Month: December 2023

🦋 Nationwide Children’s Hospital – Patient Care Assistant

At the time of writing I am working at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a patient care assistant and I think I have found the population that I would want to work with! I have never imagined myself wanting to work in the pediatric world but after about a year at NCH I think I really enjoy working with this population. There are many days where it is hard working as a PCA but it only takes a single event to make my day better.

As a PCA, I work with kids closely as we check up on them hourly and this help me further develop my time management skills. From my previous jobs, I have only had to work on one patient or participants at a time but as a PCA, I am responsible for up to 8 kids total. In order to get all the task done I needed to learn how to prioritize and work with the assigned nurse to care for these kids.

Resume – Edited 2023

Zhiwei (Zach) Wang

Experiences

Patient Care Assistant, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
August, 2022 – Present

Med-Surg floor with patients focused on colorectal and pelvic reconstruction; bariatrics; pediatric surgery; urology; and intestinal rehabilitation services.

  • Empties and records drain output pre and post surgery; drains include but not limited to: ostomies, malecots, wound vacs, and JPs. 
  • Collects, documents, and reports vital signs into EPIC EMR and collects minor specimen testing.
  • Prepares all materials and supplies needed to assist, hold, and position patients for procedures.
  • Completes screening questions and documents all items from admissions into EPIC EMR.
  • Manages up to 8 pediatric patients per assignment.
  • Train new incoming PCA.

Safety Aide, OhioHealth: Grant Medical Center
February, 2021 – June, 2022

Emergency Department; Trauma-Surgical  Floor

  • Ensured consistent and appropriate oversight of patients who were at risk of intentionally hurting themselves or others under direction of a Registered Nurse.
  • Provided hygiene, comfort, and safety needs of adult patients.
  • Documented patient activity into EPIC EMR.
  • Managed up to 2 adult patients per assignment. 

Student Clinical Research Assistant, OSU Wexner Medical Center
August, 2018 – December, 2019

Dr. Lynne Gauthier Neuro-recovery Lab focused on examining the effects of home-based video game therapy for hemispatial neglect for participants who suffered a stroke.

  • Contacted, screened, and scheduled new participants.
  • Performed post-treatment assessments and 6 month follow-up assessments.
  • Documented participant screening and assessment into RedCap.

 

Education

Ohio University
Expected Graduation: May 2025

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Columbus State Community College
Expected Graduation: December 2024

Associate of Applied Science in Nursing

The Ohio State University 
August, 2018 – May, 2022

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

Minor in Neuroscience; Minor in Integrative Approaches to Health & Wellness

 

Certifications

Basic Life Support (BLS)     September, 2022 – September, 2024

American Heart Association

State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA)           July, 2022 – July, 2024

Registry Number: 602523250722

 

Additional Skills

Language Skills: Fluency in Mandarin Chinese & English. Proficiency in Spanish.

Healthcare: HIPPA Compliance; EMR Proficiency (RedCap & EPIC)

Volunteer Work: Remote Area Medical (RAM); OhioHealth Grant Medical Center; OSU BioScholars Program

Technological Skills: Proficient in Microsoft Office Systems, MATLAB, & R

2023 – Working Towards New Goals

2023 started in an interesting way for me. I began nursing school at Columbus State Community College (Associates Degree Nursing) and Ohio University (RN to BSN Early Start). My thoughts behind this decision is a little controversial but it made the most sense to me. After working at Nationwide Children’s, I wanted to focus my career in providing service and care in pediatrics. Nationwide Children’s Hospital has a tuition reimbursement for employees enrolled in a nursing program and I wanted to take full advantage of that. In my first 2 semesters of nursing school I learned a lot regarding pharmacology and simple skills such as obtain a manual blood pressure and as well as develop critical thinking skills for acute situations. However, as I went through my program, I soon realize that there are a lot of of gaps in medical knowledge and reasoning. It was during this time I took the chance to re-explore other fields in healthcare.

 

I shadowed a pediatric nurse practitioner as well as a osteopathic surgeon from my unit; I took this time to ask about difference in the level of practice, what a day to day life looks like, the amount and quality of patient (and family) interactions they have in their respective practices. This will help provide me a better sense on what each occupation does and if it is a good fit for me. After graduation, I took the time to carefully reevaluate my path. OSU has been a great experience for me but somewhere along the way I started to lose sight of the bigger picture, I started losing pieces of myself constantly comparing myself to the class averages and others around me. 2023 really gave me to time to rediscover myself away and I have been grateful for it. I am excited for what 2024 has in store for me as I head into the new year with excitement and optimism.