Career help

It is a good idea to be a cna first. Many people do this while they take prereq classes. Sometimes the nursing programs require it before the students starts the nursing program but people do it even when it isn't required because they gain exerience that will help them with the nursing classes and/or getting a job when they graduate.

I'm not sure what you mean by programs that let you transisition from CNA to RN. If you mean "bridge programs" like there are from LPN to RN or from an RN with an associate's degree to an RN with a bachelor's degree - no, there aren't that I know of. The difference is that CNA is like one class (actually, a part of one class... it about two weeks of training if you do it full time or about semester of Saturdays - the exact number of hours varies from state to state). LPN is about a year and a half, RN as an associates is about three years, so they get a significant amount of the education needed to be a nurse.

Most school won't give you any advanced standing for being a CNA, because it amounts to very little of the RN program, not even a whole class.

It's not a bad idea to become a CNA. If you get a job with it, you'd get some valuable experience and exposure. You would start a nursing program like any other student.

I think it's a good idea to be a CNA first. I was a CNA for 2 years in a hospital before starting nursing home and I think it's helped me tremendously and I love what I do. However, I don't think there are any "bridge" programs like there are for LPN-RN. LPN programs around here are a whole year of classes. The CNA class is just one class.