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

dorselm · Feb 12, 2007

You know what? I can't keep shut anymore! Shame on all of the so called caring compassionate people who have responded with such negativity. It's sad that a person can't come here with a concern and be understood rather than ganged up on and treated rude! Like I responded earlier, I know just what she is going through!!! I did not want to be a CNA and still don't and guess what....I'M A CNA at an LTC facility. I took the job so that I could know that aspect of nursing and so that it would help in NS. I hate it! I love working with some of the patients. I come to work just to see them. When I have a few minutes of downtime, I spend it with the patients. If they want to tell me "how their day at work went yesterday" then I listen and go along with it. But when I have 6 people who have physical therapy and I have to get them fed, bathed, dressed and ready at the same time and they all have to go to the bathroom and some don't want to get up and they're cursing at you and then their families are coming in demanding this that and the other, it can be pretty darn stressful!!! Or I may have some patients who are 300 lbs and want to be put in bed. They can't walk or stand so you have to find someone to help you get them in bed. Which means you have to put on the patient's shoes, take off the legs on the wheelchair, position it and have the other person help you lift this person in bed and then take off their shoes. Then an hour later, they want to get out of bed so again you have to find someone to help you get them out of bed. To get them out of bed, you have to put on their shoes, position their wheelchair, take off the legs, have someone help you put the patient in the chair and then put the legs back on. Being a CNA is hard work! I am used to seeing genitals and I am used to cleaning poop and wiping butts. The nurses where I work DO NOT CHANGE BRIEFS! They get us to do it. They are very busy don't get me wrong and we all work as a team but I have NEVER ever, seen a nurse answer a call light. We answer and if the patient wants the nurse we go get them.I'm not saying that you will never change briefs when you are a nurse but unless you work in ICU, there won't be very many times when you will. That's what CNA's are for. None of these people on this post know me or lookingforward to be able to say we are not caring compassionate people just because we don't want to be CNA's. I am a very loving person which is why I chose the nursing field. My family and my former co-workers in the corporate world always told me that nursing is what I should be pursuing.

To lookingforward I say this... it is very normal to feel apprehensive about the CNA part of nursing but I believe that once you get into it and do it, you will be able to get through it and find that its not as bad as you thought it would be. It's just going to take a little time. It's hard for me because I am slow right now because I like to give my patients good care as opposed to just wiping them down and putting their clothes on. Unfortunately I pay for this by missing my 15 min breaks and sometimes missing my lunch breaks. Pray for God to give you the strength to get through it and He will and in the meantime, if you go to the CNA forum and click on the sticky Free Full CNA Video Course, this will help you out alot. God Bless!

joyflnoyz, LPN · Feb 12, 2007

i will have to do cna no matter what, it is part of my schooling and since there's no way to go around it, i will take each day as a learning experience.

lookingforward, i think this is the problem we are seeing with your original post : is it not "cna work"; what cnas do is *basic nursing care*.

nurses did it long before there were cnas :)

you don't want to work geriatrics? that's great! don't stick me in icu lol . don't give me pediatrics: i've got 4 kids of my own to care for. i see end of life care as a priviledgethat's one of the pros of nursing: so many options where to work and what to do. working geriatrics gets me some hospice/palliative care experience that i can't get elsewhere.

do you have to work as a cna to be a better nurse? absolutely not.

can it make life easier? i believe so: you will have a comfort level in dealing with people who need an extraordinary amount of help in a health care setting, who are in various stages of undress, need an advocate etc. that comfort level will give you a "leg up" during your clinicals

lookingforward · Feb 12, 2007

once again dorselm, thank you!

i wish you the best of luck in your career and i'm sorry that you miss your breaks and lunch. it all goes to show that you are truly dedicated to your patients, even though it is not always peachy! ( if you know what i mean)

like i've mentioned before my time and financial resources are very scarce at the moment and i just wanted to enter the nursing profession and make significant contributions. if that means learning to "get out of my comfort zone" then so be it. what doesn't kill my only makes me stronger right? i do comprehend that it will make me a little more experienced as far as bedside care is concerned. i just know that not every nurse does this every day all day long... that is why they invented the cna position right? i think so. i'm even starting to doubt my interest in lvn, since hearing all this lack of respect and all... i'll keep you updated though. to top it all off the lvn school closest to my home is $32,000 but almost everyone has been telling me i'm crazy if i want to pay that much just for lvn, when the "adult" school in the next city is only $7,000!!!! i just fear that chances are so slim for an lvn to get hired in a hospital nowadays and the expensive school is through the hospital so it's like my "security blanket" of sorts...well now that i've vented i've got alot of decisions to make... thanks again!

nurse_drumm · Feb 12, 2007

"Just for LVN...." :nono:

Oy.... I shall keep my lips sealed. Good luck, and God bless.

roxxy3773, RN, APRN · Feb 12, 2007

I have read most of these posts and can understand where just about everyone is coming from in one way or another. However, I think that people are completely attacking the OP for every word she says that can be misconstrued as something else. I mean for goodness sakes, I highly doubt she meant "just for LPN" in the sense that you took it! My impression is that she was meaning that the cost of the education is so much higher than most programs, RN, LPN, whatever the case may be. That is a LOT of money! I know that is way too much money for me at this point to spend on my RN program and I am hoping to get into a community college in the fall and pay less than half that amount! I just think that people are at times being a little too hard on the each other and it doesn't make it a nice arena to talk openly for fear of saying something "wrong." And I really really doubt her intention was to put the LPN profession down and be disrespectful. I think there were many very valid points in this thread, I just think it sometimes gets a little crazy when we are just looking for things to pick apart when it is doubtful (at least to me) that the intention of this last post was to be rude.

