Caregiver, CNA, other?

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · May 18, 2011

I don't think it matters. Healthcare experience is experience no matter where you got it. There is no "formula" for guaranteed success that says if you choose one job you'll get into the program immediately and if you choose another you'll be doomed for life.

A job is a job. I don't get all these people that say they're too much of a delicate flower to work in a nursing home. How do you think the rest of us do it?

lrlat · May 18, 2011

I am currently a CNA and have been for 6 years, and will be starting the program this August. There is a huge difference in caregiver and CNA. I will say without a doubt some of the best charge nurses I have had were once CNA's themselves. I see my experience as a CNA in regards to nursing school as priceless, and know it will give me an edge. Because I am very comfortable with touching people, gaining their trust, and yes ...sometimes getting them to do things that are going to be painful, that they do not want to do.

jamiemd · May 18, 2011

Thanks for the advice guys....

yousoldtheworld · May 18, 2011

I do not WANT to work in a nursing home, it is very challenging and depressing for me...

Yes, working in a nursing home is challenging...but you say you want to be a nurse. Being a nurse is VERY challenging, and the more experience you have working in the healthcare atmosphere is going to ease your transition. Phlebotomy is nothing like nursing, very minimal patient contact, etc. And as a new nurse, you won't get to pick and choose where you work. In this economy, finding a job can be difficult, and you go where there is an opening.

As for a nursing home being "depressing"...why? Just because they're old? I fail to see how it's depressing to take care of people who need it. Do you think a hospital isn't depressing? At least most people at a nursing home have lived their lives. At the hospital, you get terminally ill children, young accident victims, drug overdoses, domestic violence victims, single mothers with cancer, etc. etc. etc. That to me, is a whole lot more depressing than a bunch of old people. But maybe I'm crazy.

Boerne Lou · May 18, 2011

These are two complete different areas-phlo vs cna and comparible cna? What is your exectations and goal in the medical field?

jamiemd · May 19, 2011

All sounds advice, thanks guys.

My expectations? Well I do expect it to be challenging. I am fully aware of the daily to day interactions and challenges nurse's go through (I have a handful and friends and family who are nurses in various disciplines). While I have not decided which "specialty" I would like to pursue...I was hoping for my future experience in school and the beginning of my career to show me what I am drawn to. I also get that I will probably get the ****** shifts and the job that maybe is least desired when first starting out, and I will be grateful for the opportunity.

As far as the nursing home goes...I knew before applying to the job that it would be more of a challenge to me then other aspects of my "training" I would have to endure. "To each his own". . . some people can't handle missing limbs from car accidents, some people can't handle chemotherapy patients, some people can't work on kids, and some people aren't fans of geriatrics. For me, I find it depressing that within an 8 hour day I had to watch a patient deteriorate and when I left they were cutting her medication and just giving her morphine while she passed. I have a hard time with helping the nursing home residents who clearly need more assistance that is not being provided to them at those facilities, those who are essentially mute and being forced to go wherever the caretaker and their families dictate. You can see their sadness and frustration and desperation. It's not all bad...there were some fabulous people I met, wonderful individuals who brightened my day and made it easier. I tried to focus on that...tried to focus on how rewarding it was to help people and make a difference in their day. But when I felt like I was forcing a mute to do things they didn't want to do...that made me uncomfotable. And that poor woman passing was all alone. Where the heck was her family?

My intention is to become a phlebotomist for two main purposes: 1) Gain experience in a medical related field 2) Get a better paying job to get me the hell out of retail and help me work my way through school. :)

LaterAlligator · May 19, 2011

If your goal is to try out working in direct patient care & find out if you're happy dealing with gross stuff and difficult people (just like you will as a nurse) then be a CNA for a while. If you think you're 100% certain of that without any real-world experience, then take whatever job pays the best. That way maybe you can work fewer hours while in school.

And count me in as another one who works in long-term care/geriatrics/dementia and loves it. And when I was a kid I thought nursing homes were scary and sad.

jamiemd · May 19, 2011

That's great that you love it...

Yea as far as "gross stuff" I'm fine with that. I've dealt with some pretty gross stuff before, and blood and guts doesn't bother me. I even made the statement to a GF of mine that id rather scoop brains off a sidewalk then feel so sad from the nursing home experience.

To each their own.

Thanks for all the input.