Now I know it will be hard work, that I am prepared for...
However, since I have been interested in becoming a CNA while going through nursing school I have heard everything from positive experiences to horror stories. One girl told me CNA's basically deal with the nastiest aspects of nursing and for the lowest pay. She told me I would be changing adult diapars all day for $7/hr.
Now I don't mind changing adults, but I at least need to know I can pay my bills if I take this job.
Also a local hospital offers paid training to become a PCT, so maybe if it's truly "paid" I should go for that instead....?
It saddens me when I hear the pay scales of CNAs being less than $10. The only thing I can say is take the job, use the experience to put under your belt and continue looking for a better one. I know its hard but you gotta start off somewhere and the more XP you've obtained the better your chances are of scoring a position thats worthwhile pay wise. Good luck!
I am switching from hospital security to CNA at the hospital where I work. I will probably have to take a drop in pay to do this. The thing is, the training is FREE, being paid for by the hospital, so I am going for it. I will start Block 1 of nursing school sometime in 2010, and this will give me a leg up when classes start, having the hands-on hospital experience. But yes, it saddens me too.......
Pay varies a lot by the area of nursing and the facility. We have aides in this area making $14 an hour in the better facilities- I am an RN with >20 years experience and a BSN and I only make about $30,000 in my school job. Don't judge the aide training program as being "two weeks", the CNA programs are often much longer with skills testing and a board exam. They are not easy courses. Our vo-tech program for the CNA has an agreement with the local college and those students that move on get college credits and 80 hours of lab skills transferred into the nursing program from our school. It can be a good secure job, or a stepping stone. I did much of the same work as a nurse as I did as an aide. Nurses still change diapers and bedpans! We need all levels of caregivers in the field. We are a team.
I am going through an employer-paid CNA course now in AZ..... It's through a local community college and is a semester's worth of classes compressed into about ten weeks (roughly two and a half months). We are in the clinical part of it right now - finished with the classroom stuff. We will have to take the state certification exam and skills testing after we are done with the class. Trust me, we are being trained..... I am enjoying the hands-on part of it, I've spent the last two and a half years taking nursing pre-req classes, it's nice to actually work with patients - I feel more like I'm getting into nursing now :-)
From people who have worked both, I've heard that you actually get more learning opportunities during the night shift. The day shift is so hectic that nurses don't have as much time to talk to you, explain things, and let you watch procedures. There is also a lot more family there during the day shift and you have more job responsibilities during the day shift.
While people do definitely sleep a lot during the night shift, you always get your patients who don't sleep. We also get A LOT of interesting admissions from the ED during the night shift. The nurses have a lot more time to talk to me, explain things, and let me watch things. I've learned A LOT.
I'm glad to hear this.... I've requested that I be put on night shift, if it's possible. Partly so that my work hours won't conflict so much with nursing school when I'm finally in, but also to get the 20% shift differential that the 7 pm to 7 am people get. Will probably volunteer for extra shifts if they are available.
I paid for STNA (CNA) training 2 summers ago and then sat for the state licensure exam. I worked temporarily for a home health service until I finally was hired at the closest hospital. Pay sucks for the work you do, but the "foot in the door" at the hospital and the experience gained from working with and observing nursing staff is immeasurable. I continued to work PT while completing nursing school. I graduated this month and have a nursing position waiting on me, it's mine once I sit for Boards and pass!
Hey, I am a CNA in Destin, Fl and I make $11.63 base pay, before a shift diff ($1.00 extra for 2-10 & for 10-6) plus, we get attendance bonuses. I really think it depends on where you get a job as to how much they are going to pay. Why don't you call around and see how much places are paying? Also, around here, RCTs make about $8.00 an hour. So, a CNA definately makes more in Florida. (The local hspitals around here do NOT hire CNAs. They make the nurses do all the work. I found that out when I went in to have my daughter... I ask alot of questions! lol!)
Being a CNA is what made me go back to school to be an RN, because somedays you just get really tired of the heavy lifting (yes, we have hoyer's, but who has time to find them?) and changing adult diapers, when you have a newborn at home in diapers! Whew!
