Career Change

Where are you thinking you would like to work? Hospital? Doctor's office? If you're interested in working in a doctor's office then the medical assistant certification would be a good way to go. If you think you'd rather work in a hospital setting, what about getting your CNA? It's usually a pretty quick certification, a semester or less depending on how often the class meets. This would give you some exposure to the field and would help you decide if you wanted to go on to become a nurse.

Thanks for the helpful information! Not sure where I would like to work. Somewhere that is flexible with my children's school schedule. Hospital might be best at first - weekends only or something - then as they get older, drs. office possibly. They are not in school full time yet. Do you happen to know what a CNA does in a hospital setting?

The nursing assistants on the floor where I'm doing my clinical check vital signs, assist with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, feeding, toileting, changing bed linens, repositioning, etc., they do glucose monitoring, answer call bells, probably lots more things that I don't see. They are really a great resource. Another possibility, depending on where you are, is medication nursing assistants. Some states are beginning to allow CNAs with additional education to pass certain medications.