CNA before RN?

CCU NRS · Dec 20, 2003

Well I did a search here on allnurses and these were what I found

I beleive many nurses sart as CNAs and ofcourse it is wonderful job experience and it will also give a little more respect down the road for the CNAs you work with later.

emilytheresa · Dec 20, 2003

Thanks for the links!

Just one question that I haven't found much info. on...

Has anyone gone this particular route, KNOWING you want to be an RN and in school to be an RN, but you still need a job now, so you decided to be a CNA? :rolleyes:

Thanks!

StacyC417 · Dec 20, 2003

I am working as a CNA right now (have been since May), and have just finished my second semester of pre-reqs for my local CC's ADN program. Like you, I hope to be a NICU nurse once I graduate, BUT you are made to be very well rounded during nursing school. You aren't able to bypass the areas of nursing that you don't find to your liking (perhaps geriatrics in your case). I think that getting your CNA license is a wonderful idea, as it shows you a much more realistic view of nursing than you would have if you weren't in the medical field. I doubt that many L&D wards have CNAs, though Postpartum wards (nursery?) usually do. As for the NICU, there are no CNAs on the floor, but I know that a lot of units hire a "Unit Clerk" whose only requirement is usually a CNA license. This position doesn't have any direct contact with the patients; They handle the desk work. As for pay as a CNA, I know that it varies from state to state. I am currently working two jobs, one at a nursing home making $11 an hour, and one doing home health visits making $16.50 a visit (I can schedule my visits about an hour and 15 minutes apart). So, the money is a bit better than you are making right now, and if you can get into home health or hospice nursing, than you have a VERY flexible schedule (awesome when you have to coordinate school and work)! As for getting an internship with a hospital, I believe that you have to be in the LAST semester of your nursing program. I hope that this helps. Good luck!

LilRedRN1973 · Dec 20, 2003

I just found out today that I've been hired by the hospital here in town to work as a Critical Care Tech (which really is a fancy way of saying CNA). I will function as little more than a CNA and get paid $14 an hour. After my 2nd semester of school, I will move up to a Nurse Apprentice. Pay stays the same, but responsibility goes up. At the LTC facility we did our clinicals at this past semester, there were 3 CNA's who were planning on going to nursing school after they got their pre-req's done. In the area where I live, this is a common route. I don't know many CNA's that work without having the intention of eventually becoming an RN. Hope this helps!

New Castle Ken · Dec 20, 2003

Originally posted by emilytheresa
Hi all! I've read hundreds and hundreds of posts here and finally decided to post my own :) Please forgive me (and help me!) if this information is on this site somewhere and I havent found it!
I've decided to go into nursing, L&D or Neonatal (I'll decide later!), but I'm confused as to what I should do NOW.
Like most people here, I HAVE to work full-time while I go to school. I'm really really sick of my current $7 an hour job! My question is, would it be beneficial for me to become a CNA and work full-time as a CNA while I am in school? (I plan to get an ADN and then will probably go into one of the RN-BSN programs they offer online)
My view is that working as a CNA will give me experience before I become an RN, also I should get paid more than $7 an hour as a CNA, right??? Is it a better idea for me to wait a semester or a year, and then try to get an internship with a hospital while I'm a student nurse? (do i have to have actual nursing classes for a semester first, or do prereqs count?)
Another QUESTION in my mind: do Hospitals have CNAs in L&D or Neonatal or even their nursery? I really really have no desire to work in a nursing home and be cleaning up people's poop from the floors. ALSO, I'm wondering if a year or 2 of experience working as a CNA will help me get a little higher pay when I am a new grad. Does anyone have any info or experience with CNAs?

Sorry I have so many questions, I dont have anyone to ask....and I'm afraid the colleges arent going to give me the right information. Hospitals don't seem very excited to have me calling with all these stupid questions.....

*emily*

Working as a CNA will help you when you are in nursing school for sure. I worked as a nurse tech for a few years before going to nursing school and I was much more confident around patients in clinical than those wiothout experience. CNAs might have to rotate shifts which would cause a problem with going to school so you need to make sure the schedule will accomodate you. CNAs might work in some hospitals in L&D but have a very minor role. Good luck.

Ken

Gompers, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2003

It's a great idea to work as a CNA during school. For one thing, the pay is usually $10-15 so it's better than your current job. And for another, it's EXCELLENT experience! It will look great on a resume once you get your RN, and it will really help you in school. I remember my first clinicals - I was so nervous being there working at the bedside with patients. Then I spent the summer working as a CNA and in the fall I felt right at home in the hospital and my beside skills were second nature, so I was able to focus on more important things! It's a total win-win situation.

