HELP! I DON"T WANT TO GO THROUGH CNA first...

[lookingforward]

This is really not to put any profession down but I've dreamed of being a nurse for soooo long, now only to discover that before entering my LVN program, I have to get the CNA title first! I am horrified of having to do some of the tasks described! This is not whaat I dreamed of all these years, I was thinking more along the lines of changing newborn diapers, not old folk diapers! CAN ANYONE BRING ANY CONSOLATION?

[Jellibum]

RNsRWe, thank you for putting it so eloquently - it's the point i was attempting to make... I just hope that LookingForward can do exactly that and ask the hard questions, make the tough (and often uncomfortable) choices and move towards the appropriate decision. It's not whether doing the CNA before makes for better nurses but it DEFIANTLY can help ppl figure out whether they can handle the physical and emotional toil that some of the tasks are involved with this incredible profession. Lots of love and hugs Jelli ..... now, i'm going for a cuppa....goodness knows i need it.....

[RNfromMN, BSN, RN]

I am so glad I have CNA experience to back me up when I become an RN - it was absolutely, 100% the best thing I could have done for myself...well, actually, the school made us do it, so I guess I can't take full credit:chuckle . This may be far in the back of your mind of concerns right now, but you may find CNAs - & maybe even some other RNs - that you work with resentful of any direction you give them, knowing that you have never worked as a CNA.

How do you think your patients would feel if they could read what you've written in here? I'm not trying to come down on you - I swear! When I got my 1st CNA job, I was terrified at the aspect of touching poo & actually lost a good 15 pounds right off the bat because I couldn't even stand the idea of eating anywhere near work! It wasn't long before I found myself bringing soiled briefs into the employee breakroom that the RNs were supposed to inspect for certain reasons. I'd take 2 steps into that breakroom, RN eating her supper, & eventually realize what I was doing, saying, "Hey, Deb, here's that stool you wanted to look at - OMG! I'm so sorry! I'll just leave this in the utility room for you to look @ when you're done eating!" Funny thing is, I would usually catch how gross the whole thing was before the RN would. I promise - you just get used to it.

I think you will only benefit from CNA experience - you will get an understanding & appreciation of the job the CNAs that work with you do. And if one of them ever whines about something being too hard, you'll be able to say, "Hey! I was a CNA, too - suck it up!" As a patient, I would be afraid to even pass a little gas in front of a nurse that I knew was absolutely mortified about the idea of tending to incontinence issues.

It's natural to be grossed out by human waste, but wouldn't you rather conquer that fear & be able to deal with it when it comes up, than crinkle your nose up & have to run to get a CNA every time? And believe me, as a CNA, I would not be afraid to roll my eyes & be a total snot to the nurse that pulled me away from another patient I was tending to, to clean up a little BM.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

RNsRWe, thank you for putting it so eloquently - it's the point i was attempting to make... I just hope that LookingForward can do exactly that and ask the hard questions, make the tough (and often uncomfortable) choices and move towards the appropriate decision. It's not whether doing the CNA before makes for better nurses but it DEFIANTLY can help ppl figure out whether they can handle the physical and emotional toil that some of the tasks are involved with this incredible profession. Lots of love and hugs Jelli ..... now, i'm going for a cuppa....goodness knows i need it.....

Why, thank you! :blushkiss I really don't even want to dissuade her from nursing, just want the understanding of what we DO to get across.

When I started school I can honestly say I hadn't a clue how much of the gross stuff we do, lol....I never worked as a CNA beforehand, so I didn't have that to work from. I don't necessarily agree with the idea that nurses who DID work as CNAs before being nurses make the best nurses, I think there's alot more to that, but there's certainly an advantage to already being used to the nasties before entering clinicals. There's a fair amount of time spent in the fundamentals of nursing school learning to NOT gag

[swo32001]

It is good experience to work as a cna,you learn to respect them and the hard work they do.You don't try to boss so much and realize how hard it is.Also as a nurse you will still have to help with "cna" stuff.

[casi, ASN, RN]

i was looking around the other posts in other sections and i came across a post from dorselm that kind of went like this:

i dislike...

1. inappreciative pts who can pick up the phone, dial a number and talk but can't spread a packet of mustard on their sandwich. or who have you come in their room at 9 to bathe them and they tell you to come back later when they are ready.

2. being short staffed and having to take on even more work

3. co-workers who hang in clicks

4. having to smell poop all day

5 having to clean poop all day

6. poop getting on me

7 listening to phlegm in someones throat who has a trach

lifting or transporting patients.

8 not having team work

i love.....

working with some of the patients. they are so adorable and even though you can't always understand what you're saying, they are so sweet and appreciative of you helping them...

