Getting a job without being a CNA...

arojumper · Dec 28, 2016

Whoops typo... *currently

Sour Lemon · Dec 28, 2016

Hello!
I am current,y a nursing student and have a little over a year left... I have my CNA license, but have never worked as a CNA. I currently have a pretty good job working PRN as a registrar in a hospital. I have been contemplating working as a CNA to add to my resume when I actually apply for a nursing job... the only thing stopping me is my current job pays decent and works with my school schedule... I was wondering for those of you that are RNs, did being a CNA help you get a job as a nurse? Or did not being a CNA make it hard to get hired as a nurse?

I've seen several CNAs turned down for jobs at my hospital after they became RNs. They were good workers and well-liked, but it's a competitive market for new grads and they just didn't make the cut. CNA experience might be considered helpful in some situations, but it doesn't matter in others.

I wouldn't quit a better paying job that worked well with my school schedule for a big "maybe".

sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN · Dec 28, 2016

CNA usually are certified, not lis...

arojumper · Dec 28, 2016

Sorry. I know it is not a "license". I meant certification.

caliotter3 · Dec 28, 2016

I wouldn't quit a better paying job that worked well with my school schedule for a big "maybe".

This. Little was made of my CNA experience during interviews for my first couple of licensed nurse jobs.

Davey Do · Dec 28, 2016

The medical center where I am employed snatches up those who came up through the ranks like a dog going for a bone. There are many examples, nursing students who work as Techs or CNA and then got their RN. My wife is an example.

I don't know- it may be different in the St. Louis area, but nursing jobs are not all that difficult to come by.

AJJKRN · Dec 28, 2016

Being a CNA does help get your foot in the door at my work too but so does being and ECG tech, phlebotomist, transporter, etc. Maybe not in the same sense as working on a floor and getting to know the manager but you're still "in the door".

ottersloveoysters · Dec 28, 2016

I did not work as a CNA while a student and I feared it would prevent me from landing a job. I applied for CNA jobs but the timing never quite worked out before I graduated. Not having CNA experience did not prevent me from landing interviews or the job I currently have. I think the experience can certainly help but in my experience my networking connections were the main factor in landing interviews.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2016

I have never worked as a CNA, nor have I ever possessed CNA certification. In my case, previous CNA work experience was unnecessary in order to obtain my first licensed nursing job.

datalore · Jan 1, 2017

You would be a CNA for a relatively short time -- if you started applying now, by the time interviewing, hiring, and on-boarding are done, you'd probably have less than a year of experience in that role. Sounds like it might be smarter for you to keep what you've got, knowing that it pays a bit better and fits your schedule. Showing you can stick to a job through the demands of nursing school looks good to employers, too. Job hopping (

aflahe00 · Jan 20, 2017

Personally I think that if I had worked as a cna prior to working as a new RN my transition would have been far less painful. Not only are you trying to learn how to function as an RN in the real world your also trying to learn what everyone around you is doing as well. It can be very disorienting in a hospital setting. It can be chaotic.