CNA or not?

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.

As an RN in an intensive care unit I not only manage the details of my patients' care but also am responsible for the total care (baths, bed changes, turning, cleaning up BM, etc.) of my 1-2 patients (who are usually on vents and/or need max assist for everything). Basic care can really be important with my patients because it can mean the difference between a bedsore that never heals and skin that stays intact with underlying tissue that stays healthy. Some of them may be in bed for weeks (or even months) unable to do anything for themselves. Not all areas of nursing typically have CNA's and LPN's to delegate to. I don't know of any hospitals in my area that routinely staff their ICU's with techs or CNA's. However most med/surg and stepdown floors have CNA's and LPN's.

True, I learned the basic skills to get my CNA license in the first term of nursing school, but working as a CNA during school gave me invaluable experience that I am grateful for even now as a RN. The little timesaving tricks I learned and the amount of experience I gained in doing basic activities of daily living have made my transition into ICU much easier. Even just getting a chance to work in the hospital and work with a wide variety of patients (above and beyond what I got to do in clinicals) and observe how their diagnosis was treated was helpful in giving me real world experience that I can now utilize when I'm managing the care of my patients.

Becoming a CNA doesn't always have to be an all or nothing job either...there's plenty of places that will hire part-time or even per diem if you wanted to also stay in the better-paying field you're currently in and just pick up extra days when you could to work as a CNA.

Good luck with everything:)