Any advice for a male trying to earn his c.n.a. Out there?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jan 15, 2013

My biggest piece of advice would be to never pay too much for your CNA training.

The truth is that employers do not care where you trained, so why pay $1,500 for training when some places offer it for less than $1,000? Some places even offer it for free, such as a handful of nursing homes. Other places, such as the Red Cross, offer low cost training.

Good luck to you.

JeffreyT89 · Jan 15, 2013

Thank you soo much. I've found that my local community college in the area offers a 12 week training course for a very cheap price =) starting next month. Very excited/nervous

rivershark2005 · Jan 15, 2013

From a male CNA, please realize going in to this that you are going to have to be 10x more diligent than any of the females in your class. I hate to sound sexist, but you are getting into a female dominated class/career. I had to work harder, pay more attention to detail, and be stronger than any of the females in my class. And I had a teacher that LOVED male students. I was graded much harder than most of the females in my class both in practice and clinicals. However, because of this, I was deemed most desirable out of my class.

As far a any male-specific tips, start looking for scrubs now. My scrubs were bought for me by the state and were quickly rejected. The shirts are too short (I'm 6'4"), the pants flare at the hips (despite being uni-sex), and the shoes they bought me are too narrow. I know Landau makes a male-specific line, as does Cherokee, but after having looked at them, I still find the shirts too short. My preference in Carhartt. Pricey, but totally worth it.

Also, depending on your age an what you have done in the past (former weldor here), if you have even the slightest hearing loss, get yourself a good stethoscope. Littmann makes a high quality, high output stethoscope. And you can get into an entry level one for ~$50. I can hear things with my Littmann that the younger women (who should have better hearing than me) can't hear with the $5 stethoscopes most LTCs keep in supply. I have leant out my stethoscope to a couple of (very select) women and they have all bought their own within a payday.

Get some good shoes for clinicals and work. My personal favorites are the Gel-Asics series. Comfortable for a long day of wear and good looking. I have worn my boots to work a few times (as boots are what I'm used to) but my Asics are even more comfortable after 8 hours on my feet.

I'm sure someone else will be along to dispute everything I have said, but these have been my experiences.

AlaskaHopeful · Jan 16, 2013

I was the only male student out of a 20 student class. I had an amazing time in school. I live in Alaska so the lecture hours and clinical hours were higher than most states. I remember one time when a girl in my class said "he was quiet all the time", another girl replied "Yeah I have sat next to him the entire class and he hasn't really said a word to me." My instructor commented with a smile, "he is just minding his p's and q's." Which I was, I wanted to learn what was being taught, not gossip.

My class was 5 weeks long, it was like a job. 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Monday through Friday, and two Saturdays, one for First aid certification, and one for BLS certification. We had six days of clinicals. We couldn't be absent for more than 10 hours for the entire class, if someone was gone more than 10 hours they wouldn't have met the required hours for the state. It was fast paced and intense. We had between 4 and 6 chapters of homework every night. We did something like 45 chapters., and read over 500 pages.

Our instructor said that the state exam and skills portion would be a cake walk compared to what we were going to do in class. She was right, I passed State exam and skills with flying colors. I didn't have to work harder to prove myself because I was a male, I worked harder because I wanted to learn.

Do buy your scrubs in advance as mentioned above... it is hard to find men's scrubs that don't look ridiculous.

JeffreyT89 · Jan 16, 2013

Thanks guys. Really appreciate the feedback. Looking forward to bringing it all together when my cert. course starts in a few weeks. Proud to know there are other male CNAs out there that are knowledgeable in their career. I'm sure I'm reaching ahead because I haven't even been certified yet but, are there any bridge programs that anyone may know of? I am 23 and I want to see if its possible to achieve my goal of RN before 30 =)

AlaskaHopeful · Apr 6, 2013

As far as I know, there are not any bridge programs from CNA to RN. There are bridge programs from PCA to CNA, and after you have gotten your RN then you can bridge from an associates to Bachelors. You can also go from LPN to RN bridge. If you are going from ADN to BSN. You can defiantly be an RN before 30. I'm 31 and just got my CNA, so you are way ahead of me in that regards. Being a CNA is great experience for the long haul. I just got an interview offer as a Emergency Department Tech!

How is CNA class going anyway?

MommaTy · Apr 10, 2013

Just know that any nurse or CNA will come looking for you to help with transfers (men have some great muscles). I got my CNA in high school back in 2004. I've been a CNA ever since. I did pre-reqs slowly (It took me 5 years to get my pre-reqs done). I just got accepted for the RN program for fall 2013. If you work long term care, take the 3p-11p shift. That way you can go to school during the day. You can take more pre-reqs that way. You could work 7a-3p but then you can only take so many night courses at a time. It's really hard to work as a CNA in a hospital if you want to go back college. The hours are 12 hour shifts 7a-7:30p or 7p-7:30a so, taking classes is very difficult. I loved working as a CNA in the hospital a whole lot more than the nursing home, but I couldn't go to college while in the hospital. Hospitals pay more for CNAs then nursing homes.