First CNA job?

nguyency77, CNA · Mar 2, 2012

Why does everyone think they can get a hospital CNA job right out of school? Not that it's not unheard of; it's just that there are people who've been CNA since the time of the dinosaurs with much more experience and credibility than us new grads.

Not all nursing home jobs are bad. My skilled nursing facility isn't amazing in terms of quality, but it's decent. The pay isn't bad either! I won't lie to you though; do your research before you apply to any nursing home.

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2012

If you are in a nursing program, maybe you could see if you could talk to the unit manager where you do clinicals..maybe they are hiring. Good luck

nguyency77, CNA · Mar 3, 2012

Yeah, those clinical sites would be a good resource. Just make sure to do a good job. :) Good luck!

RN1485, BSN · Mar 3, 2012

I got my license in October and had been applying to places online since. However, I got no response. I applied to hospitals, dialysis places, upscale nursing homes, assisted living facilities etc...My instructor told us from the beginning that hospitals mainly want experience and that if we want a job we are gonna have to go out and look for one. He even gave us this book with all the hospice, nursing homes, assisted living, home health places in GA. Well finally I quit my job on the 18th of February. I applied to three places near my house on the 21st. I got one interview on the 23rd and started their orientation on the 1st. Meanwhile I called one other place I applied to and told them I really wanted to work for them and wanted to know the status of my application because I was suppose to start orientation at this other place on the 1st. They told me they would love to hire me and to come in on the 2nd for orientation. So I ended up taking the other job and told the first one I decided not to work there and I start shadowing next week! The point is I was thinking to myself while getting no response from these online places that my CNA cert. was a waste of time and that I can't find a job. I should have listened to my instructor and gone out on foot to begin with. It's not necessarily ideal because like you I really wanted a hospital job but sometimes we have to start at the bottom and work our way up!

Good luck in your search!

nguyency77, CNA · Mar 5, 2012

whetcat: I know, it's so hard to get any job that you apply for online. I hate, hate, HATE

online applications because I can't present myself personally to HR. They don't know me, I don't know them, and they don't have to call me back.

I hope you guys find good work in a hospital soon! I'm looking around, but hopefully I will be in nursing school next spring.

My university has its own teaching hospital, and the nursing students usually get work as externs. :]

RN1485, BSN · Mar 6, 2012

yeah I'm hoping to get into nursing school this fall so that come summer 2013 I will have a year of CNA experience plus 2 semesters of nursing school clinicals done. Hopefully a hospital will take me by then!!