CNA vs. nursing fundamentals

[CNAinNeb]

Is nursing fundamentals much more in-depth than a CNA class? How is it different? What about your first clinical? Is that much different than CNA duties? Just wondering.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

in nursing fundamentals you are learning why you are doing those cna things. in nursing school you are learning the reasoning behind why we do what we do. nursing school is not just about fluffing pillows, giving pills and changing bandages. if that is what you thought a licensed nurse was, you were wrong. there is a lot of thinking, decision making and knowledge that has to be learned to be a licensed nurse. what you do as a cna is taught in one semester in most rn programs. the remainder of the two years is studying disease and treatment.

[PsychNurseWannaBe, BSN, RN]

My first clinical was 50% centered around CNA duties and 50% the beginning/basic of nursing. Introduced to the nursing process, performing nursing assessments and care planning. Had to do research concerning our primary patient's dx and write a paper. Oh...don't want to forget... also introduced to the concept of critical thinking.

[rotteluvr31, ADN, RN]

I'm in the second semester of a 2 yr ADN program. Our first clinical last semester brought together people with all types of experience. Many folks had been a CNA for several years (a pre-req for our ADN program). Some were CNA's, but never did more then pass the test and didn't have any actual experience. We worked in hospitals, nursing homes, home health and Wal-Mart. Some of the more experienced folks complained first semester was to similar to working as a CNA, but for the ones with no experience, it was all brand new. Yes, we did pt. care and toileted and bathed, changed depends, and fed our pts. as needed. But we had one pt., not a whole unit. We were to study the chart, and as previously mentioned, figure out, and report back, as to why we were providing the care we were. We also started to integrate meds into the picture and what type of side effects they might have, how would that impact the care we were giving. All part of the critical thinking that was also previously mentioned. So, while it might seem that the physical part of it isn't much different from the CNA role, the classroom part or thinking part is VERY much different.

Hope this helps!