Certificate Programs Phlebotomy, CNA, ...

bunnyfungo · Jul 10, 2012

I'm getting my CNA certificate because it's required for admission to the ADN program. I'll probably try to get a job as a CNA while I finish my prereqs because I figure that if I can't handle being a CNA I better find a different career. Plus I'd love the patient interaction. I'm also interested in phlebotomy but there isn't a program in my town and I'm not willing to drive an hour to get to class!

nursingstudent2458 · Jul 10, 2012

That's a good idea. I should have done that as well. It would be interesting to be a nurse, but I am not sure if that is my calling.

Bobmo88 · Jul 10, 2012

Hello nursingstudent2458, I'll try to break down each of your questions and answer them as best as I can.

I have thought about getting a phlebotomy certificate because doing labwork would seem interesting, but every job I searched requires at least 2 years of phlebotomy experience. How do you become a phlebotomist if you need 2 years of phlebotomy experience?

Phlebotomy is a great skill to have if you want to develop your vein finding skills and make it easier to transition to starting IVs since some of the steps are similar. I happen to work as an ER Tech where phlebotomy is probably my main duty. It is hard to land a job and I honestly got my job because I had been a volunteer in the ER I now work in and had a nurse practitioner put in a good word for me. You would probably have to start off working part time or even on call for a lab like quest diagnostics to gain more experience in order to apply for a hospital phlebotomist or tech position.

I'm not sure I want to become a CNA because I might be discouraged from becoming an RN, as they seem to do most of the "dirty work." I know that RNs do it too, but I wouldn't want to be stuck with that before being a nurse. Forgive me if that sounds heartless. I'm squeamish in bodily fluids (except blood). Is this job high in demand though?

I don't know about how high the demand for CNAs in your area is but I know that sometimes if there are hiring freezes then it can even be hard to get a CNA job at times. I'm not a CNA but I used to do a lot of CNA type work when I was a volunteer and even though it was the dirty work, it was proof to me that I was able to handle the medical field. If you are squeamish around bodily fluids other than blood, wouldn't you want to know that you will be able to handle them? It is better to find out as a CNA that you absolutely cannot tolerate working around bodily fluids instead of going to nursing school and finding out then dropping out etc. I think that the skills you learn as a CNA as a whole are more useful to learn before nursing school the phlebotomy by itself.

Would a pharmacy technician be helpful experience? I know that you learn about all of the drugs in nursing school, but would being a pharmacy tech give a nursing student a larger knowledge of drugs in a hospital setting? This certificate program would be interesting as well.

I think any type of experience is good experience but I personally would rather do CNA and phlebotomy over pharmacy tech. There are always pharmacology classes to help you learn different drugs and med calculations.

I would say do CNA and phlebotomy if you have the time and money but I'm not sure about how long it would take to do pharmacy tech. Good luck!

nursingstudent2458 · Jul 11, 2012

Hello nursingstudent2458, I'll try to break down each of your questions and answer them as best as I can.
I have thought about getting a phlebotomy certificate because doing labwork would seem interesting, but every job I searched requires at least 2 years of phlebotomy experience. How do you become a phlebotomist if you need 2 years of phlebotomy experience?
Phlebotomy is a great skill to have if you want to develop your vein finding skills and make it easier to transition to starting IVs since some of the steps are similar. I happen to work as an ER Tech where phlebotomy is probably my main duty. It is hard to land a job and I honestly got my job because I had been a volunteer in the ER I now work in and had a nurse practitioner put in a good word for me. You would probably have to start off working part time or even on call for a lab like quest diagnostics to gain more experience in order to apply for a hospital phlebotomist or tech position.
I'm not sure I want to become a CNA because I might be discouraged from becoming an RN, as they seem to do most of the "dirty work." I know that RNs do it too, but I wouldn't want to be stuck with that before being a nurse. Forgive me if that sounds heartless. I'm squeamish in bodily fluids (except blood). Is this job high in demand though?
I don't know about how high the demand for CNAs in your area is but I know that sometimes if there are hiring freezes then it can even be hard to get a CNA job at times. I'm not a CNA but I used to do a lot of CNA type work when I was a volunteer and even though it was the dirty work, it was proof to me that I was able to handle the medical field. If you are squeamish around bodily fluids other than blood, wouldn't you want to know that you will be able to handle them? It is better to find out as a CNA that you absolutely cannot tolerate working around bodily fluids instead of going to nursing school and finding out then dropping out etc. I think that the skills you learn as a CNA as a whole are more useful to learn before nursing school the phlebotomy by itself.
Would a pharmacy technician be helpful experience? I know that you learn about all of the drugs in nursing school, but would being a pharmacy tech give a nursing student a larger knowledge of drugs in a hospital setting? This certificate program would be interesting as well.
I think any type of experience is good experience but I personally would rather do CNA and phlebotomy over pharmacy tech. There are always pharmacology classes to help you learn different drugs and med calculations.

