Getting Frustrated

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Hello everyone! I am wanting to ask some advice about job seeking as a nursing student. I will be beginning my second year in a few months and I desperately need a job this summer. My preference was to find a PRN CNA position...but the problem is I'm not getting any calls at all!! I submit a decent resume and fill out the online apps, as well for any position I can find with no luck whatsoever. I've made follow-up calls several times. What else can I do? Or...what am I not doing that I should be doing? It seems all my classmates are finding these jobs easily and yet here I am. I have a high B average and the college I attend is highly respected in my area...so I have been told numerous times. I thought this would be so easy when it was time to find work. I am getting depressed and disappointed and a little worried that if I can't find a job now...what will it be like when I actually have my RN? If anyone has any tips, I would greatly appreciate hearing them!

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Where have you been trying to apply? Maybe there are some areas that you have not tried yet. Hospitals and LTCs are not the only places....there are retirement homes, hospitals and homes for vets, homes for the disabled, rehab facilities, and home care which I am in as a CNA and love it.

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Thanks for the reply...I have tried hospitals, retirement homes, and the VA. I should try the rehab facility that I actually had clinical at!

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Just keep trying sometimes it just takes time. Applying at the rehab is an excellent idea. Don't give up on the places you have tried at. Sometimes a place might not hire you the first time you apply but might if another opening happens to come around.

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Specializes in NICU.

I'm not trying to get smart with you here, just ruling out all possibilities - you are registered as a CNA, right? I know many/most states allow nursing students at a certain point in their curricula to contest the CNA course requirement, but you do still need to be officially registered as a CNA with your state.

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Look at it from an employer's point of view. Best case scenario, you'll quit your CNA job when you become a nurse ...and if I understand you correctly, you want a job for just the summer. That means they train you and you stick around for a few months before moving on. You don't want to work full time, either. Do you have experience beyond the few clinic rotations from school? If not, that's another down side for someone who wants to work casually for a few months. I'm not trying to discourage you from looking, just letting you know why it might be little harder than you think. I was never able to find a CNA job as a nursing student, either.

As a side note, you shouldn't call yourself "NurseMia76" until you're actually a nurse.

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Thanks for all the ideas. As for using NurseMia76, if I'm able to work as a CNA...wouldn't that be a nurse? Is there some other reason I shouldn't use it? I'm not superstitious.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

A CNA is not a nurse. It's illegal to call yourself a nurse if you're not a nurse.

lather, rinse, repeat...

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No no a CNA is far far far from a nurse. Only RNs LPNs can be a nurse. Certified nursing ASSISTANT is our job title. Never call yourself a nurse until you graduate nursing school. There can be legal problems for you if you do.

Even a MA can not call themselves a nurse. A 6 week CNA course does not make you a nurse.

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Specializes in NICU.
A CNA is not a nurse. It's illegal to call yourself a nurse if you're not a nurse.

Not to mention against the terms of service of this site:

"You agree NOT to use titles that you have not earned. (RN, Dr, LPN, LVN, Nurse, etc)"

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Specializes in Pediatric.

Confused as to why someone would think a CNA is a nurse

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Thread moved to General Student forum.

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