Does experience as a CNA in a hospital or Nursing Home help for a future RN job

[91jojo]

I am a nursing student in NJ and I have been trying to apply for CNA positions in local hospitals but many are not hiring. My question is, should I apply for nursing home CNA positions or should I apply for CNA positions in NY hospitals. By the way NY is an hour commute for me, while there are many nursing homes near by me. When I graduate as a RN is it more helpful to have CNA experience in a nursing home or CNA experience in a hospital? I would prefer to work in a hospital when I graduate. If I work in a nursing home as a CNA, will it help me attain a job in a hospital when I graduate nursing school? Or do many hospitals prefer workers to have experience in hospitals? Do you think commuting to NY is a smarter choice to get experience, instead of working in a nursing home?

[melissadavon]

I would like to know the answer to this as well. I am a junior in a nursing program and I'm trying to find a CNA position in a hospital and can't seem to find one. They are few & far between. I am wondering if CNA jobs in nursing homes would be more plentiful? I think the experience would be very good for me.

[cjr2619]

Any experience you can get is better than none. I would apply to a nursing home if the hospitals aren't looking too promising and try to get in with a health system that is affiliated with a hospital, that way when you try to get an RN position you are already an employee and will have a leg up. Plus, networking is everything and your manager at a nursing home could be friend with a nurse manager at a hospital.

[Anthony_O]

I worked as a CNA throughout nursing school. I passed the NCLEX in June and I'm still unemployed. The experience hasn't helped me obviously, but I did learn a lot through work experience, and that might help me when I start working.

[Anthony_O]

One more point to make...

CNA jobs were hard to find when I passed the course in 2009, but it might be different now. I spent months applying for jobs in every facility I could find, and nobody would hire me. For some reason, whenever I would apply for a Home Health job, they would instantly offer me a position.

I did manage to find a nursing home job at one point, but it was really bad. The CNA's were understaffed and treated very poorly. It was not a good place for me to start out at so I ended up quitting before management could find a reason to fire me. I have heard others say that nursing homes are all like that. I'm not really sure though because I have also heard on occasion people saying how much they loved their job in a nursing home.

[happyinillinois]

Hospital, because it gets your foot in the door and let's you meet managers who will see how hard working and smart you are. Then when you are ready to start your professional RN, hopefully they will hire you.

[soxgirl2008]

Working as a CNA in a nursing home is better than no healthcare experience at all, IMHO.

However, if your goal is to work in a hospital, then being a CNA in a hospital is going help you much much more. CNA work in a hospital/nursing home are two completely different worlds. Like others have said, if you are a CNA in a hospital you get to know management and when you apply for a job as an RN you are considered an internal applicant which usually boosts your chances of getting hired (assuming you are a good employee). Hospitals are almost always going to hire the CNA that worked for them over the outside CNA that worked at a nursing home.