CNA before RN?

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi all! I've read hundreds and hundreds of posts here and finally decided to post my own :) Please forgive me (and help me!) if this information is on this site somewhere and I havent found it! :p

I've decided to go into nursing, L&D or Neonatal (I'll decide later!), but I'm confused as to what I should do NOW.

Like most people here, I HAVE to work full-time while I go to school. I'm really really sick of my current $7 an hour job! My question is, would it be beneficial for me to become a CNA and work full-time as a CNA while I am in school? (I plan to get an ADN and then will probably go into one of the RN-BSN programs they offer online)

My view is that working as a CNA will give me experience before I become an RN, also I should get paid more than $7 an hour as a CNA, right??? Is it a better idea for me to wait a semester or a year, and then try to get an internship with a hospital while I'm a student nurse? (do i have to have actual nursing classes for a semester first, or do prereqs count?)

Another QUESTION in my mind: do Hospitals have CNAs in L&D or Neonatal or even their nursery? I really really have no desire to work in a nursing home and be cleaning up people's poop from the floors. ALSO, I'm wondering if a year or 2 of experience working as a CNA will help me get a little higher pay when I am a new grad. Does anyone have any info or experience with CNAs?

Sorry I have so many questions, I dont have anyone to ask....and I'm afraid the colleges arent going to give me the right information. Hospitals don't seem very excited to have me calling with all these stupid questions..... :rolleyes:

*emily*

CNA's in NC can make anywhere from $7.00 to $15.00 an hour. The higher pay comes from the contract/travel nurses and are very rare. $7.50-$8.50 is what I've been told is the norm. There is shift differential for 2nd & 3rd shift, usually.

A lot of the nursing programs in this part of NC require CNA1 as part of the admission requirements. I don't know if that is statewide.

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Yes! You definitely should work as a CNA while in nursing school. I think it should even be required!! I just finished my first semester of nursing school, and in my clinical group was a person who didn't even know what vital signs consisted of. something you learn in a CNA class which is required to start the program in the first place. This girl was totally lost and probably gained nothing from her clinical experience. My other story... I work at a hospital as a CNA, we just spent 8 weeks orientating a new RN. Had to let her go because she just couldn't apply what she had learned in nursing school. She never worked as a CNA a day in her life. I think it's hard to walk onto a floor as a new nurse and try to do a decent job. There is just so much you learn as a CNA. And the biggest advantage is I feel it really makes nursing school a heck of a lot easier.

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Specializes in Acute Medicine/ Palliative.

I dont know about your school, but I think it wise to play down the fact you are a CNA whilst in nursing school. Nursing is nursing and I think you have to check the CNA at the classroom door. It has been noticed that some of the instructors dont care for the "well I do THIS as a care aide" and "we do THIS where I work".......just a word of caution...check it at the door! Oh! and good luck and have FUN!

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I agree. Kept real quiet about having work experience as a CNA while in nursing school. The nursing program I attended does not recognize CNA experience for helping pre-nursing applicants to get accepted into the program.

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I agree with the other posters that it is wise to play down your role as a CNA while you are in school. You have to realize that all facility's have different policies in place. However being a CNA will help you with pt care in the long run.

You will have an edge and feel more at ease.

Good luck to you and me, jules

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