CNA to ADN and CLEP

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello all,

This is my very first post. I am a senior in an online business program. I want to go into nursing as a backup. I have a family member who advised me to take a three week course at a local hospital to get my CNA license, and work there for a minimum of three weeks prior to venturing out into private care.

My question is- Will the possession of a CNA license and a few weeks of private in-home care allow me to gain any transfer credit towards an ADN? I ask because there are no prerequisite courses available at my local community college; and perhaps I may not need a course or two if i would actually gain CLEP or some sort of transferable unit credits as a licensed CNA. I want to get my ADN asap.

-SS

I am not yet in an RN program of any type at my community college. I was looking at their course track for LPN or ASN and noticed the prerequisite courses like Human Anatomy, General Microbiology, Human Physiology; they are all full for the summer session and could have be taken online.

Since I have been in school for so long towards a BSBA, I do have a number of other transferable courses like Stats, Sociology, Critical Thinking English etc.

-SS

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FYI: CNA is not a license... its a just a certificate... after you finish some crash course.. they will give a certificate... its not like you have to do some internship and board exam.. as far as i know... you mention golden west college.. orange county cali... right???

and if you are thinking of nursing as your "back up" ... well I suggest you take some science courses first.... like anatomy, physiology, microbiology and organic/general/bio-chemistry... in-class not online... then you decide if you still want nursing to be your "back up " plan.. #justsayin

Taking CNA courses before "applying " to nursing program as a "back up" plan is sooooo yesterday... you may wanna rephrase that.. majority of people here work very hard to get in to nursing program... it's not for everybody... nursing program chooses you.. you don't get to choose...in some cases.. nursing becomes our next level of career path/choice never a "back up" plan... you don't want to offend other people... #culturalcompetent

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Thanks for at least splitting your response into three paragraphs, it made it a bit easier to read. I already mentioned in a previous post that a CNA would get either a certificate or a license as I was not sure- so there was no need to clarify it.

And yes that is the college, I am glad I spelled it correctly so that anyone with a Google address bar could find it. I will only take the required prerequisites, and core courses required, as some of the courses you mentioned are not required at the cited college. I will not take random courses to get a feel for the profession, wasting time and money. And if the college that conveys the degree accepts any courses online for transfer, I will take those, and not follow your suggestion.

A CNA does not need to go to school to take any courses. I am referring to being trained and becoming a CNA before going to school for an LPN or ASN, but getting as many courses completed towards an LPN or ASN as possible online, before entering school. So I do not need to rephrase that.

It appears that you and a couple of others are highly sensitive to me wanting to earn an ASN and have it as a back up, just in case the profession I really want to enter doesn't work out. It is not so yesterday, it is called career diversification, it is plan b in case plan a does not work out- as people often go back to school and enter another profession. I never once said that nurses don't work hard or that it is easy; no matter want anyone goes to college for, at any level, it is hard work. It all requires commitment to studying.

And no matter what career anyone considers, all careers are not for everybody. And all colleges have acceptance requirements no matter what you want to study. Nursing programs are no different, they do not choose people, they do not mail letters to people asking them to enroll- people apply and are accepted based upon a criteria and compete from a pool of other applicants just like any college for any degree.

Following your edict, no one should ever say they want to earn a degree or a certificate in ANY filed as a backup plan as it will offend everyone in that field- that is ridiculous.

More important than ANY career or endeavor is the freedom to speak and to choose one's course in life- and central to that is planning, and keeping one's employment options open. If any offense might or should be taken, it is the offense of telling someone to rephrase their statement, or that one cannot have another profession as a backup.

For the record, in case some have not read all of my posts in this thread- I find nursing, and yes the work of CNA's to be a noble profession. Nursing in particular pays well, and the work of CNA's should, but does not. I do not have the time or money to stay in college another several years for a BSN. I am considering becoming a CNA, working for a short period, then transferring coursework, and going to school for an LPN. Then I will take it form there, such as an ASN etc.

Online messaging is one of the worst forms of communication, and it is very easy for statements to be misinterpreted. I am trying my best to follow the rules here, so please ask me what I mean if anyone is unsure- before assuming something and making a statement that you think corresponds to

-SS

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.
The state of the economy and the probability of meaningful employment at graduation with a B.S.B.A. place me in a position to have a backup plan and nursing is it. I understand that nursing is no cakewalk and deserves my full attention. I do not plan to work while taking any courses. I am still single so I can get up and work anywhere in the country. A close family member is a CNA in New England and has established relationships, and makes $17 in hospital per diem but mostly does private care at $25 and $30 as a CNA. So I would likely be in her same area or another well paying area, not states that are notorious for low wages in the field.

I'm from New England and not only will It be hard to find a job as a (new) CNA there, the cost of living is extremely expensive.

Also, you're looking at 12-15/hr as a new CNA, I don't know what your friend does but that kind of money is quite unusual and not something you should expect.

Being a CNA is hard work and it does not pay well regardless of where you live.

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Hello sir, first off best of luck to you and your endeavors. I know the requirements for the golden west nursing program and they make it a little tricky. They require prerequisites for the prerequisites. So to take anatomy you need general biology, to take micro you need anatomy to take physio your need O chem, anatomy and micro. Then to take pharmacology you need micro anatomy phys and chem. so there is no getting around taking all of them one at a time. Furthermore, the nursing program requires you take take a lab with anatomy micro and phys so you can not take them online. They pretty much make it so you cant just use the program as a back up plan. On top of this your eligibility to enter the program will be based on the grades of all of the pre reques mentioned earlier, so if you don't have straight As you might not get in. I could go on, it gets more complicated but i will spare you. To be honest if this is a back up plan you are wasting an incredible amount of time and energy to have it sit on the back burner.

Best of luck.

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My backup plan is moving along nicely. I found another way. There are some very short programs out there. I won't mention any as we are all so competitive towards one another- so I must keep it a secret.

Thanks for your 'sincere' good wishes.

-SS

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There are labs available with online regionally accredited Community College courses. See Edukan for a start. For slightly more expensive pre reqs with lab look at American Public University and at Excelsior College. They both offer labs and science courses online.

It'll be cheaper to go to your local community college but if there are wait lists and you're in a hurry you can definitely do it online. People who say you have to go in person to do them are living in the past.

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