CNA or not?

nurseguy_2005. . .Rather than quitting your job let me suggest another approach to you since you are wondering if being a CNA would be helpful. Talk with the activities director at some local nursing homes and see if you can come in to help as a volunteer for some activities during the weekends. I'm assuming that you have weekends off of your regular job. Get into some of these nursing homes to help out as a volunteer and you will get a very good eyeful of what CNAs do. Several nursing homes I worked in had volunteers who came in to help feed patients during meals. During activities the volunteers do things like wheel the patients to and from their rooms and help the patients in other little ways during little activity programs that they have. It would only take a hour or two of your time. If you are a member of a church ask the minister or ask around as to who might have a relative in a nursing home. Find a reason to visit some of these places and then just sit and watch what goes on. My neice has been working as an activities aide in a local nursing home and often comes to me with questions about some of the things she sees the nursing staff doing.

Let me also clarify something about nursing for you. Basic nursing care is done by all levels of nurses from CNAs on up to BSNs and beyond as well. As your level of nursing education increases your actual time involved in doing very basic nursing with patients decreases (now this is only a generalization). Having a college degree in nursing puts you into the position of have to make more complicated patient care management decisions and the college background is required for that. Do not get sucked into the mentality of many who think that an RN has to dig in and do the basic nursing care alongside the CNAs all the time. That is not true and those nursing aides who feel their licensed nurses need to be pitching in and helping them out all the time are suffering from blue collar mentality. Hospitals and facilities who hire RNs need them for their decision making and problem solving skills. While an RN for many reasons will want to participate in the basic nursing care of patients at certain times, it is not usually a top priority. Basic nursing care is often delegated out to CNAs and LPNs so the RNs have time to do other higher level functions that are required of them. You can go to RN school without ever having been a CNA or worked in nursing before. I did. You will learn everything you need to know in your RN nursing school. The first semester of ADN programs and the Basic nursing classes of the BSN programs are where you learn what CNAs learn. Do some investigation about the role of RNs. There are many anectdotal books out there and articles. There are several professional nursing journals that you should look through to get an idea of what professional nursing is and what kind of things RN talk about professionally (Nursing 2005, RN Managazine, American Journal of Nursing). You will see very quickly that it is beyond the level of a CNA. After that, then make a decision as to whether to quit your job and take a CNA position. If you are hell bent on experiencing what it is like to be a CNA first look for evening or weekend classes that will permit you to learn the role, but still keep your day job. Once a CNA you can also work part time and still keep your day job since CNAs are always in demand. Since you already have a BBA I doubt that you will be very happy at a CNA level of nursing. The nature of your education already tells me you are accustomed to doing some independent thinking. You will be much happier in an RN or BSN program if you decide that you truly want to get into nursing.

nurseguy_2005. . .Rather than quitting your job let me suggest another approach to you since you are wondering if being a CNA would be helpful. Talk with the activities director at some local nursing homes and see if you can come in to help as a volunteer for some activities during the weekends. I'm assuming that you have weekends off of your regular job. Get into some of these nursing homes to help out as a volunteer and you will get a very good eyeful of what CNAs do. Several nursing homes I worked in had volunteers who came in to help feed patients during meals. During activities the volunteers do things like wheel the patients to and from their rooms and help the patients in other little ways during little activity programs that they have. It would only take a hour or two of your time. If you are a member of a church ask the minister or ask around as to who might have a relative in a nursing home. Find a reason to visit some of these places and then just sit and watch what goes on. My neice has been working as an activities aide in a local nursing home and often comes to me with questions about some of the things she sees the nursing staff doing.

Let me also clarify something about nursing for you. Basic nursing care is done by all levels of nurses from CNAs on up to BSNs and beyond as well. As your level of nursing education increases your actual time involved in doing very basic nursing with patients decreases (now this is only a generalization). Having a college degree in nursing puts you into the position of have to make more complicated patient care management decisions and the college background is required for that. Do not get sucked into the mentality of many who think that an RN has to dig in and do the basic nursing care alongside the CNAs all the time. That is not true and those nursing aides who feel their licensed nurses need to be pitching in and helping them out all the time are suffering from blue collar mentality. Hospitals and facilities who hire RNs need them for their decision making and problem solving skills. While an RN for many reasons will want to participate in the basic nursing care of patients at certain times, it is not usually a top priority. Basic nursing care is often delegated out to CNAs and LPNs so the RNs have time to do other higher level functions that are required of them. You can go to RN school without ever having been a CNA or worked in nursing before. I did. You will learn everything you need to know in your RN nursing school. The first semester of ADN programs and the Basic nursing classes of the BSN programs are where you learn what CNAs learn. Do some investigation about the role of RNs. There are many anectdotal books out there and articles. There are several professional nursing journals that you should look through to get an idea of what professional nursing is and what kind of things RN talk about professionally (Nursing 2005, RN Managazine, American Journal of Nursing). You will see very quickly that it is beyond the level of a CNA. After that, then make a decision as to whether to quit your job and take a CNA position. If you are hell bent on experiencing what it is like to be a CNA first look for evening or weekend classes that will permit you to learn the role, but still keep your day job. Once a CNA you can also work part time and still keep your day job since CNAs are always in demand. Since you already have a BBA I doubt that you will be very happy at a CNA level of nursing. The nature of your education already tells me you are accustomed to doing some independent thinking. You will be much happier in an RN or BSN program if you decide that you truly want to get into nursing.

I whole-heartedly agree with the above post.

Your current job affords you more financial security and I would continue with that.

Nursing was my second career, I did not take a CNA course and become a CNA and I don't feel I lost anything.

Daytonite is right - you learn the CNA basic patient care stuff right off the bat in nursing school. If you remember to always be a team player when you become a nurse and work with your LVN's and CNA's then you will be fine.

There are cases of nurses who sit when the call bell goes off waiting for a CNA to answer it or who won't empty a urinal or help a patient up off a commode but those types of people run the gamut of backgrounds related to nursing. That sort of a person is just not a nice person. We have one at work who was a CNA to LVN to RN . . . . she ignores call lights and goes to get the CNA to empty a urinal

Best wishes on your choice to enter the medical field.

steph