Couldn't take the job.....Instinct

[colleen10]

Hi everyone,

I was so psyched last week because I found out I got accepted into a program at a facility where they will train you to be a CNA and then once you pass you get hired on at the facility.

At first I thought I would totally go for it. But then I started thinking of the financial implications. I'd get paid part time wages while in training and during my "orientation" to the facility but after that they could not promise me that I would get a "Full-Time" job with them once I passed my certification exam. If I was part time status I would work every weekend, every holiday at $7.50 an hour. Then, I would have to stay with them a year to pay them back for the CNA classes, and then they would pay for me to get an LPN, and then once I graduated with an LPN I would owe them another year. That's 3 years just to get an LPN. The more I thought about it the more I got "spooked" about not having any control over what would happen to me. It just seems they have too much lee-way over me.

I don't regret not taking the position, just let down I guess. I was so excited to quit the dead end job I have now and start in nursing.

So, for now I'm going to try to get into as many classes as I can for the fall semester. I just hope that I can get into some since it is so close to the start of class.

It was a really hard decision for me to make, I was up every night, crying and getting headaches but now that I made a final decision I feel so much better.

Thanks for listening,

Col :kiss

[shabookitty]

Col, God Bless that there is someone going through the same thing as me! Whew! I thought that I was the only the one that thought that way! I was going to be hired as a cna in a local hospital while i went to school...but I did not except the job. Here pay varies from 5.75 to 6.15 an hour! And yes, hired to work pt and work every holiday...and etc. I can't live on that income...so I totally got scared off. And nursing school had to be put on hold. I have been told by other nurses that it would be beneficial to work as unit clerk...to learn terminology, dr handwriting, procedures, and actually the way the hospital works period...I don't know how true that is...? Anyways! I am trying once more to get on with the hospital. Nursing school starts in January! I am afraid that they will suggest CNA being best for me again! I am chewing nails on this! UGH! How do you handle so much control?

[colleen10]

Hi Shaboo,

Glad that I am not the only one! I know exactly how you feel.

I have learned by working for and with some rather unscrupulous people that no matter what profession you are in, and no matter who you work for, you should always treat yourself like you are a consultant for them and work for yourself. I have seen this type of theme expressed in other messages on this board. Some have even said that nurses should be like Doctors or anathesiologists that are "affiliated" with hospitals and are not necessarily "employees" of them.

Negotiate with your potential employer. Everyone else in other career fields do it. They negotiate hours, wages, vacation, etc. And by all means get everything in writing! Never let an employer "promise" you something. If they can promise it to you then they shouldn't have any problem putting it down in writing for you.

These are kind of extreme examples but I think you catch my drift. Treta yourself not like you are an employee but a business partner. You provide a service and they provide money for those services.