Does working as a cna before becoming an rn make you a better rn?

Nurses General Nursing

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When I told my sister (who is a bsrn) that I am going to rn school next year (due to a waiting list at the college), she seemed very adiment about me obtaining the cna certificate and to work as one while I wait my turn. According to her rn's who started as cna's are prefered and are often hired into entry level positions over graduates, whose only working experience is clinical studies.

Is there any truth to these claims, and if so what are your personal experiences?:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I would have to agree with your sister. I do think it helps you to feel more comfortable in the clinical experience, and also it will give you a view into the job. Although nursing is a whole lot more than cna duties, your first clinical experiences are those of a cna beds, baths etc.....

I worked as a cna al through school. I think it helped me mostly with people skills.

:nurse:

Back to working for the VA. Each facility is unique unto themselves (as is each hospital in town), but then they're still all the same in some ways. The pay is basically the same no matter in which city/town you work although they may (not 100% sure) have some sort of pay differential to help offset locals with higher costs of living. Since you're a federal employee, you have universal job protections (feds ain't going out of business any time soon) and most importantly for many, benefits that are hard to find elsewhere. I think I remember a nurse telling me during my last VA visit they start off with 30 days paid vacation (could be wrong!) and all federal holidays which gives you another 13 days off. Maybe not the highest starting pay, somewhere around $33K in Little Rock for a BSN, but the time-off and other benifits sure got my attention. Was also told they're not longer hiring certificates of associate degrees. Ya just gotta compare'm all and see which one hooks ya. Uh...please don't take my word for gospel. If'n any of ya'll work for the VA, please feel free to correct me rather than "flame me".

Previous note--should have been "...certificates or associate degrees."and benifits should have been spelled benefits. Little quick with the Submit Reply button.

I think it really helps to be a CNA before going to nursing school. I worked as a CNA before nursing school and during school. I was able to breeze through some of the basics of Nursing I, such as bedmaking and putting people on the bedpan correctly. I also knew some of the medical terminology and lingo (like code brown)! Plus, it helps me relate to the CNAs I work with today. Especially when CNAs try to tell me that I have no idea where they are coming from. :confused: It usually helps my working relationship with the CNAs. I will get ice water, clean a poopy bottom, help with a bath. I even like to make beds. I guess I feel like the bed making is a low stress task, which I can use occasionally. I don't think you will be a less effective nurse by not working as a CNA but I think it could really help you with your nursing career. Good luck.;)

In order to be accepted into the nursing school I am going to, I had to be a CNA. The nurse aide certification is required because of the fast pace of the program. Even though it is a two year program ( like most other schools), there isn't a lot of time to teach skills like making beds, and performing adl's for people. I am working as a CNA this summer. I have learned so much, not necessarily about drugs or patient procedures, but about the hospital process and nursing process in general.

Also, I've learned to make a mean occupied bed!

Hey all,

I never worked in healthcare a day in my life before graduating from my ADN program May 2001. I maintained a B (3.71) average and got a job in the OR straight out of school.....with the same pay rate as the other new grad in surgery that worked the floor as a CNA while she was in school.

Of course, there was incentive to stay at the job I had at the time for a large company that paid very well (13.00/HR), were flexible with my schedule every semester my clinical schedule changed, and reimbursed my entire tuition at the end of each semester (including the cost of books). A hospital wouldn't have done that for me if I worked as an aide.

Don't get me wrong.....I LOVE my CNA's on the floor. They are a wonderful asset and I couldn't do my job without them. I had no idea everything that they did until I left surgery for telemetry. They ROCK!

My only reason for posting is to tell you that it is POSSIBLE to get through it all successfully....and be a "sought out" commodity even without the CNA experience. I caught on to everything just as fast as the New Grads with CNA experience did.

Good Luck with whatever path you choose.

Anne:nurse:

I believe that working as a CNA before a person enters Nursing school should be a prerequisite. I worked as an aide in a Nursing Home during my final year of college and I believe it made me a better nurse. It sure does help with time management and prioritizing tasks which are very important skills for a new grad to have. And it also made me realize that LTC was definitely not my bag!

I don't like making beds. I suck at it. I figure...they are just going to sleep in it anyway and mess it all up. As long as it is clean why do we have to bounce quarters of it???

Anne, I feel yewd be an exception. Your assertion is like saying you can grasp computer programing without knowing math. There are many people who can observe and learn and do at the same time. The people I admire most in my life are those that have insight, and see realities ahead of their time. I believe I can learn to be an RN in 6 months if I was to pair with a nurse who could communicate effectively and rapidly and not bark at questions, and would always know the answers to medical questions. I admire you for powering right on because that is what I did. But im gonna hafta wait 2 years to be an RN because of traditional school, so I am a cna. I hope you can respect me for being a cna, and not a bartender or iron worker.

Your not even Italian and you talk highly of yourself. Please don't.:kiss :rolleyes: :D :eek: :o :confused:

Mario....I said that I have a high regard for CNA's..you seem to think that I think badly of RN students that do the job while going through school. Again, you have misinterpreted one of my posts.....on purpose??? Holding some sort of grudge? Don't know. Like you, I'm not a 'youngn ....18 and just out of high school. We've had some "life experiences".

Again....simply saying that it can be done w/out the CNA experience. BTW, the CNA's I work with don't seem to know the difference...we get along wonderfully.

And....why shouldn't I be proud of myself and my accomplishments??? I AM VERY PROUD OF MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

ANNE

and if you must know...NO I'm not Italian (it really shouldn't make a difference). I'm a Heinz 57 mix of Irish, Scottish, English, and Norweigan.

I did not work as a CNA and had no trouble adapting and i felt totally competent and able to work as a nurse upon graduation. i do not feel it is necessary to be a CNA to become a nurse. I like the CNA s i work with they are excellent. but if i wanted to be a CNA i would have done it.

on a different note, 2 local programs here tried to implement the CNA requirement to get into their program both are failing miserably one has dropped the requirement and the other is talking about it.

if you need to work as a cna to get through school do it,but dont just do it thinking it will make you a better nurse.

what will make you a better nurses is to learn all you can,be compassionate and most of all love being a nurse. dont do it just for the money

It helped me, but more along the lines of communication and actually seeing things, like codes or certain illnesses, etc. A non-CNA will learn the same things but I just feel like I got a head start.I still recommend it, although I liked bartending better. I do have to say, however that CNAS get looked down upon often as uneducated.A lot of our CNAS are from other countries and were doctors and nurses in their homeland. You should hear some of the things people say to me...especially when they don't know I am in school or some of the things I am asked to do. Some of the nurses in ER and ICU(they are theworst) especially have an elitist mentality that is quite annoying. I even had a nurse once(she didn't know me) come up to me and say "Habla Engles"? (I work in a predominately hispanic community) I said, " Yeah...I'm Italian," She also assumed I was 18 or 19(I am almost 27) that I had a child out of wedlock, and still lived with my parents. I told her I have been living on my own since I was 17,have no kids had a full scholarship to Rutgers University out of high school and was now a senior in nursing school. Isn't it amazing how quick we are to judge? But that is a whole other thread.

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