Health career change

[RayvenMitch]

Hello,

I just currently got a new job as a Cna. It's not bad yet but my ultimate goal is to be a primary pediatric nurse. Anyways I don't wanna stay a cna for more than a year I am in school to become a medical assistant but after thinking about it. I don't know if I wanna go to college for that and be thousands of dollars in debt only to make probably 3 dollars more than what I'm making now. I was thinking about going to a vocational school that offers a medical assistant program for like 4,000 dollars pay for it complete it then start going for nursing. However alot of the schools aren't accredited but I was thinking if I pass my exam and get certified will I be able to get a job at a hospital, nursing home or doctor's office as a medical assistant even though I went to a school that's not accredited.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I completed a medical assistant program back in 2000, and even though there were plenty of job listings in the area where I lived, I was unable to ever secure employment as an MA.

Nursing homes typically do not hire MAs. Hospitals sometimes hire MAs and use them as unit clerks. But the vast majority of MAs work at doctors offices and clinics.

The vast majority of MAs work a daytime schedule, such as 9am to 5pm, 7am to 3pm, or 11am to 7pm. Since most nursing programs are scheduled during daylight hours, you will have extreme difficulty working an MA job while attending a daytime nursing program.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

MAs, as Commuter explained, are utilized in hospitals differently.

This is just my opinion, but I think of CNA to MA is kind of a lateral move.

If you want to be a pediatric NURSE, the it's time to research area programs and start on the nursing tract-PN/VN or ADN or BSN programs. Find out what is "preferred" in your area; research a few forums on here; some posts have great links to the projection of RNs and what areas of the country need nurses the most, as well as hiring projections.