and love it during this pandemic, you will be poised to make healthcare a lifelong career. With healthcare professionals experiencing demands on their time and skills not seen in their working lifetime, you will be jumping into the highest pressure time you will ever experience. Anything that comes after COVID will feel like a piece of cake. Best of all, you’ll be helping (and becoming part of) a team of professionals that the world really, really needs right now.
Demand for unit clerks has skyrocketed
As the population grows and ages, the natural demand for unit clerks and those who have taken a nursing unit clerk program will continue to climb. However, where COVID-19 caused many people to be laid off, unit clerks are in an area where demand grew exponentially, like many other roles in healthcare.
This demand is not just in a hospital unit clerk setting. There is also a high demand for unit clerks in cancer clinics, psychiatric clinics, ambulance services and nearly all other aspects of healthcare. Unit clerks have moved from one segment of healthcare to another and people have had an increased need for certain areas of healthcare like psychiatric, research, addiction support, etc. which has led to this unprecedented demand.
Learn and/or experience more about other roles in the unit
While a unit clerk has a primarily administrative role in the unit, working with patients and families, as well as with other healthcare providers involved with those patients and families, will expose you to a wider range of knowledge at a time like this. During the pandemic, as people are working differently than they may have in the past, unit clerks may also find themselves learning about things outside of their normal job scope in order to help team members and patients. Obviously, you won’t be practicing medicine, but you are likely to experience new elements within the unit that may open you to other opportunities in the future.
Build strong relationships
Nothing brings a team together like challenging times. As the hub between unit team members and patients and their families, a unit clerk can be part of the glue that holds everyone together working for the same cause. Being new to your unit clerk job will give you the ideal opportunity to see the team with fresh eyes so that you can get to know the various personalities, adapt to the individual styles and be a point person that others come to for help.
There has literally never been a better time to work in healthcare than now. If you have always wanted to be part of the amazing teams who take care of the rest of us, becoming a unit clerk could be the ideal opportunity.