******so it seems like not everyone disagrees******

those are just a couple of downfalls. seriously, how often to people really poop? the nurses don't load the residents up on laxatives to spite the cnas! the above things happen in all areas of nursing as they are basic nursing duties.

i never wanted to work geriatrics, but none of the hospitals would hire me without experience. so i sucked it up and started applying to the local nursing homes and assisted livings. i got in and completely fell in love with the work. it isn't all changing incontinence briefs and cleaning up poop. one of the best memories i had of a resident that recently passed took place when i was getting her up from the toilet. as i was trying to clean her up and pull up her briefs she started dancing about the bathroom singing elvis! needless to say we both ended up dancing about the bathroom. this was a woman who lost a lot of her bright outgoing personality due to dementia and it was just amazing to see that shine through for a brief moment.

from what i understand, poop happens on all units. you want to work l&d. great goal. from what i've been told by a lot of people is a lot of l&ds don't hire cnas or if they do, they hire a small number and they get to spend a lot of their shift doing non-patient care. if this is the case, who do you think is putting mom on the bedpan or walking with her to the bathroom? it would be the nurse.

i'm not saying don't become a nurse. i'm just saying suck it up, get your cna and learn to deal with the poop. there are very few nursing jobs that don't include poop and in order to get them you got to get your gloves dirty for a couple of years beforehand.

[annlvn]

I was never a CNA before I became an LVN, but I wish I would have been in the beginning, the first semester of nursing school is basically just that. Nursing is team work, and there will be many times that you will be changing the old and the young. Long hours, lots of paperwork, sick people who are not happy most of the time because they don't feel well. It takes alot out of you so you had better have alot to give. Nursing is a very rewarding carree but not for everyone.

[Study]

Please dont become a nurse if you think like this. It's not for you.

[payitforward]

Dear Help,

You know, I am so sik and tired of hearing students who don't want to go through the 'trenches' like many of us had to. There is nothing WRONG, demeaning, or demoralizing with performing patient care. You get to know your patients, and they get to know you. If you have this attitude, with all due respect, you don't need to be a nurse. And if you are the type who feels they shouldn't HAVE to do patient care, then you truly don't need to be a nurse. We have enough nurses around that feel they are too good to do patient care.

[RANGER777]

I Just Graduated From Lpn Schhol. I Am Now Working At An Assisted Living Facility. I Like It Very Much. But If You Asked Me A Year Ago If I Would Work There I Would Have Said No Way! I Wanted A Clinic Job. But As I Went Through Clinicals I Grew To Like The Elderly Very Much And You Get Past The "poop". Just Imagine You Or A Family Member In That Very Vulnerable Position Of Needing Help Like That. I Had Never Done Pt Care Before And I Really Wish I Had Because The Girls In Our Class That Were Cnas Were More Comfortable W/ Moving Patients And Much More Efficient In Dressing And Bathng Patients, All Of Which You Will Do Lots Of In Nursing School Of Any Kind! I Would Try It , You Might Be Surprised Like Me, Or At The Very Least Save Yourself From Spending A Lot Of Money On The Wrong Career Choice.

[med2007]

I am in my last semester of nursing school and I was a CNA for 5 years prior. I thank God every day that I had that experience to bring with me. If you can't handle "poop" - stay away. The thing of it is, the patient will see the grossed out look on your face and its going to make them feel terrible. I agree with the above post. Go to CNA school and if you don't like that, you're gonna save yourself 2 years of wasted time in nursing school. But you may find yourself falling in love with it. You either love it or you don't.

If nursing was easy, everyone would do it.

[rags]

lookingforward ~ I have a short story for you.

My ASN program required us to take a CNA course before we began nursing school. I never intended (with intended being the key word here) to practice as a CNA so took the class, passed it then never paid for my certificate to do it. That was all fine and dandy. I learned a great deal about properly moving pt's without hurting yourself, communication, understanding, feeding and so on. INvaluable! Well, it helped through nursing school but I still had never really 'showered' a patient. When I didn't pass the NCLEX the first time around I got my CNA license in order to keep my job. That was the best thing that EVER happened to me! It not only helped in my career now as an RN with the 'tasks' I need to still do but it also gave me an entirely new level of respect for them and as a result I have great CNA's when they work with me because I AM able to pitch in and understand when their load is too much.

Now... about L/D. That is exactly where I work. I actually work with PP and PED's as well. In L/D you will be doing a lot of the 'yucky' stuff trust me! and there usually isn't a CNA there to do it for you because when a newly delivered or laboring mom the outcome isn't an expected one so the task at hand cannot be delegated to a CNA.

Something to think about. I do have just one question for you though. What exactly was or is your reason for wanting to be a nurse? And do you plan to go on and get your RN license as well?

rags

[macspuds]

The CNA is often the right hand man of the Nurse.

Without CNAs Nurses would be lost. The CNAs know the patients often far better than the Nurse, for they are with the patients more.

I have always felt blessed by the CNAs that have worked for me when I was in active practice.