In a nursing home in KY, I made 9.80/hr, base, and basically less than a dollar in shift differential. In a hospital in SC, I made 9.30/hr base, and 0.75 for evenings, 0.90 for nights, weekends, and holidays as differential.
Then my friend back in KY tells me she makes like 11-12/hr and I almost cried. hahah.
I think having the CNA classes and hospital experience before nursing school helped me even more than I realized for my clinical courses. I wasn't afraid to talk to or touch patients, I could make a bed and bathe people much faster than some others. Starting out for me, a bath took *forever* but with as much practice as I've had, I'm much faster. I also learned VERY valuable time management and prioritizing skills (but I'm sure I'll be forever working on them). I think time management has to be experienced before being truly appreciated...at least that was the case for me. I hope that helps. Good luck!
It is true, but it all depends on where you work. Really you are trying to get the hands on experience. Think about this what if this was your mother or grandmotehr, or even you. You dont want to be full of poop. They do pay low, but as with any job the experienc will get you better pay. When you become a nurse, you won't have to do all of that.
The wait list on the free paid training program at St. Thomas here in Nashville is a minimum of one year!
I'm thinking about signing up anyways and waiting it out because come to find out you have to have two years of college in a health related field to even be considered......so that's fine. By next semester I'll qualify after I take what's left of my pre-req's. I have a job now, I just wanted to do this for learning, networking, and convenience purposes......I'll get there when I get there.
I definitely am going to wait out the free one unless something happens in my job or I become so miserable I cannot stand it any longer...and then I will pay around $800 for the NATS (Nurses Aide Training School of Nashville) program.
I don't mind doing the dirty work as long as I am networking, making strong connections for future hire, and making better grades..in other words as long as something good comes out of it in the end it will be worth whatever nastiness I encounter.
I'm in Nashville too-- NATS is the best program. It is just amazing to me to be basically GUARANTEED work, no matter what kind! Probably because I"m coming from social work, where the job situation is unspeakably horrible... having a masters' degree and then desperately fighting for jobs that basically pay what a lot of CNA jobs pay or so little more that you would not believe it; 60 applications out and not one interview... all new grads are pretty much in the same boat...So everybody who is complaining so much about the pay and the work, you have no idea how lucky you are to be in the health care field compared to others. I could not endure banging my head against the wall anymore, growing more and more angry and resentful. By working as a CNA, I am working with the population I love, caring for people, and building experience towards the day when the job market improves and I can actually use my master's degree. Who knows... maybe I'll end up being a nurse!!
CNA's do not make a whole lot of money but..................there is self gratification, that is a large part of the job. Just knowing that you have made a difference in their life should be payment enough. I have been a CNA and I complained everyday about the pay, but I also was aware that I was not going to get rich either. My clients were so grateful for all that I had done for them that at the end of the day it was worth it. The pay was not that great, but I still went home feeling good about a job well done and knowing that I made in their in their life even for one day.
It is true, but it all depends on where you work. Really you are trying to get the hands on experience. Think about this what if this was your mother or grandmotehr, or even you. You dont want to be full of poop. They do pay low, but as with any job the experienc will get you better pay. When you become a nurse, you won't have to do all of that.
Sorry to disappoint you but you absolutely WILL have to "do all of that" as a nurse. I started as a CNA and have been an RN for 9 years now and I am not above cleaning a dirty behind, or any of the other messy jobs that are part of a CNA's daily life. I recommend that anybody considering nursing as a career start out as a CNA so you know if you can tolerate that type of work before you invest all that time and money on a degree for a job you will hate.
AZ_LPN_8_26_13
462 Posts
I am switching from hospital security to CNA at the hospital where I work. I will probably have to take a drop in pay to do this. The thing is, the training is FREE, being paid for by the hospital, so I am going for it. I will start Block 1 of nursing school sometime in 2010, and this will give me a leg up when classes start, having the hands-on hospital experience. But yes, it saddens me too.......