CNA without experience

colleen3273 · Oct 24, 2013

I am a new CNA and I was hired at my local hospital! They do hire new grads only if they don't have experienced CNAs apply. I did my application and resume and three months later they called me for an interview. My advice is apply at many different facilities. I really wanted the hospital setting but landed a job at a LTC and I hated it! It was not for me :-( but now I will be starting at the hospital in just three weeks and I'm super excited!! Hang in there!

mee9mee9 · Oct 24, 2013

does it help if you already work for a hospital?

jaclyn13 · Oct 24, 2013

I started out working in hospitals when I was a CNA.. I applied at a Nursing Registry and got hired in an instant. They would call me up whenever hospitals need CNA's. They sent me to different hospitals everywhere in my area.

emily12345 · Oct 24, 2013

I was hired in a nursing home with no experience. I wanted to work in the hospital as well but I knew I had to start small. I thought I would hate working in a nursing home but I love it! I work in a subacute unit which is similar to a hospital. Patients are there because they broke their hip or something and are there to recover. Now could I work here the rest of my life? Absolutely not. But I think it's great to start out here. Keep in mind you have no experience so you'll most likely be slow starting out. I started a few weeks ago and I'm still slow but I'm getting better. Personally I think you should start out in a nursing home or rehab center only because you have no experience. But it's up to you. Good luck!

nurseinthefuture4 · Oct 26, 2013

I have been working in a long term care facility PRN for almost 3 years. I have been able to gain some great experience. You see a whole lot in long term care facilities. I just received a new job at a hospital on the Surgical Unit as a CNA. I'm very excited about it and feel I have worked my way up and learned enough to work in the hospital setting. I think it will help you to work better in the hospital setting if you choose to do so. Good luck! :)

Paws2people · Oct 26, 2013

I was hired at a hospital with no prior experience. Apply, it can't hurt. You may get lucky.

ComeTogether, LPN · Oct 27, 2013

I think there is a lot to be learned in LTC. Some hospitals will hire you without experience, you just have to apply for the job anyway and rock the interview if you get one.

I think you would be in over your head if you started out at a hospital, but that's me. People think its easy to be a CNA but its absolutely not. The skills are only a small part of learning the ropes.

In LTC you will do a lot of things that you don't have to do in a hosptial, and vice versa. Pts in LTC are often times very dependent on you and thats not always the case in a hospital. The experience of working in LTC is very valuable in my opinion. Just having so many different patients from all walks of life and learning how to multi task and prioritize.

When I started in the Hospital I had 3 years of LTC experience and it worked out great for me. I was totally comfortable with the different types of patients I had and I was especially good at caring for the geriatric and brain injured patients. Because I was used to having 14 patients at a time that all required so much from me I found it much easier to balance my time between patients and was able to go above and beyond for them a lot of the time. I would go into a patients room whenever I had down time and chat with them about whatever was going on. I was able to get all my morning care done in 1-1.5 hours instead of the usually 5 in LTC.

Anyways, Im rambling. I say work LTC first. :-)