CNA in a hospital

[Racer1986]

Hello, I am making a career transition to nursing (will be starting my ADN in January) and am looking to go ahead and begin working as a CNA in order to get my feet wet. I have asked some questions on this forum before, and I really appreciate everyone who takes time to help out on here. It is unbelievably helpful...

Ideally, I'd like to be in a hospital, but I understand I may need to start out in a long-term care facility. I'm just a little unclear on a couple of things:

1. I've found a CNA training course that works well for me schedule-wise, but the textbook used has "long-term care" in the title. That has me concerned that would not be best for me if I hope to work in a hospital eventually. Is anyone aware whether some CNA/nurse aide training classes focus on long-term care whereas others do not?

2. I've also heard that some hospital/facilities offer their own on-the-job training and don't require a CNA certification. How common is this and should I be looking for jobs before jumping into a CNA course?

3. I've also thought about becoming a home health aide. Would that require a CNA certification? How likely would I be to get hired doing that as my first healthcare job? Any other thoughts on pros/cons of that versus being a CNA in a hospital or LTC facility for someone who eventually hopes to be an RN?

Thank you all so much for your help! Hope to be able to pay it forward someday.

[mirandaaa]

1. As long as it's a CNA course which will grant you state certification to work as an NA, you should be fine.

2. This isn't very common, but it varies by facility. If you look at job openings online, they will state if the applicant needs to be certified with the state. If they do require certification, you can probably still try, but the chances of getting hired are not likely (especially since you have no prior experience).

3. HHA also varies by state. When I lived in one state, we were required to be a CNA and also obtain an HHA certification and then when I moved to a new state, I was required to be a CNA, but not have the HHA certification. I have a friend who works in HHA in another state and does not have her CNA. Just depends on where you live! You would be pretty likely to be hired as an HHA as your first job. It's very simple.

I worked FT in LTC for 3 years and now that I'm starting nursing school this fall, it would be more beneficial to work in a hospital (especially if you plan on hospital work instead of LTC later after school). I personally feel as though you'll get more medical experience in a hospital and LTC is more physical cares. I will also say that without prior experience, getting into a hospital job as a CNA will be difficult unless you know someone. Even as an aide with 3 years of experience, I'm having trouble getting into a hospital myself!

Good luck!

[mvm2]

Even though CNAs work in hospitals most CNA classes focus on the elder care and LTC setting because you need to know about elder care if you are going to meet the requirements of being a CNA.

Miranda is correct about home care. I live in Michigan and even though I did not have to take a CNA course to be a hha it has helped tremendously and being a CNA helps me to be able to be qualified for some of the more critical care clients such as quads which takes special skills and learning.

One thing to keep in mind about home care that there is house work involved as well. If you don't like to do housework don't be in home care.