lookingforward · Feb 12, 2007

i have read most of these posts and can understand where just about everyone is coming from in one way or another. however, i think that people are completely attacking the op for every word she says that can be misconstrued as something else. i mean for goodness sakes, i highly doubt she meant "just for lpn" in the sense that you took it! my impression is that she was meaning that the cost of the education is so much higher than most programs, rn, lpn, whatever the case may be. that is a lot of money! i know that is way too much money for me at this point to spend on my rn program and i am hoping to get into a community college in the fall and pay less than half that amount! i just think that people are at times being a little too hard on the each other and it doesn't make it a nice arena to talk openly for fear of saying something "wrong." and i really really doubt her intention was to put the lpn profession down and be disrespectful. i think there were many very valid points in this thread, i just think it sometimes gets a little crazy when we are just looking for things to pick apart when it is doubtful (at least to me) that the intention of this last post was to be rude.

so true! if anything i have learned in this forum, especially this forum, is that i will be attacked no matter what!(can you believe this was my very first post, ever?) thanks to people like you who understand my p.o.v. no, i was not bashing lvns. it's just paying over $30,000 for lvn course seems a bit exagerrated for just yes just the lvn license,(given my situation) when i would have to still go through rn program! not that lvns aren't important, because i know they are! my goodness! thanks for the benefit of the doubt!

Ann RN · Feb 12, 2007

So true! If anything I have learned in this forum, especially this forum, is that I will be attacked NO MATTER WHAT!(can you believe this was my very first post, ever?) Thanks to people like you who understand my P.O.V. No, I was not bashing LVNs. It's just paying over $30,000 for LVN course seems a bit exagerrated for JUST yes JUST the LVN license,(given my situation) when I would have to still go through RN program! Not that LVNs aren't important, because I know they are! My goodness! Thanks for the benefit of the doubt!

No, you will not be attacked no matter what. But take a good look at your posts - there's a lot of yelling on your part (size, color, caps). That is unneccessary. And yes, your OP was poorly worded. When someone attacks my profession, I tend to fight back. So I understand those who have "attacked" you. A little bit of me still thinks "thou dost protest too much".

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 12, 2007

You have certainly acquired a great deal of responses and passion in this thread. I don't intend to bash you, either. I just believe that your perception of what nurses do is not correct. I am an LPN myself, and believe me, we are doing dirty work, as well. In fact, the LPN is in the middle of the CNA and the RN, so, we may be medicating and doing nasty dressings more...suctioning, then there are the bedsores... In fact, you may begin to actually appreciate the poo in compared to the gross things you may actually encounter, and be mandated to hold a straight face. It is not the world of the movies, dear. Maybe you need to begin speaking to other LPNs and RNs that are in your area. See how tired we are.

jelorde37 · Feb 13, 2007

the cna work is the foundation of nursing. im an lvn and i change diapers from time to time. its a great time to assess a patients coccyx for any decubitus ulcers or reddening or rashes. i did alot of diaper changing in nursing school and im sure youll do alot too.

a friend of mine in nursing school tried to get through the whole program without "wiping ass" he eventually got a duty in which he wiped ass all day for about 2 weeks. the teacher thought of it as catching up.

but honestly, if you cant do the cna work, i suggest you go into another healthcare discipline, maybe MA or something cause theres no room for an lvn or rn who is afraid to get down and dirty. sorry to sound kinda mean, but nursing is nursing and nursing is hygiene(look up florence nightingale, i think thats how you spell her name)

k.lvn.mom · Feb 13, 2007

I worked my way from CNA, to med aide, and then to nursing school. And let me tell you that the work that I did and the time that I spent with my residents as a CNA was the best time that I have ever spent wiht patients. I worked in AL facility in the ALZ neighborhood, and being that close, and personal with people, is what is going to make you a good nurse in my opinion. The people that I go to school with now, don't have the ability to have that personal connection with someone that you learn to have when you are a CNA. And they are right, you have to do all the same stuff as an LVN, RN and even administrators. I have seen a few of them on the floor doing CNA work when we were short handed. So think long and hard if that is what you want, bc if it is not then you really need to find something else to do. Good luck

eternaldaisy · Feb 16, 2007

I was a CNA for 8 years before I became a nurse. I also became a LPN before RN. I think it was good for me because it gave me an opportunity to view patient care from different aspects. There is good and bad in every job and I learned a lot from each. I think it is a good idea to start as a CNA. I know it helped me tremendously in my journey to become a RN.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2007

I think the original poster has been scared or spited away from ever posting on this forum again. Some of the comments were a tad harsh, but I tend to unequivocally agree that obtaining the CNA certification would have been a valuable stepping stone.

I was an aide at a group home for developmentally disabled adults who suffered from profound retardation. I did a mixture of 'clean' and 'dirty' work: gave showers, wiped their butts, dressed them, prepared meals, cleaned up after them, administered oral medications, reported changes in condition, and charted on flow sheets. The experience was quite valuable.

In addition, I shall mention that the look and smell of feces becomes more tolerable as the time passes. You will become acclimated to poopy situations, so take it all with a grain of salt. Good luck!