Advice please - new to nursing

U.S.A. Minnesota

Published

Hello all,

First let me say i have been browsing this community, and have been amazed by the amount of excellent advice offered and how willing and able to help everyone in this community is!!

So my situation - currently hold a Bachelors Degree in Economics, and am finding the business world to be very unfullfilling and unrewarding. To that end, i am starting my CNA class in a week here and should be done by October. I am signed up as a volunteer at a hospital to get some good experience as well. I held a position with the corporate headquarters of Target in Minneapolis, so i have excellent computer, communitcaiton, and interpersonal skills to have on my resume. I have every intention of continuing up the ladder to LPN and then Rn after getting my CNA and landing a job that will allow me to go to school at the same time.

I am wondering what would be the best place for me to look for first employment? I have expenses and student loans to repay, and i know that CNA are not paid what they deserve to be, but is there anyone that could let me know of some great places to get started in the cities? Is there any type of position that would enable me to make more for my existing degree? I would hate to have paid for this degree and not see any return from it, if you know what i mean. Should i look for some type of administrative position that would pay more and the my CNA certification would support? Please let me know - any info on career path, suggested working locations, and attaining a good pay scale would be much appreciated. Thank you all so much in advance!! P.S. I live in the so. metro, so something around there would be nice :)

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no one?

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Specializes in FNP.

try a huc-type position if you can in a hospital - or even split your time doing both; if they are hiring your experience would be useful. good luck!

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Most HUC positions at hospitals require you to have gone through a HUC training program. Those are usually a semester-long program at community college. Could be a good idea, but why invest the time and $$ in something that's not the endgame for you? (At least, that's what I tell myself.)

I'm actually in a similar situation as you--I'm starting a program this fall, am re-taking my CNA training to get on the registry, and would like to find a CNA job for as close to full-time as I can get it. I'm aiming for long-term care facilities, and plan on applying to every one that I can think of once I get my CNA certificate. I also plan on applying to several organizations that run group homes for people with development disabilities. In the meantime, I actually currently work for Target Corp! I think you can definitely spin your experience there to apply to a healthcare position--lots of emphasis on working as team and providing great service to internal and external partners and the guests.

So, apply for every hospital posting you can find, look at and apply for long-term care, and consider some non-traditional ideas, like working in a group home or working as a home health aide. I'm also considering working for a company that does non-medical in-home services for seniors, just to get some experience working with people.

Also, milk your volunteering experience for what it's worth. Try to network, get to know people, and gently let it be known that you're doing your CNA training and that you'd like to do that work. You never know what may happen!

I hope that this was helpful...feel free to send me a private message or a visitor message if you have any ?s, or even if you want to commiserate. :) It's exciting but tough out there right now!

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Specializes in FNP.

Where I work, the HUCs require a med term course, but the rest is on-the-job training; we have a few in the hospital that work part time as both PCAs and HUCs. Of course, I know those with 4 year degrees working as HUCs as well but it's not required everywhere, from my experience. Best of luck to you!

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Mom2cka, if I may ask, where do you work? Every job posting I've seen for a HUC at metro-area hospitals says that they require a HUC training program. I should've clarified in my earlier posting. Of course it's likely that some places don't! :)

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Specializes in FNP.

I'm in St. Cloud - haven't actually looked at a job description, just talked to HUCs who I've worked with.

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Gotcha. Thanks for the info! I really like St. Cloud. My husband's family lives in St. Joe, and we've talked about maybe moving up there after I finish school, depending on the job situation down here...have a good night!

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as soon as you are done with cna school get a job in a hospital as a cna. it will help you tremendously in nursing school. and it will help secure you a job after nursing school.

im in nursing school back in IL right now but i worked nights at a hospital in the twin cities about 2 years ago and was making almost $16 with my night diff. That was with some experience so you might start with a little less i dont know.

pm me if you have anymore questions.:nurse:

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Med-Surg.

When I was in nursing school, I took an internship job at HCMC. I worked as a CNA, but because I was on an internship, I got paid more than a starting CNA--I think it was $14/hour. The internship part of the job wasn't much--I got to shadow and RN a couple times--that was about it. However, when I became a staff nurse at HCMC, they greatly expanded the internship experience. I mentored an intern, and she got to practice with me for... it was eight or ten weeks... can't remember for certain, but it was great for her. We worked as a team--she did all assessments and cares right along with me and eventually transitioned to doing a lot of things more independently with me acting more as a resource or guide. Once the summer was over, the mentorship part of the internship ended and she worked mostly as a typical CNA would. I know I'm kind of rambling off the main question you asked.... My original point was that the internship paid more than CNA, and the program at HCMC evolved into a great experience for interns. This was four years ago, so with the economy being as it is now, I have no idea if they have changed the program at all.

Another thing to consider is that you might just have to take a job wherever you can find one. Jobs are tight, and most job-seekers out there are finding that they can't be too choosy, unfortunately.

Congratulations on your decision to come into the field of nursing. I hope you find your education and your practice rewarding.

Kristen

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Craziness! Mikejjmay and bikelola, this thread popped up in the front and I am a former Target HQ employee, too. Bikelola, I spoke with you a little bit in another thread but didn't realize we had that many similarities. Small world. Maybe Target does that to people, turn them into nurses, hehe. When I put in my notice, word got around, and another Target employee wanted to do an informational with me...for nursing! Go figure. We should stay in touch either through here, email, facebook, even coffee :) Not sure if there is a private way to send that info, but I think it would be a great support network.

Good luck to you all!

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esunada, that is TOTAL craziness! I think I might even know who the person is...did you used to work in toys, and is she a SWAT MS? This is actually my last week at Target--4 more days. Woohoo!

Wow, we definitely to form some kind of group and stay in touch. I'll send you a private message with my email. Mikejjmay, let us know if you're interested :)

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