pros and cons

kgkarma · Sep 19, 2006

Thanks for the replies. It does help. I live in Michigan, and I am considering taking a CNA class but I just don't know if we can afford to pay the $500 to get certified if the pay isn't going to make it worth it.
Thank you for your comments. I really appreciate them.

$500.00, YIKES!! Have you checked to see how much the classes would be at your local community college?

AuntieRN · Sep 19, 2006

I was a career CNA for a long time. I started back in 1983 in LTC. I have done rehab, LTC and worked in many different areas in the hospital. I am presently a nurse tech on the med/surg floor at the hospital. I have to agree it really helped me during nursing school. The first semester I was more comfortable working with pts doing bedbaths and emptying bedpans then some of my classmates. I also have gotten to do a lot more skills at work then I had the opportunity to do in school. Yes the pay sucks in most places, but I did find that the hospitals pay better then the LTCs do. I am now awaiting to take my state boards, the hospital I work at pays me as a new grad and I still work as a tech until I pass them. I have to agree, some people will treat you like you are nothing because you are just a "butt wiper" in their estimation, I just kindly remind these people that if they did not have a CNA they would be wiping these butts themselves and I also kindly remind them it is all part of nursing not just the parts they choose to be. Good luck to you!!

Blindside462 · Sep 23, 2006

What would you guys say is decent pay for a CNA? I live in lacey,wa and I don't really know how much pay would be nice to live off of. I mean I'm a sophomore in high school and thinking of taking CNA classes and hoping I can at least make a decent living off it. A 1 room apartment (600-700) and a 2k-3k car to get me to point A and B and have money for food and saving. How much hours do CNAs work? Because if I can at least get a 10-12 dollars/hour job and I can work 10 hours a day for maby 25 days out of the month ...lemme see the math here

Living Apartment -650.00/month

Car Insurance- Guessing 60.00/month

Food 300/month just a guess

That would give me 1490.00 left over a month if I worked 10 hours , 25 days out of the month. Is that sufficient you think? What else am I missing?

Cococure · Sep 23, 2006

what would you guys say is decent pay for a cna? i live in lacey,wa and i don't really know how much pay would be nice to live off of. i mean i'm a sophomore in high school and thinking of taking cna classes and hoping i can at least make a decent living off it. a 1 room apartment (600-700) and a 2k-3k car to get me to point a and b and have money for food and saving. how much hours do cnas work? because if i can at least get a 10-12 dollars/hour job and i can work 10 hours a day for maby 25 days out of the month ...lemme see the math here

living apartment -650.00/month
car insurance- guessing 60.00/month
food 300/month just a guess
that would give me 1490.00 left over a month if i worked 10 hours , 25 days out of the month. is that sufficient you think? what else am i missing?

ok here goes...healthcare workers work 8 or 12hr shifts...it can be either 36hrs per week or 40hrs per week. i am not sure how you are going to work 25days per month...that is a lot of hours!! being a cna and working major overtime will get you burned out...guranteed!! also do you have experience or not? most cna don't start at 10/hr and only experience will get you 12/hr ...you can do 3rd sift and get paid a diff. that will increase your rate per hour... in your monthly bills are you including

utilities (cable, phone etc)

misc (person etc)

also taxes will take a big chunk out of your check esp. if you plan on doing lots of overtime and check out if wherever you want to work will offer overtime.

do you live at home now? if so don't be in a rush to move out...unless you have to....work regular hours and save your money...then see how much you can afford ok.

hope this helps

coco

Blindside462 · Sep 23, 2006

Ok thanks :) I don't have any hands on experience, but I do live in a adult homecare for almost all my life and know what that's like. If I need to I'll sign up for the 2 quarter class for advanced cna. My brother (now pursuing RN) got a job at mother joseph's real easy just by simply getting his CNA so I'll check there when the time comes.

jb2u, ASN, RN · Sep 23, 2006

what would you guys say is decent pay for a cna? i live in lacey,wa and i don't really know how much pay would be nice to live off of. i mean i'm a sophomore in high school and thinking of taking cna classes and hoping i can at least make a decent living off it. a 1 room apartment (600-700) and a 2k-3k car to get me to point a and b and have money for food and saving. how much hours do cnas work? because if i can at least get a 10-12 dollars/hour job and i can work 10 hours a day for maby 25 days out of the month ...lemme see the math here
living apartment -650.00/month
car insurance- guessing 60.00/month
food 300/month just a guess
that would give me 1490.00 left over a month if i worked 10 hours , 25 days out of the month. is that sufficient you think? what else am i missing?

you forgot the tax man/woman! that can be a big chunk of change. you stated that you are a sophomore in hs. do you plan on dropping out? i wouldn't recommend this. do you plan on moving out of your parents house while you are still in high school? i think that your best bet, if you want a nursing career, will be to study real hard in school (especially the science classes), volunteer, volunteer, volunteer at a hospital, and start searching for colleges that offer the nursing program that you are interested in. you can always do what i do, go to nursing school full time while working as a cna part time. the rest of my bills are paid with student loans. this allows me to keep my student loans from being huge while insuring that my credit score stays high.

good luck in school and enjoy allnurses. there is a wealth of information on this site.

sincerely,

jay

Blindside462 · Sep 23, 2006

NO I don't plan on dropping out I'm doing fine in High School I'm just going over my future plans. I plan on making money (CNA) then moving out when I'm out of high school (graduated) Maby now my plans is mostly saving up money so I can don't have to do any student loans. Working full time and living at home for a while maby 6 months to a year so I can have a lot of money saved up and then pursue my LPN or maby just maby a RN. Planning on doing all this at my Local Community college since the closest college is more of a engineer school with nothing to do with nursing.

Blindside462 · Sep 25, 2006

I emailed ST Peters in Olympia and they say that they hire CNA's from time to time and the pay is decent 11.90-16.15/hour That should help me to raise money to get in LPN classes faster.

Plagueis · Sep 25, 2006

Being a CNA is a lot harder than I imagined, but the benefit is that I feel I'm contributing to the care and well-being of other people. This is a great feeling. This job also helps with some basic nursing skills that will be used for nursing school. However, there are many negatives with this job. The pay is bad. $24,000 per year is not a lot money. Also, you will have to deal with residents who are very combative, and some who don't want to eat or get dressed, for instance, and the CNA class that I took didn't prepare me for that reality. (The residents we had for clinicals were all cooperative.) It is very exhausting work, and I am ready to retire after doing this job for less than two years. I give credit to you CNAs who have been doing this for years, even decades. :) There are also times when it seems like ten call lights are going off simultaneously, and you just want to scream. CNA politics can also be a problem, too. Long-term care is interesting to me, and I am planning on going to nursing school next year to become a LPN.