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?

[RN BSN 2009]

Gotta start off in the trenches

[twotrees2]

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?

hmmm - id have to say reconsider what you wnat to do in life then - these tasks described are a part of nursing even if your "just the nurse" - just my opinion ( not to mention the only thing you "have " to do as a prereq is get the title - in my opinion NOONE shoudl be a nurse without having worked as a cna at least a yr so they can KNOW what its like and have good training in those tasks )

[Xentec]

Tho i cringe at the thought of explosive liquid BM, at the same time i want to laugh at myself cleaning it up simply because it is so gross.

Is that a normal attitude? I know i used this attitude to get through hell on earth type work when i was at Honda, this is how my buddies an i got through the "literal" pain and anger this job was inflicting on us 60 hours per week.....when its so bad all you can do is just laugh at yourself(and the people that was breaking down from the hard work).

Tho i gota say, i do fear that breaking in period, but i know i'll take it like a champ(on the outside lol)

What is the breaking in period of smelling and touching #2? 2 weeks or so?

And to the original poster, just ask yourself "how would i feel if that were me laying in my own BM?"

[mistydave]

I don't want to be a cna first. :monkeydance: Most NS in our area require it, however I found one that didn't. They are a private school. They said something about it being absolutely required here if you enroll in the programs after July. However, my program starts in April, so I got to slide by. I am very thankful for this because it would be an additional $600 out of my pocket to get the STNA, and I would not be using it. I guess I have a different reason than the original poster. But I don't want to be a cna first either--

[twotrees2]

You should consider changing schools. There are nursing schools that do not require you to be a CNA first. Or maybe you should go straight for your RN and bypass LVN, unless LVN is your goal.

Regardless, you will have to deal with bodily fluids. The one I dislike most is phlegm. I have an LVN co-worker who gags at vomit - she works through it and takes care of the patient but has an involuntary gagging reflex.

As to whether being a CNA first makes you a better nurse in regards to team work - I disagree with that.

You learn all the CNA stuff the first few weeks of nursing school. And that is essentially what you do with patients AT FIRST on clinical.

I have met many nurses who were CNA to LVN to RN who are NOT team players, who ignore call lights, who look for the CNA to do the distasteful jobs.

What matters is each person's own personal integrity - and being a CNA first does not guarantee that. Some former CNA's are so grateful to not be a CNA anymore that they avoid all "CNA" things. It CAN be helpful for some people who want a head start. But for me, someone with NO medical background, it was fine that I did not do the CNA thing. I love my CNA's and we are a team.

Since you don't want to do this, the only option you have is look for another school.

Or decide you want to be a nurse and just do it.

steph

i digress from my last post - thinking about it yes you are right there are many who turn into a cna's worst nightmare of a nurse- i still believe that one should spend at least a yr as a cna then maybe the ones who go for nursing thinking it is glorified or nurses dont have to that stuff may not go on to school or at least hopefully will know what it feels like to work with a nurse who is unwilling to help and will not be one of them. fwiw - i am going to miss my cnas i been working with the last 2 yrs- ( i leave next week) we have had a great repor cause i always try to help and they know if i dont when they ask its cause i cant -

[twotrees2]

I have been very critical and very vocal on this board of the idea that one needs to be a CNA first in order to be a good or effective nurse. I am the first one to tell you this is not necessary and I think that nursing schools who require this are dead wrong. They are probably trying to take a shortcut with teaching the basics. However, the truth is that at some point in your nursing career starting with your schooling, you will most certainly deal with adult incontinence and other unpleasant tasks.

In defense of the OP, I must say this. It is really not all that surprising that she has an image of herself as a nurse holding sweet-smelling newborn babies. This misconception of what nurses do is the fault of the nursing profession itself as in most recruitment advertising there is an unnecessary emphasis on the nurturing aspect of the profession, pics of nurses holding smiling babies and hugging cuddly senior citizens abound. Throw in other media images of nurses who are only in the background, nameless and faceless, whose most important job is to run and get the doctor when something major happens or perhaps wheel a patient either to the OR or to their car and it's no wonder that some people will enter nursing school with a distorted view of what their duties will be. Let's consider that.

