If I hate being an CNA, will I hate nursing?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I've been planning for about 6 months now to apply for MEPN/GEPN programs for fall of 2009, with a nurse-midwifery degree being the end goal. I recently (three weeks agao) started working as a CNA at an LTC while taking pre-reqs and I am miserable. Even with 10-12 patients, I feel like I never get eeverything (even enough) done and I take all my work-related anxiety home with me and worry on my days off about my previous and upcoming days at work. Is nursing different? Or will I carry all this stress with me all the time, and should I get out now before I've invested $$$ in an education?

Didn't mean to sound that way! I just know my husband thought that when he finished with clinicals he'd never have to wipe another backside or make another bed, that there would be CNA's to do that for him. It doesn't always work that way though, does it?

night shift on my floor we have never had a cna past 10pm for as long as i've worked there. i wipe every one of my patients butts if need be

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You'll probably never feel like you have enough time to do everything, just the nature of the job. As far as doing it to your satisfaction, you sound just like me. I'm OCD and I spend more time re-doing things I'm not satified with than doing them the first time. My employers have always benefited from my personality. I don't leave until everything is perfect and you can't hardly tell I've been there by my work area. I like to keep a clean shop! Sometimes our annoying quirks turn into assets at work.

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find a job working at a resturant.... way less stress while youre in school and its easy money in your hand every night... im a CNA and i hate it too so i dont do it anymore...youre not alone...;)

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Specializes in Neuro.

If you enjoy (or at least don't mind) the tasks of a CNA and caring for the people and want an opportunity to provide "better" care than you can as a CNA, I would strongly recommend you look into being a home health aide. You get to spend time with one patient at a time, rather than trying to chase after a bunch of them at once.

I did CNA work for a while and like you, I came home stressed about work and dreaded going because I was intimidated by the gigantic workload ahead of me (not to mention the workplace was pretty toxic). I was significantly happier doing home health.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

I don't think you'll hate nursing if you hate being a CNA.

I'm a 1st semester LPN student and just finished a 4 day clinical placement at a LTC facility. The only duties we could do were basically that of which a CNA could do. Transfers, personal care, feeding etc. It really reaffirmed for me that I'm so glad I didn't become a Registered Care Aid or Long Term Care Aid (pretty much the equivilants of CNA in Canada). I had pondered the idea briefly, but decided to go for my LPN.

The LPN's there certainly could do that more basic stuff and know how to do it all, but all they did all day was push the med cart around, giving out meds.

It's not that I DIDN'T like what I was doing, but certainly very glad that I wouldn't be doing those duties ALL THE TIME as a nurse.

I would also recommend shadowing a midwife or RN for a few days before deciding if it's completley right for you, but being a CNA and being a nurse are really quite different.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. Surprisingly, it's not the butt-wiping and the bed-making that are getting me down. I adore (most) of my residents and I do like taking care of them. It's just that there's never enough time to provide nearly the level of care that I would like to, or to just spend time getting to know my residents. I'll admit that it's physically trying some days, but it's constant emotional stress that's making me unhappy: my job is never done to my satisfaction and I worry about it a lot while I'm not there. One of my residents passed away last night while I was on the floor (not even one I'd had for more than a couple of days) and I had to do the post-mortem care...at the end of my shift I came home and cried my eyes out.

My main worry about nursing, even on a OB floor, is that my inability to leave my job at work will make me burnout before I even get started.

Those feelings are not going to go away as a nurse.

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It's just that there's never enough time to provide nearly the level of care that I would like to, or to just spend time getting to know my residents. I'll admit that it's physically trying some days, but it's constant emotional stress that's making me unhappy: my job is never done to my satisfaction and I worry about it a lot while I'm not there. One of my residents passed away last night while I was on the floor (not even one I'd had for more than a couple of days) and I had to do the post-mortem care...at the end of my shift I came home and cried my eyes out.

My main worry about nursing, even on a OB floor, is that my inability to leave my job at work will make me burnout before I even get started.

