Nurses Aide

NurzofFaith · Aug 7, 2001

First let me say that any experience you can get in the clinical setting will help you in nursing school clinicals. I worked as a nurse assistant for a year and then decided that I wanted more, so I began my prereqs while working parttime.

I am now 2 semesters away from being done and I took all the prereqs prior to taking any Nursing Education classes. I would highly recommend this, as it frees up your time and you will need the extra time for nursing course work/clinical prep. I have a few friends who left their electives until now and are taking them during the summer, that seems to work well also. :)

I did have classmates that didnt get those harder prereqs out of the way (A&P, College Algebra, Chemistry) and they are no longer with our class. It was a hard juggle for them or they didnt pass their classes. I am sure there are those that do well juggling all this and the nursing education classes...but why stress yourself out if you dont have to!!

As far as nursing assistant title...do you mean job description or responsibilities? They vary from place to place. You will be involved in a lot of patient care (bathing, vital signs, ambulating, etc). I think it is a great start for a nursing student, it gave me more comfort in the clinical settings at school. I wasnt as nervous with the patients and could focus on the tasks at hand.

I would also recommend going for the RN, its an extra year but will be worth it for you:)

Best wishes to you!

Channa

JoyceLynn · Aug 7, 2001

Being a CNA for three years, I've worked in various positions; assisted living; nursing homes; skilled living and now med/surg. After much though I've decided to go get my RN. I will start in the fall with my pre's. You know the basics: math, bio, and eng.

When I have these all done, I will go for the two year RN program.

Originally posted by heartste
What exactly is the job title of a Nurses Aide. The reason I ask is because I work a full time job and I have been looking for a diffrent job because my hours are so diffrent all the time. I would not be able to go to school spring semester. Well, I messed around and was so worried about finding a job I didn't think "Hey I need to get my college stuff going". Among the other million things that are going on in my life. Well, I missed the entrance exam to the LVN program and I don't have all of the prereq.'s for the RN program. Anyway, they sent me a paper saying I could take this class and work at the Nursing Home and stuff to get experience. So I want to know what is the job title of a Nurse's Aide. And would I just be better off trying to get the rest of my prereq.'s done for nursing this next year and not even mess with LVN and go straight through with my RN. Because I can either take a 1 year course and be a LVN or take a 2 year course and be a RN. I am so confused. Please help me:confused:

RNforLongTime · Aug 7, 2001

In my opinion, I think that working as a Nursing assistant or CNA(certified Nursing assistant) should be a requirement for all nursing student. I worked my way through my last year of nursing school as a CNA in a Nursing Home. It was great experience as no RN or LPN is above wiping a patients butt or emptying a bedpan. It also helps develop time management skills which are very important for a new nurse and prioritizing patient care.

Get the pre-requirements out of the way before you start the Nursing classes. You wont have time to study for a History exam while you are spending 8 to 10 hours developing a nursing care plan for your assigned pt for clinical the next day.

Good Luck!

Kelly:)

BeeStrong · Aug 7, 2001

I also worked as a nurses aide/assistant in a nursing home before starting pre-reqs toward degree. It was great experience and preparation for the clinicals and for nursing in general. It is also very, very hard work. Bathing, dressing, ambulating patients who are sometimes helpless or very weak, confused, etc. But it is also very satisfying. Just hope you have a strong back and lots of energy. I don't know what we would do without our nursing assistants...they are so great and work so hard and are not paid half of what they should be.

heartste · Aug 7, 2001

Ok well I think this will also be a good oppurtunity to see if this is really what I want to do. I just don't like to have people making me do thier dirty work. But, as long as RN's and LVN's do that I guess I will to. I think I am going to try it but I might not be able to because of my job and stuff. I guess I will see. Thank you so much for everyone that replied.