I would say do CNA and phlebotomy if you have the time and money but I'm not sure about how long it would take to do pharmacy tech. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your help Bobmo88!

You made some good points about becoming a CNA before a nurse. If I don't get into nursing school, then I will try to obtain the CNA certificate and hope for a job. Although a CNA isn't exactly my first choice, it may save me from wasting my time in nursing school if I am still squeamish. Thanks again.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Jul 14, 2012

I'm currently completing a Phlebotomy course while doing my pre-reqs. At our CC, we're required to not only take Phlebotomy, but we also have to complete a Phlebotomy Externship in order to sit for our certification exam. The externship is at one of 2 hospitals in the area. Most of the phlebotomists are usually hired out of the externship programs (if you do an excellent job during your rotation). You have to do a minimum of 125 draws in the externship.

We did clinicals at the hospital yesterday and did rounds with the phlebotomists. It was very eye-opening to see what they do and how they interact with the lab. I'm definitely gaining some great venipuncture skills for nursing school and I feel like I'll be very confident when it comes time to learn IVs. Plus, I want to eventually become a PA after getting my BSN, so any work I do as a Phlebotomist counts as patient care experience for PA school

I have thoroughly enjoyed my phlebotomy class this summer (even when one of my classmates collapsed my vein on a syringe draw). We've got 2 more weeks (8 more classes) to go before we're done with this semester and we've already done over 40 draws (vacutainer, syringe, butterfly, BSG, etc.)

chorkle · Jul 15, 2012

CNA is a pre-req requirement here; and, if you have no hospital exper at all, I would strongly recommend it. You'll have to get down in the dirt, at least occasionally, as an RN; and as a CNA, you'll find out whether you can take it. But, proper preparation--CNA course & clinicals--will help. Should you conclude that you absolutely cannot stand really messy urine/feces/blood/

emesis, etc., you might want to rethink the RN bit. But talk with a counselor & others. It's not about you--you're there to help the resident, or patient. This concept provides some detachment, although you still must care about the resident, or patient.

Phlebotomist, I don't know. Varies a lot, regionally. Place I used to live, the course schedule was easy enough, but the clinicals section was several weeks of 0500~1330, M~F--making it pretty hard to do anything else during that time. And, work was by no means certain after graduation. And, it was expensive. Something like $1200 at local comm. college, $3000 at local branch of state university. A useful skill, certainly. Not much direct correlation with starting an IV, in my exper. As a paramedic with ambulance & ER exper., starting an IV is much easier than phlebotomy with a butterfly needle. Maybe it's just me.

Pharmacy tech, hard to say. Local pre-nursing student got such a job at the local Wally World; they provided training, & paid for her first attempt at certification. (Haven't heard the outcome.) She did not say anything about how much she may have learned about medications, or whether she thought that might help her in NS. Fairly heavy workload, she said.

Hope this helps.

nursingstudent2458 · Jul 19, 2012

Thank you SopranoKris and chorkle for the info! It really helps :)