Contemplating my next move............

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Hey everybody!! Before I ask my question, I just wanted to mention this is my first post, and I LOVE this website. I have gotten so much information through reading different posts here. Right now, I'm a pre-nursing student as well as a CNA. I absolutely :heartbeat patient care, and have been in a home health care setting for about a year and a half. The problem is that at this point, I feel like I need more of a challenge, and want to learn some new skills. There is a clinical medical assisting course starting in a couple of months that I'm considering taking(which is only a six month course), but would like to hear y'alls opinions on what you would do. I'm several years away from earning a BSN (not even in nursing school yet!!), and although I love our patients, I could do my job sleeping,lol. I just kind of need a change so that I'm not in this job all the way through nursing school. I also need a better opportunity as far as pay goes,and really need some health benefits. I could go to work at a nursing home, but I'd still be doing kind of the same things.....whaddya think? Should I "stick it out" where I am, or try something new?

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My advice is ABSOLUTELY take that medical assisting course if you can. Medical assistants almost always make more than CNA's. Medical assisting is really wonderful because it combines clinical skills with administrative and your choice of jobs is going to double as soon as you are certified. If you are looking for an interesting challenge that won't break your back like working in a LTC facility will, medical assisting is a good step in the right direction.

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Specializes in LTC.

How much does the class cost? That would make or break the decision for me.

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Thanks intercept! I am really excited about the idea of new clinical skills, and the other possible job prospects. And you're so right, I only briefly did CNA clinicals in a LTC facility, and realized quickly it really wasn't for me. Fuzzy, the class is given at a nearby community college for a total of $1390.00.

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Thanks intercept! I am really excited about the idea of new clinical skills, and the other possible job prospects. And you're so right, I only briefly did CNA clinicals in a LTC facility, and realized quickly it really wasn't for me. Fuzzy, the class is given at a nearby community college for a total of $1390.00.

Hmmm......interesting.....I've done medical assisting in the past myself (everything but blood draws and injections) and if I could qualify for financial assistance short of a loan, I would go get certified myself. I've been trying for the past 2 years to get back into more of an administrative position in a healthcare setting but because I'm not certified in medical assisting or medical billing, I get nothing but rejection letters -- that's what caused me to rebound into becoming a CNA because it didn't cost me anything.

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I understand that, financial aid won't pay for it at my school either. I haven't researched it yet, but I have a friend in South Carolina who got her MA course paid for by WIA (workforce investment act). I think it pays for shorter-term technical or vocational courses that FA typically doesn't. So, maybe that's something for you to look at, I'm definately going to.

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