CNA while finishing prereq's...?

katulka · Dec 18, 2006

Hello,

I remember a post somewhere (either Pre-nursing or Gen. Nursing Student Discussion forums) called "Do CNAs make better nurses?" or something close to that. A lot of people weighed in on their experiences; this is probably the type of information you're looking for.

I've heard of some schools that require a CNA certificate as a prereq for admission to the SoN, so it definitely sounds like a good idea to me. Personally, I'm considering taking a semester off from prereqs to get a CNA license. I'm a second degree BSN hopeful, so I feel that working as a CNA for a while might boost my application package.

Good luck to you!

katulka

jmckeith · Dec 21, 2006

Okay, so next semester will hopefully be my last semester before nursing school. I have completed all my prereq's and because my CC goes by point system I wouldn't have been admitted for spring so I am taking my A&P II, Communications and Sociology-online next semester to get more points to enter with as well as a CNA course.
Has anyone else done this while waiting and I have heard that it is a really good predisposition for the whole hospital aspect of nursing.
Not really a question here, but I just wanna know if anyone has any experience to share where doing the CNA has benefited them prior to actual nursing school.....

WoW, good questions. I need the answers also since I have A&P II and CNA next semester. T

DesertRain · Dec 21, 2006

WoW, good questions. I need the answers also since I have A&P II and CNA next semester. T

I have started exploring this in the CNA thread under the nursing student forums. Great info there!

Megsd, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2006

I did it and I thought it was really good for me. I worked in a nursing home and as a home health aide (go to peoples' houses and give baths, one pt at a time) for a year before starting nursing school. Not only was I more familiar with some terminology and contraptions than some of my classmates, I was also much more at ease while interacting with my patients in my first clinical. I felt comfortable talking to them and assessing them while helping them with AM care because I was comfortable with the skills and comfortable being in that environment.

As a CNA you don't really get or understand all the details behind your pt's diagnosis. You see signs that whatever is not right, but you don't really have all the answers. In nursing school as I am learning about pathophysiology and how to take care of people with different disorders, I am able to make connections between the textbook stuff and the real live people I have cared for. Things that I experienced a year ago make more sense now, and now I have a concrete example to help me remember things I learn in school.

I don't know if it will make me a "better" nurse for having done it, but I definitely feel like I have benefited from the experience.

DesertRain · Dec 22, 2006

I did it and I thought it was really good for me. I worked in a nursing home and as a home health aide (go to peoples' houses and give baths, one pt at a time) for a year before starting nursing school. Not only was I more familiar with some terminology and contraptions than some of my classmates, I was also much more at ease while interacting with my patients in my first clinical. I felt comfortable talking to them and assessing them while helping them with AM care because I was comfortable with the skills and comfortable being in that environment.
As a CNA you don't really get or understand all the details behind your pt's diagnosis. You see signs that whatever is not right, but you don't really have all the answers. In nursing school as I am learning about pathophysiology and how to take care of people with different disorders, I am able to make connections between the textbook stuff and the real live people I have cared for. Things that I experienced a year ago make more sense now, and now I have a concrete example to help me remember things I learn in school.
I don't know if it will make me a "better" nurse for having done it, but I definitely feel like I have benefited from the experience.

That's what I have heard from so many people--that the interaction was much more comfortable upon entering nursing school. I actually know someone who failed her first semester of the ADN program and took the CNA course the following semester re-applied for the ADN and is now doing so much better the second time around simply due to the experience she gained.

Thanks for sharing !