you are right on the images portrayed - not just ads but tv shows etc - though honestly with the little true close contact we get with the patients these days ( run in and out - pills dresiings ivs tube feed and run to the next - ) if i knew how much cnas were going to make these days way back when i may just have stuck it out so i could be closer to them., there are times i envy my cnas being able to spend the time to REALLY talk to a sad patient or happy patient - in dire distress i have had to make time but it puts me so far behind that isnt something i can set in place for every resident though id love to - without my cnas i could not care for them as well as i do.

and for the poster who felt the feeling of yes i met my dream- i remember that day to - oh wow it was great to know i was finally a nurse - i did it and once in a while i still get those goose bumps like this week when families have been begging me to stay on at my current work ( which i cant ) and the staff including one of the primary docs saying they were gonna give bad references so id HAVe to stay there ( LOL they didnt - i got another job from thier recommendations but the feeling i was doing good there sure has boosted my self esteem lol)

[secretspectrum]

If you don't want to do CNA type stuff, then nursing school will be absolute hell for you.(It was for me) Also, if you have an excellent sense of smell, nursing may not be for you. There's lots of other jobs where you can help people, or take care of babies and children.

[RNHawaii34]

after reading most of the post here, i think cleaning poopy is not a bad thing. at least you know what you should expect to see and smell when you change a diaper....i did a lot of diaper changes, emptying bedpans, collecting all kinds of bodily specimens when i was a nurse aide, how ever, when you're an rn, don't forget that not only you have to deal with poops, but also you are going to deal with nasty decubitus ulcers, wound dressings, patient's vomitus, suctioning, deal with all kinds of drainages,and many other nasty stuff....imagine yourself assessing the characters of the pus......, smell, color, etc. and you think diaper change is hard?:uhoh21:

[stayingoutoftrouble]

For me, it was not so much about not WANTING to work as a CNA but I decided to not to work as a CNA in nursing school due to financial reasons. I was making good money at the job I was working in FT and going to school in the evening. I thought I couldn't afford to take that pay cut. That being said, in some ways I wish I would have done it and made it work financially. I am now a brand new RN and I am working on building up my CNA skills and my RN skills at the same time. I wish I had more abilities in those foundations skills because I am sure I would be a better RN if I did. I think you can still be a good nurse without working as a CNA but I know it'll just take me a little longer to be the kind of nurse that i want to be.

[Happeetxn]

Please rethink this line of work. It truly might not be for you, I am not saying this to be mean or demeaning. I like many others, I am no fan of cleaning up poop, however, I am not one to let my pt's linger in their poop because the CNA can't get to it right away and I as an RN am "above doing that work". It is my opinion that starting out as a CNA is a good thing. In my experience it was invaluable, it helped confirm in me that this was definetley the line of work I wanted to be in.........taking care of people ......not just giving meds q4,6,8...hours etc, etc. Lord knows there are already plenty of nurses with this attitude. Besides cleaning a patient up is a very small aspect of the job.

I will now step down off of the soapbox.

Craig

[midcom]

Lots of schools don't require you to be a CNA but I bet that by the end of 1st term, at least in LPN classes, you will have the training to pass the test and to get those skills, you will be doing CNA type work in some facility, probably LTC. That's the way they handle it at my college. They'll take you without the skills. They just have you take an extra class in first term to learn them. In my case it was the difference between full time tuition ($4500 a term) & part time ($2250 a term). I would have been smarter to take the CNA class through a community college or a nursing home for $600. I wouldn't have had to take the CNA test. All I had to do was demonstrate that I had the skills required to pass the test.

But getting back to the OP. She said "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." Whether she has to be a CNA or not, she's gonna learn and practice the skills, & that includes changing adult diapers. If she's not willing or able to do that, she better get out now before she wastes her money.

Dixie

[Just_Me_2]

I have worked as a CNA, an LPN, and now am an RN student. Any job I have had, I have always had to clean up poop every once in a while. Even as an Rn I expect I will have total care patients who are incontinent, and not every unit has aides. Besides, expecting an aide to turn and clean a total care patient by him or herself is asking way too much, IMO.

Even during my psych rotation I saw nurses cleaning up poop, so it happens. There was a patient who decided to have a BM and "paint" the room and himself with lovely smelling stool . Now I am precepting in the ER, and patients still need to pee and poop, LOL.

Just think of it as a learning experience and try not to let it get to you. I think I was more prepared for LPN school because I had worked as an aide previously. The fundamentals of nursing are the same for everyone, even though you might not use them all the time.