I'm a secretary right now and am thinking of becoming a CNA to get some hands-on experience in the healthcare field while I go to school to be a nuclear medicine technologist (if I can get accepted). I really love helping people (especially pediatrics) and I had a psychic tell me once that I have "healing hands" (whatever that means).
Anyway I need to know the down and dirty of being a CNA. I want your best and your worst stories. I want to know what all being a CNA means - do I just clean up vomit, change diapers/flush Foleys or is there more? I want to know if you love it - I want to know if you hate it. Nurses - what do you love about your CNA's - and what's your biggest peeve?
I have soooo many questions... Am I only assigned to one specific nurse all the time or do I get rotated? What if my nurse hates me? Am I assigned to only one area of the hospital or will I get to know my patients? Do scrubs come in tall sizes (I'm 5'8)? Do I have to do anything "needle-related"? Do I have to insert catheters? Are CNA's respected or do they just get dumped on? I noticed that most hospitals in the Dallas area want CNA's with 3 months experience or more - where am I supposed to get that if no one will hire me without experience??
HEEEEEEELP!!! Flood me with your knowledge and wisdom....
I am in Dallas area and I recently got my CNA in April of this year. I spent all summer sending in resumes through the computer with no luck. I got lucky and got a job at a specialty hospital in our area in July, I am finishing up my training this week.
The only way I got this job was because I met a nurse who worked here and she bugged her boss to call me. It took three months of her bugging her team leader to finally get an interview.
I am telling you this, so you know that you need to network in order to get a job in a hospital in Dallas/Ft. Worth area as a CNA.
I love it here so far, they trained me to take blood and remove Foleys among other things.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
This thread has been so informative for me. I've just registered for the first class to become a CNA and if all goes on schedule will be able to work as a CNA next summer. At first I thought this thread was depressing, maybe I didn't want to be a CNA! :chuckle but as I kept reading I felt better about my decision. :)
And you know how competetive the nursing schools are right? Well I had to get up at 7am and get down to the school to register as quickly as I could for this first class to go on to CNA and sure enough everyone was there ahead of me. People had been waiting at the gate since 3am! I was the next to the last person to get in that class. You see for the LVN program here it is a requirement that you are a licensed CNA.
I am in Dallas area and I recently got my CNA in April of this year. I spent all summer sending in resumes through the computer with no luck. I got lucky and got a job at a specialty hospital in our area in July, I am finishing up my training this week.
The only way I got this job was because I met a nurse who worked here and she bugged her boss to call me. It took three months of her bugging her team leader to finally get an interview.
I am telling you this, so you know that you need to network in order to get a job in a hospital in Dallas/Ft. Worth area as a CNA.
I love it here so far, they trained me to take blood and remove Foleys among other things.
Good Luck
Yeah - I've heard that. *sigh* It's depressing. I've been looking in the paper and on hospital websites and it seems like they all (even LTC and assisted living) want experience of at least 3 months. Where are we supposed to get experience if no one will hire us without experience??? Sheesh!
I have to echo Faeriewand's comment - this thread has been EXTREMELY informative for me (which of course was it's original intent) and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has posted and to those who will post in the future!
Once upon a time, I was a middle management "big-shot" that jetted to Germany, Japan, and all over the US for a large automobile manufacturer. I liked my job for the most part, and did it well. I was in charge of multi-million dollar projects. I oversaw everything from the basic design of the equipment, to setting it on the floor and getting it up and running. I did this for 15 years, and thought I was "doing my part". I thought it was a satisfying job for the most part.
I decided to quit for several reasons, 1- I was burnt out, and 2 I had always been intrigued about nursing. So I up and quit and am in my final week of Nursing Assistant training. I'll be a sophomore in a BSN program this fall.
My very first day in clinicals utterly negated the last 15 years of my life (in a good way).
My first resident was a frail elderly man that needed to be fed. He was on a pureed diet with thickened liquid, and I was REAL nervous because I had never done anything like this before.
When I walked in the room I could tell right away that his bed was soiled, he had slid waaay down in bed, and the air conditioner was blowing directly on his exposed skin--in short; he looked miserable (and a little neglected).
I spent the next two hours doing almost every "skill" that we had just learned in class: occupied bed change, peri-care, catheter-care, feeding, mouth-care (with dentures), shaving, and bed-bath. I found stage two decubitus ulcers on his heels and sacrum and reported it to the charge nurse.