Some people get their CNA before even starting nursing school, but if you're already in school it's usually pretty easy to get your certification. Once I had my first major nursing course sophomore year (the one where you learn patient care, bed-making, vital signs, a little bit of hospital clinicals) I was able to go take the state's CNA test at the community college on the same day that its CNA students were testing. (Though they all stared at me, like "Who the heck is she?" because no one knew me, and because I finished first of over 100 people!)

I also went into nursing knowing that I wanted to work in OB or NICU, but I wanted to give everything else a chance too. You only have so much time in school clinicals, you know? Working as a CNA on various floors (I got to float throughout the hospital) gave me a great overview of all kinds of nursing. You kind of get to "spy" on what kind of nursing looks good to you or not from another perspective.

In the end, I decided that I didn't like working med-surg AT ALL because every floor I worked on was the same! The CNAs did all the vitals and dirty work, and the RNs just came in for meds and dressings - then they went to do all their charting and complained about it. THIS IS JUST ONE HOSPITAL, mind you. But the CNAs hated the nurses and the nurses really weren't nice to the CNAs and I decided that I didn't want to be that kind of a nurse. In clinicals it was different because we were only assigned a few patients and had time to do all their cares. In the real-life nursing world that isn't the case. So working as a CNA really gave me a lot of information.

AmyLiz · Dec 30, 2003

Check around at your local hospitals as to what sort of positions that they might have. A couple hospitals around me have CNA positions, others have PCA (Patient Care Associates) postitions - which are like CNAs only they have a few extra skills they can do (like EKGs and/or phlebotomy). Then there are Unit Clerks or Unit Secretarial positions...or even Departmental Assistant positions...which combine clerical skills with limited patient contact.

(I'm assuming that you meant that you wanted to work as a CNA in a hospital and not an LTC facility.)

I took a CNA class at my school (it's required as a pre-req for the nursing program), but am not working as one at the moment since the job I have now (not heathcare related) is extremely flexible with my school schedule and I haven't been able to find anything at a hospital that would fit my skill level. I hope to some day though. If not, I will probably try to get a student nurse associate job after my first year in the program.

TonyafutureRN · Dec 30, 2003

I took the CNA class to get experience while going to school for nursing, plus I figured being a CNA would help me be a better RN later b/c the CNA's would work under me and having been a CNA I would be able to understand what they are going through (which is a lot). When I worked at the hospital as a phlebotomist I noticed some doctors who wouldn't even acknowlege people "low on the totem pole" like phlebotomists. And others that were very friendly and took time to know your name. One of the ones that was friendly came into the room one time when I was trying to find a vein on a patient with very little to work with, he found a vein and got the blood. I stood there in amazement as most dr's suck at drawing blood. He told me he worked as a phlebotomist while in medical school! I realized then it was the dr's who had to work in the lower positions that had respect for them, and the ones who had the rich parents who paid for everything that have their noses in the air. Just my opinion/observation. Tonya

wrmbreeze · Dec 30, 2003

How much do cna's usually make in nc? Can you take the cna test at all community colleges or just some? I need a job also and figure this would be good experience.

mitchsmom · Dec 30, 2003

I am not taking a paying job just yet but if I *were* I'd want to do CNA or something like that at the hospital - probably try for L&D/postpartum like you if it were possible.

My lab partner is going into pediatrics and she is working as a CNA at a children's hospital (actually not licensed as such but the hospital hired her knowing she's in the BSN program and is also a biologist from her previous career). There are at least a few people in my program doing this sort of thing (there are 80 people in the program, I only know what 10 or 20 do for a living).

Good luck whatever path you chose :)

nursecompassion · Dec 31, 2003

Hi,

I am currently working in a LTC facility in ohio and am in a pre-ADN program. I will start my ADN in the fall with all of my prereqs and general ed classes out of the way.

Anyway, yes I decided to become an RN before I chose to become a CNA, however my decision was easy because I knew what I was getting into with LTC. My mom has been a STNA for over 20years.

It is not a glamorous job, however it will teach you to be empathetic, compassionate, and caring. Basically it will teach you how to treat pts like human beings with feelings, and learn bedside manner.

I used to say that I would never do what my mom does, and now it is the best job I have had. If you should decide to work in a LTC, make sure you give it a couple of weeks before you make a final decision. It is very intimadating at first.

In my part of ohio STNA's get paid based on experience, having no experience and working noct I make 8.50 hr plus benefits.

Also, the hospitals around here do hire "patient care techs" or CNA's, but they usually make the same around 8.00, however it is hard to get on full time around here at a hosp.

sincerely, jules