Disadvantaged not being a CNA/PCT?

[QueenAnnissa]

I have heard repeatedly by other students going into the nursing program at my school that those without CNA/PCT experience are at a real disadvantage in the program and won't do as well, especially in the first semester. Thoughts?

[sammi2006, ADN, BSN, RN]

I am just starting the first semester on monday. Our instructor told us during orientation that by the end of the first semester everyone will be equal.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I didn't see that as being true. I wasn't a CNA/PCT prior to nursing school but I worked hard and did things the way we were taught. Did well and graduated just fine. :-)

Actually, I knew a few CNA/PCT's that struggled a bit because they had a tendency to want to answer tests or do procedures like they would in the real world. Nursing school is not the real world and NCLEX world is a utopia. Making sure they only answered questions based on learning and not on what they would do in a hospital was sometimes a struggle.

Just put the work in, study and do what you have to do and you will get through it. Good luck and congrats on getting in to your program!

[BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN]

That is not so. In the first semester of nursing school besides all the CNA stuff they teach nursing process and procedures that CNA cannot perform on the job. CNAs may have just a tiny head start when it comes to basic skills of ADL assist, bathing, grooming ,bed making, etc. When its a med pass, injections, NG tube, sterile gloving, basic IV tx -- everyone is equal.

In the second semester the difference is gone completely.

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

As a fairly experienced CNA working in an Acute care hospital, I can say there is often a way to tell if a nurse was ever a CNA. if she was, she usually is okay doing patient care activities like changing briefs, repositioning and taking pts to the bathroom. Not always, but far too often nurses will call the CNA to bring blankets, turn pts or change briefs when there is no reason they can't do it themselves. DON'T be that nurse and you will be fine without that CNA experience.

[Elizabeth Renee]

The disadvantage wont be in terms of passing/not passing. The disadvantage, however, lies in not having previous medical exposure. As another poster mentioned, you could probably tell immediately who was a CNA and who wasn't in your nursing class. I had a nurse tell me once that when she was in nursing school, she had no prior medical experience whatsoever and was afraid to even touch a patient, let alone change their briefs for example. The comort level had not yet been established and IMO I think it would make things *slightly* more bearable in the beginning to have had the CNA experience.

The prior CNAs have been exposed to more medical jargon/situations/tasks and can be "ahead" in a sense but they're really not that far ahead.

Personally, I am a nurse delegated CNA along with nurse delegation for diabetes, so I have a little bit of a headstart as I can administer medication (including narcotic PRNs) and insulin injections. It's not all that fancy but not many CNAs that I know of are nurse delegated or can even think about touching meds.

Also, the nursing school I start next month requires you to be a licensed CNA in order to even apply. So, according to them, it's important.

You will be fine. :) Don't let your peers with a CNA background intimidate you. It is a helpful background to have but does not define ones success in nursing school.

[green34]

It's a mix. It's more exposure with patients and getting some of the basics out of the way. Like being comfortable changing patients, efficient with bed baths, feeding, etc. However, there were other skills that the CNAs struggled on whereas I as a paramedic excelled like starting an IV. No biggie. Head to toe assessment? No biggie. Talking to a patient to get to the core of the issue? No issue. However, generally everyone equals out.

Where it really comes into play is getting hired into a hospital which will give you a leg up on getting hired if you are a good employee.

[ames86]

I say were CNAs have it better is at first its just a review, but once you get through the first half of the first semester they start learning new things too. In the state where I lived they can also train CNAs to pass meds and do sub-q injections, that puts them ahead when it comes to learning medication administration. Also makes them less nervous when passing medications. I agree with what others have posted that CNAs seem to be more comfortable with patient care. I am about to start my 3rd semester and now everyone seems about the same. So at first they have a small advantage, but as the time goes by everyone evens out.

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

Hm, I wouldn't look at it as a disadvantage per say, it's just that people with hospital experience are more exposed to the setting as previous posters have said and are a bit more knowledge in knowing what to do and what to expect. One really does have an upper hand in clinical with hospital experience that's for sure. Talking to patients was no biggie for me. The smells was no biggie for me nor were all the isos since I deal with it at work every weekend.

Where it really comes into play is getting hired into a hospital which will give you a leg up on getting hired if you are a good employee.

Truth. Pretty much the most important part of being a CNA or having some kind of hospital job.

[DoeRN]

Actually I was a PCT when I started my program and I never told my instructors. I listened to how they did things and I did it the way they told me. Even though a lot of times we did things completely different in the hospital. I was more comfortable that first semester with basic task. I knew there was a real world of nursing and the nursing school way. I wanted to get through school so I did things the nursing school way.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[melizerd, ASN, RN]

My program required everyone to be a CNA (at least have taken the class and be state certified even if you never worked as one). So they start the semester with an assumption of things that you learned previously. It means a really fast paced 1st semester where you aren't learning to transfer a patient safely because we already knew that and could focus on RN tasks.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

That is not so. In the first semester of nursing school besides all the CNA stuff they teach nursing process and procedures that CNA cannot perform on the job. CNAs may have just a tiny head start when it comes to basic skills of ADL assist, bathing, grooming ,bed making, etc. When its a med pass, injections, NG tube, sterile gloving, basic IV tx -- everyone is equal.

In the second semester the difference is gone completely.

This isn't really true.

Someone who was a CNA/PCT in a hospital prior to going to RN school has more than just the obvious ADL/direct care experience going for them.

They're familiar with the entire setting. They're comfortable walking into a patient's room and getting started. They know the lingo, they know the flow, they have an idea of how things really work in a hospital, which is very, very different from what you learned in school.

They'll understand the charting better and quicker. They'll know how to work with the RNs on the units better, and said RNs will be instantly more comfortable with a student who is an aide/tech than one with zero experience.

I'm not saying that students who weren't aides will have a rough time. Or that those with the experience won't ever have a problem.

But to say "the advantage is completely gone by the 2nd semester" is just not true.