Experience from CNA school only

[NurseBettyICU, ADN, BSN]

My plan is to get into nursing school - but first I want to go through CNA school to gain a little experience beforehand ( i have NO medical experience what so ever). Do you think I would gain enough experience from just the CNA school to make a difference when I start nursing school? Or would I really need to be employed as a CNA for a while for it to really make a difference?

I hope this makes sense. thanks for any advice.

[casi, ASN, RN]

Being a CNA may make a difference, but only 20 hours or so in clinicals really isn't considered much health care experience.

First things I would find out is if the nursing school you want to apply to gives extra points for being a CNA or working in healthcare. If they give extra points for working in healthcare find out how many hours they require you to work in order to be considered "experienced".

[NurseBettyICU, ADN, BSN]

Being a CNA may make a difference, but only 20 hours or so in clinicals really isn't considered much health care experience.

First things I would find out is if the nursing school you want to apply to gives extra points for being a CNA or working in healthcare. If they give extra points for working in healthcare find out how many hours they require you to work in order to be considered "experienced".

They dont give any extra points for having experience. The look at only your pre-req grades and TEAS score.

[FutureNurse23]

It depends on the school you are applying too. I know some colleges do ask for you to be a CNA as a pre-req to apply to RN programs. The program I'm applying too being a CNA is a requirement. They don't care if you are an experience CNA as long as you have a CNA cert in your state. Being a CNA and being a Nurse are totally two different scopes of skills. I think you can tell if nursing is for you as a CNA. Also I think it makes you appreciate your CNA's more so when you become a nurse. As well, it may give you a better eye for observing your patients as a nurse. I believe being a CNA though is a great advantage for becoming a nurse though.

[stinebean]

I just finished a CNA class and yes, I do think that the experience you gain in a CNA class will be valuable to you when starting nursing classes. For one thing, you'll have an opportunity to get used to entering a pt/resident's room to provide care which, if you tend to be a little shy, is a good hurdle to get out of the way before nursing school so that when NS clinicals start you can focus on more specific things and you're likely to be more confident approaching the patient. Also, if it's like my class, you'll learn some medical abbreviations that don't tend to get taught in your pre-reqs. I think it is absolutely worthwhile. Go for it!

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

Most of the schools in my area don't give credit for being a CNA. However, the experience you gain from being a CNA can be very helpful when you start your clinicals, especially the first semester which begins by learning how to do what CNAs do. If I were you, I would take the CNA course your interested in and when your done begin looking for a job. As your looking for a job also look for nursing schools and begin taking classes. Once you are working as a CNA and begin finishing your pre-reqs you will start gaining some CNA experience and can apply to nursing school. This way when your accepted you will have some experience and it will help give you a leg up in classes (versus the students who have no previous health care experience). So if I were you I would work on doing those things first but I wouldn't not apply to nursing school just because you don't have CNA experience yet, just try to take the necessary steps to get both done at the same time. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

!Chris

[NurseBettyICU, ADN, BSN]

I just finished a CNA class and yes, I do think that the experience you gain in a CNA class will be valuable to you when starting nursing classes. For one thing, you'll have an opportunity to get used to entering a pt/resident's room to provide care which, if you tend to be a little shy, is a good hurdle to get out of the way before nursing school so that when NS clinicals start you can focus on more specific things and you're likely to be more confident approaching the patient. Also, if it's like my class, you'll learn some medical abbreviations that don't tend to get taught in your pre-reqs. I think it is absolutely worthwhile. Go for it!

Thanks. This is EXACTLY the reason I was thinking about going to CNA school before applying to nursing school (I am just about done with the pre-reqs). I think it would help me out while in NS to feel more confident about dealing with patients.