Being a CNA first

I think it's a very good thing to do.

Of course, being a CNA and an RN are two very different jobs, but working as a CNA you will get a feel for the nursing field in general and you'll be able to see just what the nurses do.

If you intend to go on to be a nurse, and the field you want to work in is not geriatrics/long term care, then after you get some experience in, I would apply to work in a hospital. You see a lot more there...but even if you just work in long term care, you'll still get really valuable nurses.

I also believe that nurses who were CNAs first are just BETTER nurses. They've been where you are and they understand what you're going through, and as such, they tend to be much more patient and understanding.

I agree. Other advantages to having CNA experience first are that you have a better chance to get hired as a new graduate. (at the place where you work as a CNA) The best advantage is getting exposed to the "icky" side of nursing. A lot of new grads seem to be posting about not being able to deal with various stuff that comes from sick people.

Yes, I have seen people change their minds about wanting to be nurses after working as an aide and learning that they will have to deal with blood, poop, pee, and mucus.

And, just as a note, on my above post, I meant to say "really valuable EXPERIENCE", not really valuable nurses. haha. That's what I get for posting first thing in the morning.

You post made two lines from an old movie (Young Doctors in Love) pop into my head.

"There are over twenty bodily fluids present in the human body and I am proud to say I have tasted all of them."

And:

"Your attention please! Due to a mixup in urology, no apple juice will be served this morning."

I'm going to be a cna too hopefully at a hospital or ltc just wherever highers me. So many people get hung up on the "cleaning" aspect of nursing. There is so much more to nursing than just cleaning. If things get to hairy you could call housekeeping .

Out of all the bodily fluids i have the hardest time with vomit. Natural gag reflex.

YES, YES, YES!!!!
i am a cna, and i believe you should try that first, to see if this is what you really want to do

Speaking as a former cna and now an rn, I'd say working as a cna is a great way to start off any nursing career. However, be aware that you will meet many miserable people that are unhappy with nursing and will try to talk you out of it. Nursing is just tough work. The key is to find the area in which you love!!! I don't understand why someone would go day after day to a nursing job when they HATE it. I mean look under the "Specialty" tab here on allnurses and you can see there are many, many options out there for RN's. I guess I just want to warn you to not base your whole decision on how you think nursing will be based on your experience as a cna. You can use it to build up your basic skills and to see if a certain area is something that you hate or love, but things are just different once you become an rn.

I wish you all the best!!!

Jay

I think that being a CNA is a good job if you are already in nursing school but not necessarily a good way to judge if you want to be an RN. I am working as a nursing asst now as I go to nursing school. Being a CNA is helping me develop patient priorities & get to see some neat clinical aspects (the RNs will often let the CNAs that are in nursing school do IVs and foleys under direct supervision and also fiill you in on neat/interesting patient cases/explain meds, etc). However, I would in noway relate CNA to RN. The CNA is there to make the RN's job easier. You would help the patient with basics--eating/drinking, repositioning, and bathroom. I have honestly NEVER seen an RN do bathroom duties so please dont correlate professional nurses with college degrees as wiping bottoms or cleaning up body fluids!!!! That is the CNAs job!

That is not true AT ALL. While at your facility, nurses might not do bathroom duties, I've never worked at a facility where they DIDN'T. There are units that don't even HAVE CNAs, and RNs do all care.

A nurse's job DOES include wiping bottoms and cleaning up body fluids. I am a student too, I know the difference between an RN and a CNA. Go on over to the General Nursing forum and read some threads. Those nurses do plenty of butt wiping and body fluid cleaning, and many of them have far more experience than either you or I.

No one on here said working as a CNA is the same as working as a nurse, we said that it's a good way to witness and learn about what nurses do.