What you'll study
Hospital Unit Clerk
Course Description Summaries are provided as a general overview:
- Communication Skills for Unit Clerks
- Pharmacology
- Patient Chart Records
- Admission/Discharges/Transfers
- Hospital Tools and Topics
- Processing Medication Orders
- Processing Lab and Diagnostic Orders
- Processing Surgical and Treatment Orders
- Employment Skills for Unit Clerks
- Practicum
Communication Skills for Unit Clerks • 25 hrs (approx)
In your role as a unit clerk, you communicate with a myriad of people. From other professionals to family members to patients, the quality of your interpersonal communication enhances the quality of the services you provide. This course gives you the opportunity to assess your own communication style, learn and practice skills to understand others, skills to speak assertively and with empathy in a variety of situations with a wide range of people. You will learn how to manage yourself in difficult, stressful situations as well as learn skills to cope with distressed and angry individuals. Students will also explore the need for understanding cross-cultural communications and dealing with grief, death and dying.
Pharmacology • 27.5 hrs (approx)
This module covers aspects of Pharmacology, which relate to the hospital unit clerk. Topics include: the twenty-four hour clock, pharmacology vocabulary, and the C.P.S. The majority of course content is focused on trade and generic names of common drugs and the classifications in which they belong.
Patient Chart Records • 12.5 hrs (approx)
This course segment will provide you with the skills to recognize standard forms used in patient charts and recognize some unit specific forms. It will also introduce you to the concepts behind current electronic patient charting systems.
Processing Medication Orders • 32.5 hrs (approx)
This module provides the student with the skills and knowledge to understand and correctly process a variety of different medication orders, as well as the ability to process IV and TPN orders.
Hospital Tools and Topics • 30 hrs (approx)
The student will experience the hospital environment through site visits, tours and lectures. The course will teach communication tools and devices unique to a hospital including how to effectively communicate with patients, visitors, hospital and medical staffs. Fluency with procedures and codes used in emergency situations is also covered.
Processing Laboratory and Diagnostic Orders • 42.5 hrs (approx)
In this course students will learn laboratory and diagnostic terminology, how to process doctor’s orders regarding laboratory and diagnostic work, as well as receive and accurately process these reports via the telephone. The student will learn the role of each laboratory department and the work the different staff perform in these departments and obtain the knowledge and skills required to process lab and diagnostic orders as ordered by physicians. Students will also learn about the functions of and services provided by the Medical Imaging Department, Electrodiagnostic Services, Pulmonary Function Lab and Endoscopy.
Admissions/Discharges/Transfers • 10 hrs (approx)
Students will learn about the organization and structure of the Patient Registration and Placement departments and the function of these departments in Admitting, Discharging and Transferring patients. Students will also be introduced to departments that support the nursing unit including Food & Nutrition Services, Housekeeping Health Records and Infection Control.
Processing Surgical & Treatment Orders • 37.5 hrs (approx)
Unit clerk responsibilities for processing pre and post operative surgical orders and anaesthetic orders, about the services provided by Nutrition Services, about specialty beds and how to obtain them.
Employment Skills for Unit Clerks • 9 hrs (approx)
This course will explore work search subjects and employment skills such as: self-assessment; job readiness and transferrable skills; resume and cover letter writing; interviewing and position research skills. Students will be introduced to VIHA’s online application system and job interview preparation in relation to the Hospital Unit Clerk Certificate positions.
Practicum • 110 hrs
The Practicum is the most important part of the Hospital Unit Clerk Program. During this 110-hour supervised practicum, you will have the opportunity to put skills you have learned in the classroom into practice and to develop skills that can only be learned in a hospital setting. The Practicum allows you to get accustomed to a hospital unit, to become acquainted with your Coach, and, under your Coach’s close guidance, to have the opportunity to demonstrate and to practice theory and skills you learned in the classroom.
Total hours – 335 approximately
