HELP! I DON"T WANT TO GO THROUGH CNA first...

[lookingforward]

This is really not to put any profession down but I've dreamed of being a nurse for soooo long, now only to discover that before entering my LVN program, I have to get the CNA title first! I am horrified of having to do some of the tasks described! This is not whaat I dreamed of all these years, I was thinking more along the lines of changing newborn diapers, not old folk diapers! CAN ANYONE BRING ANY CONSOLATION?

[shoegalRN, RN]

I'm sorry, but if the OP feels this way, she is in for a RUDE awakening. I, too, have never had any experience in the medical field and I am a first semester nursing student. We are now doing Fundementals and let me tell you, I had the hardest time reading BP readings. I wish I had gone for my CNA when I had the chance, but due to work and family commitment, I couldnt make it work. The reality smacked me in the face when I had to do a bed bath and change linen with the patient still laying in the bed. It is hard work. I really respect ALL CNA's. I would recommend you to re-think your decision prior to applying to nursing school because if you think you won't be doing perineal care (i.e ass washing) then you are dreaming and I hate to bust your bubble.

Being a CNA is like doing your fundamentals course in nursing school, it's the basis for nursing. You will need a good grip on these skills, it will help you so much when you become an RN.

Good luck to you!

[Happeetxn]

Somehow you learn to get through it all and it makes you a better person.

Well said

[mohkull]

i dont agree

[harley007]

I work in a Cardiac Cath. Lab. Many nurses think aside from a fair amount of blood, it is all high level monitoring and intensive type care. This is true but it is also giving one on one care for a usually very nervous patient undergoing a serious procedure. It gives you the opportunity to really make a positive difference to each patient's care and experience. Well, yesterday we had a unstable patient "crash" on us. I shocked the patient several times, gave numerous IV push meds, hung drips, alternated in on CPR and did all the exciting code things some people think are so cool. Sadly, the patient didn't survive. His family was going to be allowed a final visit, in the lab, due to the suddenness of the death. What is the last thing I did for this individual? I gently cleaned up the BM he had during the arrest so he would be presentable for his family. I found that action just as important as all the high level care because I think it affects the patients dignity and his family's last impression of their loved one. Sure it may be naive to think this not part of nursing but it is the most important part - giving basic physical care to somebody in need.

[Xentec]

I'm learning alot from this post as a future PCT(CNA,phlebotomy,EKG)

Now the smells are a big fear, and i got a kinda big nose lol. But really my greatest fear has to be a 20 something REALLY hot looking snotty little girl thats an RN, and to good to wipe a butt. I honestly know ill have problems with an RN like that, because i have serious issues with non team players.

How do you deal with someone like that?

[pinoyrn]

I think that the reason why nurses feel a sense of camaraderie and kinship is because we ALL, as nurses, went through the hardship of "nursing fundamentals" which to me is like BOOT CAMP. As an RN, you have to be able to do the duties of a CNA and an LVN. Otherwise, how can you be their supervisor?

[joeb1, ASN, BSN, RN]

anyone can become good nurse with or without cna experience, as long as their heart is there. now, that said, i think rquiring cna before nursing school is a good thing. i myself worked 4 years beforehand as a cna. as far as the less-glorious parts of the job, i worked peds right out of school, and my first cath i did for a voiding cystogram was on a female 3 week old infant. i looked down and she peed around the catheter, in the process my face was hit. suffice to say it was my first "taste".......even in peds/nursery, we have our times. even seen a few doctors baptized, so you can be sure that unless, as a nurse rep, you will be selling the newest safety syringes from kendall that are really just like everyone elses safety syringes, you will encounter these things.

[twotrees2]

i'm still guessing siemprebella...

though harshly put by the last poster - i think the point was - when you become a nurse just dont do it - ( you wont make it through nursing school if you refuse - they will require it ) but once your a nurse go ahead and do not change the briefs - get a cna " cause that is thier job" in your view- some nurses do that - yep - sure do. delegate delegate delagate - thats in our job description............................,

however if you choose to be one of those kind of nurses be forewarned and prepared - you will not be liked or get along with most of your staff and you will not find a job you fit well with and stay there any length of time.i have seen many nurses come and go who only do "nursing " stuff ( like assess, pass meds, chart, sit at the nurses station and page the cna to get that light or change that person or toilet someone ) they never stay in one place to long cause being a part of nursing requires teamwork - without that the care sucks anbd patients complain and someone ends up fired and it wont be the cna running her butt off trying to care for those 12 residents pooping all day by herself. there are usully a tad bit more ratio of cnas to nurses and i promise you the cnas will gang up and get rid of nurses who are not team players.

i pray for the first resident you refuse to clean up trying to get outta the mess they are laying in - i pray they dont fall on the floor, its not fun. cause now instead of just wiping a bit of poop you now have neuro checks evry 15 min and then half hour and maybe even end up having to get xray and do all the incident reports and charting, not to mention answering to managenment and family, why when you knew they needed help why did you not just do it yourself instead of taking 15 min to find a cna etc - on top of your already full day - it would be wiser to just clean the poop and deal with it.

[twotrees2]

calm down, jellibelli is a student who plans on going into psych. unless you plan on going directly into psych. then there is a high probability that you will have to go in the trenches and do direct pt. care.

there are very few places that will hire a new grad that are non pt. care/contact. you will be touching,smelling all types of body fluids, not only poop as many others have already stated. my best friend does l & d. yep, all kinds of lovely,smelly stuff there too! oh, and she hates going in the nursery, having 6-7 crying babies is not always fun;) .

well, people tried to warn you and now have definitely become .

nobody here claims to "love" working in poop all day, it's just a reality we have all learned to deal with. it just doesn't appear that you are even willing to learn to deal with any unpleasant aspects of nursing. sweety, you can't come out of school and go right into admin.:trout:

good luck, i think you might need it...:monkeydance:

i have worked my share of psych myself and the previous poster planning in going there will find they may haveto deal with poop even more than just wiping it up off a butt lol - i have seen irate psych patients hurl wads of bm or thier urinals or bedpans at nurses and other staff , play in stool painting thier bodies and walls like a toddler might , or one in particular i recall would just crap where-ever he felt like it and no there isnt so many aides on psyc its nursing mostly lol - and let me tell you that is a much bigger yuck than wiping any butt any day lolol.

[shlru0404]

WOW, you have been given some great advice! I have 13 years experience of CNA, probabley more than any other in my class. It has been a wonderful benefit to me. Keep in mind, no job (career) will come complete with no faults and I particularly liked the idea of using as great time to assess skin and provide interventions! Best wishes and it is never too late to find something different.

[shlru0404]

social skills! That is how you deal with any people

[MS._Jen_RN, ASN, RN]

Here's my since I think everyone else gave theirs. I hate (as an RN) working with the nurse (you all know one) who comes out of a pt's room and tells the aide that they need on the pot, off the pot, or that they need cleaned up. Unless it's a huge mess, and you are in a huge hurry to do something VERY important, you were just in there and should have done it yourself. Don't be that nurse. Noone likes her/him. The whole person is your patient, this includes excrement from all orifices.

~Jen