CNA vs EMT for pre-nursing student

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I had posted this on a different thread here, so sorry for the repeat, but hoping maybe it might get some replies in this thread.

I tried searching, but there weren't any recent threads on this topic. I am currently on a two-year waitlist for my local community college's ADN program and retaking some prereqs from my first experience with nursing school over 10 years ago. While I'm currently employed as an academic support coach for an online college program, I'm not very fulfilled by this. I'm trying to stay in this job for as long as possible because it pays pretty well and I have a fairly large sum of debt that I'm trying to get as much paid off as possible before starting nursing school. With the fact that I'm not happy with my current position (love the students I help, just not all the policies I have to stick to and that I'm not more hands-on helping), I'm considering my original plan of becoming a CNA and doing that sooner than I had originally intended to do right before starting the nursing program so I could work part-time as a CNA while in nursing school. Recently, I thought it would be very interesting to be an EMT and from what I can tell from job postings, they seem to get paid a bit more in my area and have a wider variety of places that I can work. The CNA program would definitely be faster, but as I had gone through CNA training before nursing school the first time around and I've spent a large portion of my adult life caring for adults and children with developmental disabilities, I think I have enough experience in the patient care side of things that I would like some more technical skills and to improve my confidence in acting quickly in medical situations. The downside to an EMT program is it's longer, but I think in the long run it feels more appealing to me. Any advice on which would be more helpful for my future ability to get into working at a hospital?

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If you plan to work in an Emergency Dept. the EMT will be helpful. If you are planning/wanting to work in a different part of the hospital it is not as helpful.

If you want to Check out the Student Doctor Network.net they have a lot of discussions on which is better.

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On 8/24/2019 at 8:19 PM, css0971 said:

If you plan to work in an Emergency Dept. the EMT will be helpful. If you are planning/wanting to work in a different part of the hospital it is not as helpful.

If you want to Check out the Student Doctor Network.net they have a lot of discussions on which is better.

Thanks for the input, Emergency Dept is something I am definitely considering. I would love to work in a PED's ER at our local children's hospital. I pro-actively took a BLS CPR class this weekend, even though I already have a general CPR card and the instructor told me she was an EMT and she was able to easily get hired as an ER tech in the local children's hospital, which is ideally what I would hope to do with my EMT.

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Hello!

I know your post was a few months back, but here's my advice if you hadn't made a decision!

I am in my second semester of an accelerated Nursing Program and I am EMT certified. My best recommendation is make your decision based on what your strengths and weaknesses are. Good news; whichever option you choose, you're going to feel ahead of the game by getting either certification! If you feel confident in your hands-on patient skills and would prefer to focus on your book knowledge and knowledge of the physiology side of Nursing, become an EMT. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a really awesome Internship that allowed me to get a lot of hands-on patient care, so it was nice to focus on the book knowledge and physiology aspect of Nursing in EMT classes. On the opposing side, if you feel confident in your book knowledge or knowledge of physiology and want to practice your hands-on skills, go for your CNA certification. Hopefully this helps and good luck with whatever you decide! :)

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On 10/12/2019 at 10:04 AM, Bk94 said:

Hello!

I know your post was a few months back, but here's my advice if you hadn't made a decision!

I am in my second semester of an accelerated Nursing Program and I am EMT certified. My best recommendation is make your decision based on what your strengths and weaknesses are. Good news; whichever option you choose, you're going to feel ahead of the game by getting either certification! If you feel confident in your hands-on patient skills and would prefer to focus on your book knowledge and knowledge of the physiology side of Nursing, become an EMT. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a really awesome Internship that allowed me to get a lot of hands-on patient care, so it was nice to focus on the book knowledge and physiology aspect of Nursing in EMT classes. On the opposing side, if you feel confident in your book knowledge or knowledge of physiology and want to practice your hands-on skills, go for your CNA certification. Hopefully this helps and good luck with whatever you decide! ?

Thanks! I've still been leaning more towards the EMT side. I just accepted a job as a behavioral health technician at a behavioral hospital that is a part of a large hospital network in my area, so I'm hoping that will give me a little more insight on where to go. I'm also considering now with this new job, I will be working directly under an RN and it seems to pay more than I've seen listed for any EMT jobs, so if I'm getting experience and working in a hospital setting, I may just stay in this position until I'm done with nursing school. I appreciate the input, that was exactly my thoughts working in either field at least gets some hands-on experience and nursing school will help me with the rest ?

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