CNA stands for Certified Nursing Assistant. When you hear the title you immediately think assist nurses and work besides nurses. You search career info on the web you will find a happy person in scrubs with a chart in there hand and stethoscope around there neck. It's truly misleading. It sucks people in. It sucked me in. I knew I wanted to be an LPN, but everyone told me that it's hard I wouldn't be able to handle the dirty work. Be a CNA first they said. And I regret every minute of not going straight to nursing school. CNA has put me a year behind and at a job I hate. The other day I was working with a 67 year old CNA. That tore it for me that was it. I enrolled in nursing school. I start May 24th. All CNAs do is take care of people that's it. And that means change diapers, dress nasty mean people, (some not all) every day every day it's the same thing. No respect no thank yous, you do this on 30 plus patients daily treated like crap, at my facility we are not even allowed to step foot behind the nurses station, I swear to you the Wardclerks and Dietary get 100 percent more respect than we do and they have no certifications. I am finally to the point wear I absolutely hate it. But I do think I will like being an LTC Nurse. And defininnlyy a nurse who understands frustration of my aides. But unless you think you can handle changing dirty diapers, bathing, feeding, 40 plus people a day do not become a CNA. Go straight for Nurse. Yes it's true that in some cases with the absence of CNAs nurses will have to do this. And I don't mind doing this, it's just I mind this being the only thing I do day after day for 40 plus years. All for about 900 dollars a month. Be aware Certified Nurses Assistant does not equal assisting nurses with there tasks, it equals personal care worker who does nothing but provide personal care to people. Be warned. Work is necessary but no one in there right mind wants to do it for more than 5-10 years. And it's only gonna get worse as facilities cut and fit and cut.