[manch]

I have a question I'm hoping somebody can answer. I'm male who has recently been certified as a CNA. Since the certification, I’ve struggled to find a decent CNA job. I pursued opportunities in home health care, but have been rejected because I have no experience. I was hired on the spot for non-medical home care, but I left because I wasn’t receiving any relevant experience. As a last resort, I accepted a CNA position at a nursing home. I resigned there because the work situation was out of control, absurd, and intolerable. I haven’t applied at a hospital because they do not accept inexperienced candidates.


I’m willing to do some dirty work to get nursing experience. However, there must be a better way than working in a nursing home. In my opinion, the CNA job market is paradoxical: opportunities abound, yet very few real options are available (unless you get nursing home experience).


I’m reconsidering nursing as a career choice because of this obstacle. I was wondering if I would encounter the same obstacle after completing my LPN/RN education at a technical college. My fear is that without experience, I would have a difficult time finding a nurse position.


Feel free to be honest and candid when replying. Much appreciated.

[WolfpackRed]

Once you get your license, either LPN or RN, you will have very little problem getting a job without experience.

[manch]

Thanks for the advice, just what I needed to hear.

[CSLee3]

Dude, go to LPN or RN school. More opportunity in all areas and most large hospitals have new grad positions. ALSO just my two cents worth, a man in nursing can go far, kind of like a woman in policework or FD. Sorry for the comparision but you know what I mean. I have had great opportunities open up for me. Most my managers in ER ICU and Agency nursing have been men and about half the staff in my ER is male. There is even a male OB nurse who does quite well. I would rather work with smart, talented women than of bunch of men trying to climb the corporate ladder. I wished I had got into nursing long ago. HEY...Don't give up. We need good nurses and males, minority, LPN<ADN<BSN<..whatever, diversity is good for all. surfon...
ERDude

[dbihl]

I would apply at the hospital anyway. If they have openings, I would think they would take you. Also focus on school, it will get you far.

[dbihl]

I would apply to the hospital as well, seems like it is their way that if they need help, youll get in. If you want to be a nurse, dont hesitate, get the RN, it will take you far. I just woke up, night shift ya know.

[spydercadet]

That nursing license, be it a RN or LPN, will open doors and give job security unlike any other profession I know of!!! But I do wonder why you are so against doing work at a Long Term Care Center, LTC. I have been a nurse a very long time and trust me; I believed every stereotype of Nursing Homes and fought working at one. My specialty as a RN was in the ER and/or ICU’s throughout the Chicago land area, mainly the downtown hospitals. I loved the fast pace and the prestige that goes along with being a RN in major teaching hospitals. But when a friend was begging I broke down and helped him out being a Nurse at a Nursing Home. I was shocked!!! I loved it!!! I got 150+ grandparents and it was nothing like I thought it would be. My advice is to give the nursing home setting a try. To know if it is a good place to work, find out how long the nurses and nurses aides have generally been there. If the person with the most and/or average sonority is 6-12 months – run away – fast. But if the most and/or average is 10-15 years, that is the place to work. You can gain all kinds of experiences, all kinds of knowledge that you didn’t even know you wanted. My advice is to give it a try. The worst that can happen is that you hate it and you leave. But the best is that it can change your life forever.

I had the opportunity to meet a black woman who was a Federal Judge and 100 years old. Imagine what her life must have been like. She was a lawyer when women weren’t lawyers let alone black women. I met a Tuskegee airman. I met a man who was part of the Bataan Death March. I got to meet with people from all walks of life, people part of the Manhattan Project. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. In the hospital you never take care of anyone long enough to really get to know someone. But in long term care you build relationships, lasting ones. Give it a try, you might even surprise yourself!

[manch]

The nursing home I worked at was very close to my house, but it was not very good. They are constantly running ads in the paper for CNA/LPN positions. I thought they were having trouble finding good people, but it turns out the company was the problem: the medical staff is fine. My first assignments were termed 'difficult' by the assigning nurse, which I found to be a little odd. After all, I am completely new to this. I think I was given these assignments because nobody else wanted them.

Thanks for all the advice, sounds like I should continue with my education and also find a better nursing home.

[manch]

I must say that most of the CNA staff at the nursing home were awesome and dedicated. Most of the nurses were fine too, except for a couple of bad apple Nurse Ratchets.

[GooeyRN]

I agree, once you have a license you won't have problems finding a job. For many places, if you have a license and a heartbeat you are hired.