Get CNA cert? Before NP?

[Polly Peptide]

I'm not sure where to put this, so I'm starting here. Will let mods move it if necessary.

I will be starting an MSN program this fall, which admits those with degrees in other fields; so I do not have any nursing experience. I do however have about 15 years experience on the business side of healthcare (which includes some population health management and financing), but of course nothing clinical. This is a very reputable program and is well known for graduating prepared NPs (though I'm under no illusions that you really begin learning when you start to practice).

My question is - because I am not an RN, and I will most likely start to practice as an NP without RN experience, would it benefit me to get my CNA certification and then work as a CNA while I am waiting for school to start? Pros, cons, neutral? I understand this is not what I will be doing as an NP, but I wondered if it would provide any skills practice, or even any 'street cred'? Would it help (AT ALL) in the hiring process down the line?

My specialty will be AG-ACNP.

Thanks for your advice.

[UMNP]

You may think I'm bitter but I assure you that is not the case. The benefit of taking the longer path is getting broad experience and exposure to many different things. I'm well aware of Vanderbuilt's program, it was a program I considered applying to and ultimately did not.

A compressed program doesn't necessarily produce quality graduates. It has taken me well more than a decade to reach the point I am at in my career. But I can assure you that my years of critical care practice as a nurse has only enhanced my advanced practice career. Years of physical assessments, titrating vasoactive medications and seeing their effects, being part of many resuscitations and codes, interacting with all members of the healthcare team, and helping perform thousands of emergent and non-emergent procedures. I don't see how that gets replicated in a truncated timeline and still produce graduates that are able to come out of a program with a strong baseline foundation and ability to practice on an advanced level

I completely agree with this! I have been practicing as an AGACNP for a year and a half and prior to that worked as an RN for 4 years and had 5+ years of direct nursing experience as a NA/NT. These experiences have helped me more than any classroom or clinical experience. And I graduated from the 4th ranked school in the country with my MSN. Something is to be said of "real-world" experience. No class is going to teach you your nursing instinct, that comes with years of direct patient experience. You can't really fulfill an advanced practice role without any practice.

Why don't you do the second degree route, practice as an RN and then go back for your MSN? I did my program part-time over 3 years and was able to work full-time during the program. If you're really insistent about pursuing this program, I would try to get some experience working as an NA. You could work full-time or part-time up until the point when classes start and then just work on a contingent basis. Many hospitals have a contingent pool to serve staffing, and you can often pick up in 4 hour increments. You don't always have to do a CNA program. Some hospitals will have on the job courses and training. Good luck!

[akcompton1]

I know this most likely varies from region to region, but here in Missouri you don't have to have CNA certification to work as an NA/tech. The hospital provides its own orientation which is generally less time consuming.

I think anything you can do to get experience with direct patient care will give you an advantage down the road, but it definitely won't break you if you don't have it. If you do wind up working in a hospital setting, try to learn the workflow of the RNs as much as you can.