CNA plus pre-nursing

Students Pre-Nursing

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hello! i have a big decision to make and wanted some input from other per-nursing students who have maybe been in this place.

so i am a pre-nursing student as of right now. i want to take a cna course because i think that it would be good to start off as a cna and so i could work as a cna to get health care experience.

i applied for the oct program and was told that i applied to late that i would not be able to get in. so i took math, eng and a&p 1. well i got a call today saying that i was accepted! great new for me but my only problem is that i take my a&p class on sat when i would be in clincles. i was thinking about trying to see if i could get moved into another class which would be 4 days a week. if not i would have to withdraw and have wasted $800(class cost and books)! i don't know what to do me really want to become a cna. today i went out and got all of my shots done (which is very expensive!). i don't know what to do.

a little about me. i have two young boys one in school all day and one about to start school half a day, dont work and have a very helpfull husband and mother.

so i guess my question is do you think that taking that many class is way to much and i should drop withdraw from a&p and just take my loss.

is taking a&p, math,eng and the cna course to much?

and is the cna class very hard?

Specializes in Infusion.

Did the facility where you would be doing your CNA training give you a typical schedule ? I think it would be difficult to do both the CNA and your other classes at the same time unless you don't mind being with your family for several weeks. Are you able to withdraw from your pre-nursing classes without losing all your tuition? If so, I would take the CNA class alone or with one very easy class.

Thanx for your reply....i would be out $800 for the class and have a withdraw the class would be on m and w and sat and sun so i would have to do sothing with the sat A&P class i would be going to school 6 days a week plus a online class.

doublehelix

165 Posts

If you already got accepted into the CNA program, I would definitely take it! Are you on a waiting list for the nursing program?

I would say A&P, other classes, and the CNA program is too much.. If you could I would limit yourself to A&P and the CNA. I took my CNA during my final year in highschool because it was offered to us for free, and then worked for a year as a CNA and took both parts of A&P. A&P is a core nursing course, but I can also see how you can relate it to the CNA program. A lot of what you learn in the CNA is basic and essential nursing practices; routine practices, handwashing, positioning and turning, range of motion...

I would highly recommend you take the CNA, especially if you are on a waiting list... it you gives you a chance to get A LOT of experience before nursing, which not a lot of other nursing students will have. As well as making some pretty good cash to put towards your tuition! My entire tuition is paid off from me working as a CNA.

A lot of my nursing program is rushed, and even though i'm only in my first year of my BN program, I have a huge advantage over the students who have no healthcare experience. For example, this past week we practiced ROM and positioning. A lot of students struggled with this, and found it very awkward touching students to position or turn them and really had no clue what they were doing.

Sorry for the ramble! But I hope that gave you some insight. :)

Thank you doublehelix for you great reply .... i still need a&p 1(which i am in) and A&P 2 before i can apply. It wount puch me back any it will and be a loss of money and very hard taking so many classes. I think that it is good for someone who wants to be a RN to start off as a CNA or at least take a CNA class.

again thank you!

doublehelix

165 Posts

Thank you doublehelix for you great reply .... i still need a&p 1(which i am in) and A&P 2 before i can apply. It wount puch me back any it will and be a loss of money and very hard taking so many classes. I think that it is good for someone who wants to be a RN to start off as a CNA or at least take a CNA class.

again thank you!

Ah, as a Canadian I always forget about these pre-nursing courses as we do not have such a thing here... :o

Even if you get into the program next year, you will still have your CNA and be able to work even one shift a week, which will be good experience for you to practice nursing skills and communication before clinical ;)

Saysfaa

905 Posts

A couple of thoughts: you can keep the A/P book for next term so you won't be out that cost. You can get the cna book, or look for one in your school library and get a good idea of what is involved. You could drop one of the 3 credit classes instead of the 4 (or 5) credit class and be out a little less money.

At my school, a cna certificate is required before applying to the nursing program so a lot of my classmates have taken it. The concensus is that it is not hard. Almost all the time commitment is in classtime; it is not a typical college class requiring two hours study per credit hour. I do not think it is easy for everyone but that it is pretty easy for most of the people doing well in A/P classes. I haven't taken it yet.

You'd be going six days a week but that isn't as bad as it sounds because you'll only Saturday would be all day.

If I were you, I'd talk to my husband and mom and go by whether they think the money is worth an extra 10 hours per week of you being gone. If I were me in your shoes, I'd take the cna later rather than be gone all day on Saturdays. That is assuming I could be pretty sure of getting the class if I signed up on time.

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