CNA Training

To get your CNA, you can take a seperate course. My CC offers a CNA course that is the length of one quarter of school. Many nursing homes also offer the course for free, as long as you work for them. You can get your CNA after the first semester of nursing school. You can go on your states BON site and they may list the places that are able to offer you a CNA class. Keep in mind that hospitals generally want at lest a year experience of CNA work prior to hirring.

You can always do the CNA course, but keep in mind that you can work as one after a certain amount of time in nursing school, and most hospitals LOVE to hire student nurses. L&D is a hard area to get into without experience, but it's worth a shot. You can always try to volunteer in L&D. Good luck!

As well as looking into CNA courses at colleges/schools, do some research on your local hospitals. Some hospitals have training programs for their nurse techs/patient care techs that are designed for people that have no experience.

I would try to end up as a tech on a floor where you will perform skills that will apply to a L&D unit. I started out as a tech on a liver/kidney transplant floor - at first glance this would have nothing to do with L&D, but I did blood draws on these patients (a good skill to have when it comes to starting IVs), and started and D/C'ed foley catheters (which we do all the time in L&D) among other things. Obviously doing tech work on a postpartum floor would work as well, but these positions can be hard to come by and a little creativity to get your foot in the door in other ways will go a long way.

Best of luck!

You can do your CNA after one year of nursing school but they also offer other programs..I got mine through a local teaching hospital for only $500 but i know a lot of ppl at my job who are currently in the same LPN program as me, but a year ahead and they got their CNA and yes thats the perfect way to get your foot in the door...I just got into the hospital here for ICU as a CNA and I want to be an ICU nurse and the hospital told me they would hold on to me while in nursing school and that they would actually pay me to take my RN after I finish this LPN....

We don't have CNA's at the hospital I'm full time at nor do they have them at either of the local hospitals in L&D but all have or have had nursing students as externs/interns (whichever they call them) at my hospital if you're an extern they pay for the rest of your school for a committment after graduation and if there's no position when you graduate you don't have to pay them back

Hey Ivanabeearn...where in Oregon are you? I'm in Hillsboro...currently taking pre-reqs at PCC.

hi studentmom2007

I am in Milwaukie, summer of 06 I took the CNA course at CCC and have been working in a LTC, and I finally have gotten an interview at one of the big hospitals in the area. I have found that most of the hospitals make it a requirment to have a year of experience before they will interview. The good news is in my searchs for a CNA postion in the hospitals they do offer jobs in L&D.

I took all my pre-reqs at CCC, earned two associate degrees just not in nursing!

I wish I could take my two and trade them in for a bachelors

I applied at PCC and CCC, missed the cut off for the interview at CCC by 2.4 points