Loved being a CNA...what if I hate being a nurse?

[RNfromMN, BSN, RN]

So I'm set to graduate in May:mortarboard: & I am excited about that, but...

I absolutely adored being a CNA. Every single aspect of it. I :heartbeated feeding my patients their supper, changing their "briefs," bathing them, getting them in their wheelchairs, putting them to bed, I :heartbeated the fact that I got paid to basically work out for eight hours a day:pumpiron:...When I was a CNA, I was in the best shape of my life! No dieting necessary...after a few months, I'll bet I'd lost about 20 pounds without even trying! I :heartbeated reading books to my patients, brushing their hair....aaaaahhh! Everything! I would have done it forever if the financial compensation even came close to the ware & tear being a CNA would have eventually taken on my body.

I think part of my fear is that I was like a fish in water as a CNA...I became very good at it in a very short amount of time. My co-workers loved me because I was always taking the overtime that nobody wanted, R.N.s loved me because I was good @ what I did & told them only what they needed to know about their patients, no more, no less. LPNs adored me because I always had my patients ready to receive their meds/txs when they had to give them & was the only CNA who didn't groan when they told me, "One of yours needs a suppository tonight." A lot of our residents had serious behavioral problems that would just frustrate the other CNAs, but would crack me up:rotfl: , so I always took the pts nobody else wanted. What if I'm not good at being a nurse?

This scares me too: I've heard of a couple instances where CNAs went through nursing school, graduated, passed their state boards...then decided nursing wasn't for them, so they returned to CNA work. I can't imagine going through this much work & spending this much money for an RN degree and then not using it! Or realizing that I hate being an RN, but I can't afford to work as a CNA, so I continue to be an RN that hates her job & envies the work of the CNAs around me.

Anyone else go through this? Students: are there things you're looking forward to once you become a nurse that you couldn't do as a CNA? RNs: are there things you love about your job that you couldn't do as a CNA?

[Jules A, MSN]

I just can't imagine you wouldn't love nursing also. The girls in my class that loved being a CNA became incredible nurses!

[Soup Turtle]

I would want you to be my nurse! I don't think you have anything to worry about:)

[Scrubz]

I just can't imagine you wouldn't love nursing also. The girls in my class that loved being a CNA became incredible nurses!

Yeah, that's usually what happens! I know at my hospital everyone who isn't a nurse (observers of nurses) say that the nurses who were once CNAs usually make the best nurses. I'm not saying you "have" to be a CNA to be a good nurse, but apparently it helps. Plus when you're a nurse you'll have known what CNAs go through when there are CNAs working with you in the future.

As a CNA you get to watch things that a lot of people in nursing school who aren't CNAs don't get to see. You also get to get a good feel of how a clinical environment feels. Most importantly, to me, is how you get to work with communication skills... I was so nervous when I first started working at my hospital when it came to dealing with patients, but now I enjoy talking to everyone. Just stuff like that makes me glad I'm a CNA now.

[nurseangel47]

You have already proved to yourself as well as associates in health care that you CAN succeed. That is what will propel you forward in nursing school. You WILL love being a nurse. Go for it, you will not be sorry you did. Even on my worst days of being an RN, I always am glad that I did it. (I'm too broken physically to practice full time as a nurse right now so am taking a break). I think you'll be a fantastic nurse! Qualities and loving care as stated above are exactly what nursing needs and requires. You'll just have more responsibility and no time to do the hands-on TLC ADLs you're accustomed to doing as a CNA once you graduate.

[RNfromMN, BSN, RN]

Thank you so much, everybody! I feel much better now. I think what freaked me out the most was hearing those stories of CNAs that went on to become nurses, then switched back to being a CNA. I just can't imagine taking a pay cut like that unless you absolutely despised being an RN.

Thanks again.

[jill48, ASN, RN]

I was the exact opposite. I was never a CNA before I became a nurse. To this day my CNA's are still teaching me. Thank god for them.