CNA while in school

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I just finished my first semester of my nursing program and I really want to get experience in a hospital environment, but after what seems like hundreds of applications for assistant type jobs in every hospital near me, I'm becoming a bit hopeless. The job I have now is good with school, but its a restaurant job and I feel like I should be spending my time honing in on my nurse skills instead of serving people food. I keep applying for nurse assistant jobs that are also listed for students who have finished one semester of clinical study to no avail. What I am wondering is if I should go ahead and take a CNA course in order to get certified and hopefully land a job, or continue with my current job until graduation and have my first nursing job be as an RN...I feel a little behind everyone in my program because most of them are already a CNA or working in a hospital, not to mention much older than me (I'm the youngest in the class, actually, at 20 years old). I have already checked and in my state you cannot just sit the CNA exam after finishing first semester. I would have to take the course, which costs $625.

Is it okay for your first nursing job to be as an RN, or would you recommend getting some experience? I know that being an RN is much different than being a CNA, so I'm also wondering if it is worth the time to do while in school....Thanks for any input.

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I'm also working in a restaurant while doing my bscn and I actually intend to stay there for awhile instead of finding a job in the medical field. My reasons are tips and a brain break!! Nursing school consumes most of my time so it's nice for me to go to work and not "think like a nurse" for a few hours. I'm sure I will switch to something else as I draw closer to graduation but for right now I'm happy where I am.

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Specializes in floating.
I just finished my first semester of my nursing program and I really want to get experience in a hospital environment, but after what seems like hundreds of applications for assistant type jobs in every hospital near me, I'm becoming a bit hopeless. The job I have now is good with school, but its a restaurant job and I feel like I should be spending my time honing in on my nurse skills instead of serving people food. I keep applying for nurse assistant jobs that are also listed for students who have finished one semester of clinical study to no avail. What I am wondering is if I should go ahead and take a CNA course in order to get certified and hopefully land a job, or continue with my current job until graduation and have my first nursing job be as an RN...I feel a little behind everyone in my program because most of them are already a CNA or working in a hospital, not to mention much older than me (I'm the youngest in the class, actually, at 20 years old). I have already checked and in my state you cannot just sit the CNA exam after finishing first semester. I would have to take the course, which costs $625.

Is it okay for your first nursing job to be as an RN, or would you recommend getting some experience? I know that being an RN is much different than being a CNA, so I'm also wondering if it is worth the time to do while in school....Thanks for any input.

I disagree. Being an RN is not much different than being a CNA - many floors in hospitals do not utilize CNAs between the hours of 2300 and 0700, unless they are a 1:1 companion. That being said, the RNs wind up doing the work of both the CNA and the RN. The skills you learn as a CNA are the ones that are absolutely fundamental to being a nurse, which is a good reason why a lot of nursing schools require a CNA certification prior to entry.

I've been a CNA for 7 years, I also did my MA, EMT basic, an RN program, and pre-med classes. Being a CNA has taught me a lot - how to handle difficult patients, how to rapidly assess a declining patient so they get appropriate care, how to tune into my gut instinct that something "isn't right" with my patient, how to handle a high volume of work while keeping my cool, time management, prioritization, and a host of other things. I took care of spinal cord injury patients, then worked myself into a position as a float in various hospitals. I have literally worked every floor imaginable in a hospital, which was helpful for nursing school. Now, because of that experience, I can quickly adapt to different types of floors and equipment, different types of patients, and being thrown into odd situations. It was absolutely worth the time and the money to get my CNA certification.

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I know that RNs do much of the same work as CNAs, and I have no problem with doing any type of nursing duties on any end of the spectrum. I do wonder though if it is worth my time now because I have a year and a half of school left and much of that will be spent in clinical as well as class, and if I will have any time to work as a CNA. I don't know if any hospitals will be able to accommodate to a student's schedule. Is it worth it now for me to do it or should I just wait until I graduate and am a licensed RN to get a job....

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Look at most of the jobs posted and see if you qualify for any. You may not get a CNA job, but you may get a unit clerk job where you are in a hospital and you'd work closely with doctors and nurses but still reap the benefits of being an internal hire when you graduate. Patient transporter is another option and people like it. You take patients to and from radiology and possibly even units.

Some places call nursing assistants other things like clinical associate, nurse tech, patient care tech, etc. Also, nursing homes are tougher but not horrible to work in.

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I have tried those positions as well...I've even applied for housekeeping positions! :yes:

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

Honestly, given that the course is so much money, I would skip it. I became a CNA about a year before I started nursing school, and while the experience has been very valuable, I would not have bothered with it after already beginning nursing school.

Hopefully the places you have applied to are just taking their sweet time :) In the meantime, you could also look into volunteering or shadowing to gain the experience (you know, with all the free time you have a nursing student, hardee-har-har).

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Also look at administrative or secretary, unit clerk type positions. Having some exposure to med. terminology can help you there. Keep applying to CNA or tech jobs as well. Once you've taken your fundamentals course, some states will let you challange the CNA exam, so you would take the test and get the cert without having to pay to re take the class. Any job in a hospital will give you a leg up.

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I work as a CNA while in school. The nurses are showing me some stuff like I was a intern lol! One nurse went to the nursing school I plan on applying for so he's giving me advice and helping me with studying for the TEAS exam. One nurse even offered me his books once I got in ?. I say go for it. If there's a confused pt then I assist the nurse by holding their arm and get to see how they start IVs' holding patients legs open while they insert a foley. At my job the CNA is allowed to remove saline locks during discharge if the nurse is busy. One time I got to hold a patient's ear open while a doctor collected an earwax sample!!!!!#EXCITING!!!!!? Lol. But you get to see a lot so when I get into nursing school I'm not as nervous in clinical or scared to touch patients because wiping butts and running down the hall after confused patients who decided to rip their IVs out and leave off the unit in their birthday suits is what I do part time already lol. It's totally different from rn but you get to see the work they do for yourself instead of these fairy tale pictures we see on brochures. The CNA exam is super easy. I didn't even study lol. And once I graduate and pass my nclex I don't have to wait months for a job ;-)

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