CPL Healthcare (Care Assistant)

BlackYogurt

I'm in the middle of completing my course as a healthcare assistant. My preference is to work in hospitals. I was wondering does anyone have any experiences with CPL? Is it possible to work full-time with an agency? I feel like it's the best way to get in with working in a hospital, and hopefully I could be offered a permanent position if I keep head down and work hard when i'm in this setting. My only fear with agency work is that it could be somewhat erratic i.e. full-time work one week, no work the following week. Anyone have any thoughts?

monflat

Hi there I worked with alliance agency as a nurse for 7 years and cpl for 1 year cpl bought over alliance
Anyway yes this will get u good experience if you work hard and more or less make a good name for yourself I know back then I used to get work for myself and then inform agency of who booked me and for what unit however that changed slightly when I left in 2009 as you put yourself on call and as the work had dried up it was on a first come first served basis and you could not get bookings like that anymore
Anyway you will gain good experience and then you will have access to the knowledge that there will be jobs offered however there are now many tempory contracts going but very few permanent full time ones
Yes it is possible to work full time but it does get quite annoying at times I worked back in the good times and shifts were so aplenty that I had the choice of 3-4 different places with different hours
However I'm not sure what it's like now as when you put yourself on call you may not get a call to go in for shift until an hour before this is quite difficult especially if it's a night duty. Yoyo are hanging around all day with the hope you get a call and then at the last minute you do

However back then I was young and big into sport s so it so suited me. Not anymore though as the thought of not working with the same team freaks me out !!!! But this did not bother me one bit back then !!!

Good luck anyway

BlackYogurt

I appreciate the input, monflat. There is an open day with CPL tomorrow so I will enquire further then. I would like to make myself as flexible as possible to enhance chances of full-time work. Working for home care companies does not really appeal to me; I would rather work in busy environments. I would be like you in the sense that in the beginning I would not mind working with different teams, but I would definitely like to work with the same team in the future.

monflat

BlackYogurt wrote: »

I appreciate the input, monflat. There is an open day with CPL tomorrow so I will enquire further then. I would like to make myself as flexible as possible to enhance chances of full-time work. Working for home care companies does not really appeal to me; I would rather work in busy environments. I would be like you in the sense that in the beginning I would not mind working with different teams, but I would definitely like to work with the same team in the future.

Well it's a great way to get yourself in the door we still have agency coming into us some are brilliant some are pure hopeless
But if you really want to do this remember to put yourself forward and if you have never been to a place before say so ask for what is expected of you
Some places are just So used to agency staff that staff do not even talk to them unless they have to which is not nice either

Remember to ask question s and be willing to learn always putting client/ patient first
You will fly it

risteard7

BlackYogurt wrote: »

I'm in the middle of completing my course as a healthcare assistant. My preference is to work in hospitals. I was wondering does anyone have any experiences with CPL? Is it possible to work full-time with an agency? I feel like it's the best way to get in with working in a hospital, and hopefully I could be offered a permanent position if I keep head down and work hard when i'm in this setting. My only fear with agency work is that it could be somewhat erratic i.e. full-time work one week, no work the following week. Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm doing the same course at the minute op and was thinking of doing the same thing go with cpl. I wonder what the interview is like with cpl? How long have you left on your course?

BlackYogurt

risteard7 wrote: »

I'm doing the same course at the minute op and was thinking of doing the same thing go with cpl. I wonder what the interview is like with cpl? How long have you left on your course?

Hi, i've still another year to go with mine - it's done part time. A person in my class is working in Beaumont - she worked with CPL a few years back. From what she told me, it seems like the best way of getting work in a hospital environment, and potentially a job in a hospital setting also - provided you keep your head down and work hard. She also told me that they are good to deal with, and always had plenty of work for her. I would get in touch with them, either by phone or by e-mail - and arrange an appointment. The pay is not bad either - something around €13. I could be wrong though. I know that agency staff have to be paid to that of HSE HCA's - this recently came into affect apparently.

risteard7

BlackYogurt wrote: »

Hi, i've still another year to go with mine - it's done part time. A person in my class is working in Beaumont - she worked with CPL a few years back. From what she told me, it seems like the best way of getting work in a hospital environment, and potentially a job in a hospital setting also - provided you keep your head down and work hard. She also told me that they are good to deal with, and always had plenty of work for her. I would get in touch with them, either by phone or by e-mail - and arrange an appointment. The pay is not bad either - something around €13. I could be wrong though. I know that agency staff have to be paid to that of HSE HCA's - this recently came into affect apparently.

I'm doing mine full time, i enjoy the course apart from communications cant stand it Have a presentation in two weeks! I think a nursing home might get a bit boring after a while, where as the hospital setting seems more exciting.

I was thinking if you worked with cpl for a few years and then hopefully the country might pick up, and the Hse start recruiting again. Out of interest how many hours work experience do you have to do? Mine is 240 hours seems a lot!

michealkirwan

with cpl get the application form and they have the criteria needed plus you need vaccines hep B. plus all the modules they want its not easy and to be considered you need over 600 hours. even with all the criteria its upto them if they want to hire you

risteard7

michealkirwan wrote: »

with cpl get the application form and they have the criteria needed plus you need vaccines hep B. plus all the modules they want its not easy and to be considered you need over 600 hours. even with all the criteria its upto them if they want to hire you

So when i finish my course i have basically zero chance of them accepting me as i wont have enough experience? There are times when I think the course is way over the top and is it worth my while continuing. Its hard to gain experience when nobody will take you on.

michealkirwan

im sorry to be the bearer of bad news risteard i went to the open day and was talking to a recruiter. for experience you will have to work for free literally in a nursing home or similiar. an agency is a lot harder to get into than a normal employer as their promoting their agency through your skills, beaumont one day, james's the next. theres like 15 pages in the application alone and you need three references higher than a general nurse. they want the people with a few years experience if youre new best bet is a nursing home. anything else just ask

michealkirwan

black youghert you will not get an agency starting off. no matter how many courses you have done youre a newbie and a liability to them so thats where the experience comes inn. plenty of people have degrees and masters but cant get work due to noone taking them on for experience and experience is what you need

risteard7

Yea thanks for the info mk, I suppose the only way to build experience is to work private..

michealkirwan

im in the same boat but nearly sorted

WildRosie

I've just finished my full time HCA course and have applied to CPL. The recruiter told me that my 240 hours work experience in two hospitals and a nursing home is adequate for them. I only have one CNMI reference but he said my other references were fine also. I just have to redo my NVCI training as it wasn't certified in college but it seems to be possible to get agency without paid work experience. A friend of mine is also working for nurse on call and had no training or experience when he started last year. He's working mainly in James's.

michealkirwan

i was told 600 a month ago times are changing they dont want unqualified staff these dayd so they have to train as well as work for liability and insurance reasons

WildRosie

michealkirwan wrote: »

i was told 600 a month ago times are changing they dont want unqualified staff these dayd so they have to train as well as work for liability and insurance reasons

Fair enough. It's not what I was told and I have all the blood tests and hep b vaccination already as I needed them for college so I'm going to plough on. I doubt he would have told me two weeks ago that my experience was adequate if it wasn't. Maybe it's because I did my work experience in a nursing home and two hospitals (medical and surgical wards).

Have you found anything yet?

michealkirwan

in a way rosie i havent been looking as much as i should ive 3 out of the four vaccines done hep b. suppose they tell different people different things due to what they have done

WildRosie

Have you tried any of the home care agencies? They're crying out for people. I started with one but it wasnt for me. They let you start provided you have garda clearance from somewhere else which you would from college. It's not for everyone but some people love it.