CNA while in school

nursing81student · May 1, 2012

Any experience that you can get (with any type of patient) will help you IMMENSELY with nursing school. I have a PCT hospital job and I can not say enough how grateful I am to have had this job before I started school. It makes everything so much easier. It also is a great way to start your nursing career because you would be starting from the ground up.

I think what you have seen around this site regarding hospitals "not counting" nursing home experience involves RN experience and not CNA experience.

shay&lynn, ASN, RN · May 9, 2012

i work as an stna [state tested nurses aide] and have for the past year and a half.

i have found it very beneficial! you not only get that one on one with your residents, but you can see some pretty cool things...colostomy's, peg/pej tubes, etc...plus you learn the basics [bathing, dressing, feeding, etc...].

actually, the colleges in our area make it mandatory that you have your stna lic. prior to starting the program...

PennyWise · May 9, 2012

Just my two cents, for what it is worth: There are other healthcare positions I would want before being a CNA, with the HUC position being at the top of the list.

I worked as a hospital aid while in school and found it to be both rewarding and detrimental. I found that being a full time nursing student AND working full time as an aid left me very tired. I needed a break from it all by the time it was over. It was as if I was burnt out on nursing before I was even a nurse. I became task oriented too. I often felt, as an aid, the only problem I was solving was.......how to fetch things faster.

As a HUC, you will be exposed to the healthcare setting, but from a perspective that is unique. You will see more so how orders are handled and what sorts of issues come up with new orders. You will be exposed to some patient care but not to the point where you "need a break" from it. You will learn about admitting and discharging patients. Your ability to solve problems through working with the entire healthcare delivery team will be sharpened. The list of things you will get to experience is extensive, well beyond the cliff notes version I am describing here.

I don't mean to sound like I don't respect what an aid does. Im just speaking from the heart about how it made me feel. I would most certainly choose doing that over running a cash register at a gas station or dishwashing. I do though feel as if the whole "be an aid while you are taking nursing" phenomenon is over rated.

We all float down here.

RmichaelN · May 9, 2012

Personally, I would say go for it ..........just like nursing81student said ,it will help you immensely,just be smart about it don't quite your banking job until you land a CNA job.Plus landing a CNA position at a nursing home ,hospital or another medical facility, will only up your chances of moving on up into a nursing profession -if you so desire/and or career choice in life

kristin6727 · May 9, 2012

I have worked in a nursing home and I saw what CNAs do. I honestly think it would scare you away from being a nurse. They get the dirtiest, most disgusting jobs. I would never do it. I would try to do something medical though. I have been a medical transcriptionist for 8 years, and while I am not actually working with or seeing patients, I am typing up all the reports, so I am getting used to all the medical terms, the medications, the abbreviations. I type about what they have and what care they will be receiving. I really think it is going to help me in my nursing classes. It already helped with just my prereqs like anatomy and microbiology. I would do anything but CNA.