He seemed to be somewhat confused the whole time I was helping him, but when it was all said and done, he used his good hand to grab mine, and just looked at me...
He could not verbalize much at all, but he didn't need to. His face was utterly beaming. I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision to quit my old job and get into nursing.
Those two hours helping that man were more rewarding than the entire collective 15 years at my previous job, and I am not exaggerating one bit.
The next resident cussed at me the whole time, and tried to hit me LOL. Oh well. :chuckle
I think it's wonderful that you find it so fulfilling. Good luck on your becoming a CNA. Think you might become an RN? I think you have the right attitude. Go for it!
Where are we supposed to get experience if no one will hire us without experience??? Sheesh!
Tell me about it! It's not just in nursing! Maybe you could do some volunteering first? Do some searches online. Call us some of your local hospitals (don't call 911 or the ER, of course, ).
I think it's wonderful that you find it so fulfilling. Good luck on your becoming a CNA. Think you might become an RN? I think you have the right attitude. Go for it!
Thanks! I'll be starting my sophomore year in a BSN program, and am very interested in becoming a nurse anesthetist. :)
I have alway wondered what it takes to get a hospital job. I have been a CNA for 10 years in LTC and home health, and have often applied at local hospitals (there are several in my area, I live in a town with three universities nearby.) I have never once been called for an interview. I thought my age might be a factor, but have never figured it out. I would love the challenge of a more medical environment! Since I have been in LTC, I DO know how to work hard!
I have alway wondered what it takes to get a hospital job. I have been a CNA for 10 years in LTC and home health, and have often applied at local hospitals (there are several in my area, I live in a town with three universities nearby.) I have never once been called for an interview. I thought my age might be a factor, but have never figured it out. I would love the challenge of a more medical environment! Since I have been in LTC, I DO know how to work hard!
My best suggestion is to fill out the application, whether it is online or in person, make copies, and deliver one personally to the DON of that department. If you don't hear anything in about a week, call them, and follow up on it. That is how I got my first 2 hospital jobs. One was fresh out of CNA training, no experience in health care at all! Be determined, and good luck! :)
My best suggestion is to fill out the application, whether it is online or in person, make copies, and deliver one personally to the DON of that department. If you don't hear anything in about a week, call them, and follow up on it. That is how I got my first 2 hospital jobs. One was fresh out of CNA training, no experience in health care at all! Be determined, and good luck! :)
I agree with the above. Take a copy to HR and to each Nurse Manager on each floor of the hospital. Make sure you get their name so you know who to call and aski for. That's how most of the nurses I know got the jobs they have at hospitals because they said that HR just forwards them to the NM anyways and it may be days before they do that. Good luck.
He could not verbalize much at all, but he didn't need to. His face was utterly beaming. I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision to quit my old job and get into nursing.
Bless your heart, I want to cry after reading your post.
I've taken my Cna course and my exams are in three weeks. I am really nervous. I can go back one time and refresh my skills before I take the tests, but I am afraid I will forget so much between now and test day. I study off and on. Some days I feel really confident and other days I can't remember anything. Anyone have any advice they can offer? Thanks
Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.
I've taken my Cna course and my exams are in three weeks. I am really nervous. I can go back one time and refresh my skills before I take the tests, but I am afraid I will forget so much between now and test day. I study off and on. Some days I feel really confident and other days I can't remember anything. Anyone have any advice they can offer? Thanks
I don't know what it's like in Florida, but here in Arizona, you more or less have to have a pulse and no felonies to be a CNA.
change diapers/flush Foleys or is there more? I want to know if you love it - I want to know if you hate it. Nurses - what do you love about your CNA's - and what's your biggest peeve? 
).
imsewperfect
1 Post
I am in Dallas area and I recently got my CNA in April of this year. I spent all summer sending in resumes through the computer with no luck. I got lucky and got a job at a specialty hospital in our area in July, I am finishing up my training this week.
The only way I got this job was because I met a nurse who worked here and she bugged her boss to call me. It took three months of her bugging her team leader to finally get an interview.
I am telling you this, so you know that you need to network in order to get a job in a hospital in Dallas/Ft. Worth area as a CNA.
I love it here so far, they trained me to take blood and remove Foleys among other things.
Good Luck