CNA to Rn

[this.rose.95]

This coming fall I will be getting my CNA certificate from a local community college and I recently heard from a friend that if you work for a union nursing home for at least the duration of your probationary period that they will help out financially if you want to continue your education in the healthcare field. My ultimate goal is to get my RN degree, and I was wondering if the information is true, and if anyone else has any experience with this and has advice to share. Thank you!

[verene, MSN]

It is true that *some* employers offer tuition assistance for employees to continue education relevant to the healthcare field. The specifics of how this works, and what is required of you as an employee, and how much an employer might assist you will vary from employer to employer.

My previous employer (a hospital) would provide tuition reimbursement to employees. Their program required you be at least a half-time employee and have been an employee in good standing for a minimum of 1 year. Reimbursement amount was pro-rated based on hours worked, and on degree program (i.e the cap amount they would pay was higher for someone working on an MD degree, than for someone working on an LPN degree, and full-time employees received more assistance than half-time). They did not provide the money up front but would reimburse at the end of each term with proof of completion of coursework and maintenance of a >3.0 cum GPA.

It is likely that this nursing home your friend mentioned has some form of employee assistance for school, it may look like how I have described above or it may look completely different.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

What Verene said⬆️⬆️

I would also add that I don't believe that being unionized has anything to do with which facilities offer tuition help.