I was a cna for many years before I became a nurse. As a nurse, the "emotional stress" and feeling like the job "is never done to my satisfaction" due to lack of time, staffing, equipment, etc., feel much more intense.

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Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.
In my opinion, if you're worried about the anxiety of being a CNA you can expect to have more anxiety as a midwife since the responsibility of being a midwife is going to be much greater. So, in my opinion, yes, you should get out now before investing $$$ in an education that might prove to be a disappointment. One thing you might do is try to get an opportunity to shadow a midwife to see what they do on a daily basis.

I rarely, if ever, disagree with Daytonite; however, I must disagree on this one. I went ahead and attempted the CNA route my senior year in high school but despised it so much that I did not complete the CNA program. I am now a nurse apprentice on a pediatrics floor (I perform all the duties of an RN under the supervision of an RN -- usually, lol -- while attending nursing school), and there are some nights where I am forced to work as a CNA if we are short-handed. I am so incredibly stressed when I work as a CNA but absolutely love when I perform the RN duties. I do not mind doing my own CNA duties, but it is very stressful if you have to do the entire floor throughout a 12 hour shift.

Thus I think the stress of continuous "manual labor" of cleaning patients, taking vitals, etc. for 12 hours is completely different than the stress of an RN or APN, mid-wife, etc. In fact, my OB instructor worked as an OB nurse for many years before returning for her masters (not sure if she is an APN/NP or CNM), however, she has stated over and over again how much she loves working in her current role and has talked about how the stress is far different than when she was an RN.

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Personally, I do not ENJOY being a CNA...it pays the bills and really is about the best tech/CNA job in the area....it's at the supposed "rich" hospital...but we get patients from all over the state....

I do a lot of nursing skills that I don't need a license for and I enjoy patient interaction....the ones that are "difficult" patients can really teach you a lot about patient/family interaction....

I do not enjoy wiping up poop, dealing with pain, etc. etc....but I know there is no magic bullet that the title RN can start deflecting that away from me....All I do is learn how to do what I do during my 12.5 hrs on the floor and the minute I punch out...I'm out in both body and mind....(except when I come on to AN to post!)....

Perhaps LTC is not your forte...I know I couldn't do it and I applaud those CNAs that do...I enjoy elderly patients we get, but I know I couldn't do it day in/day out....find another field that you CAN enjoy...remember CNAs CAN do anything!!!!

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

As a nurse who came up through the ranks (I was a CNA before they had national certifications for nurse's aides), I can honestly say that being a nurse is related to but yet very different from being a CNA.

I'm glad for the CNA experience because nowadays, nurses are taught to give pills when a simple bed bath or repositioning could've had the same result.

I never felt like I could get it all done as a CNA, and I still don't as a nurse, but you know what? I grew into the acceptance that we all have limits.

We don't necessarily burn out doing our jobs and doing them well; we burn out because we're anxious and upset from all the things we wanted to get done and couldn't.

At a certain point, we accept that our time at work is limited and we accept that there are others who are just as dedicated as we are. We all do the best we can.

What you really have to ask yourself is how badly do you want to be a nurse? It's a tough job and a stressful life. But some of us simply decided that the benefits of helping others outweighed the difficulties.

Only you can decide.

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I was a CNA before I started the nursing program. I am one year into the program, and I can say that it is a different type of nursing than being a CNA. I love what I am doing so far. While I was a CNA worked at a SNF. I think the environment alone is very different from an acute level hospital. Try working there as a CNA and see what you think.

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..It's just that there's never enough time to provide nearly the level of care that I would like to, or to just spend time getting to know my residents. I'll admit that it's physically trying some days, but it's constant emotional stress that's making me unhappy: my job is never done to my satisfaction and I worry about it a lot while I'm not there.

I symathize with what you are saying, but I hear nurses on my unit make this same comment all the time. They love the profession, but hate the politics. There is never enough time, enough resources, enough staff to provide the best care. The bottom line is profit, and its those silly accountants who have never spent a day on the floor that are writing the budjet. This issue affects all nursing staff, CNA's, and RN's.

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