I hated being a CNA.....

Published

Hi

so I wanted to know if there is anyone out there that hated being a CNA prior to becoming a nurse. I want to become a nurse, I am actually in the midst of apply to a few RN programs. I got certified as a CNA and got my first CNA job in a nursing home and I absolutely hated being their. I did not hate the patients obviously but I hated what the job entitled.

I feel bad because if I hate, this will I hate nursing? Ive been around nurses for a while and I would love to do what they do. But now I feel guilty because I hated being a CNA. It kind of scares me.

have any of you hated being a CNA before you became a nurse?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I hate being a cna as well. I don't know why but O just don't think that is the job for me. I am starting nursing school in may and I'm really excited about that, but I know I will hate the first few weeks because I will be doing CNA duties. Right now I work in an assisted living facility that's becoming more like a nursing home everyday. I'm in the process of finding another job at another assisted living facility. Try that so you can interact with people without using the lifts, having to feed people, and changing briefsuntil recently I loved my job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm not sure nursing is for anyone who hates being a CNA. As a nurse, you're responsible for everything a CNA does plus one million other things. I like nursing, but it's no "walk in the park".

Beyond that, nurses sometimes work without CNAs ...or with CNAs who are not very helpful because they hate their jobs. :eek:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics.

I would examine your feelings of why you hate being a CNA.

Is it the duties or the environment?

I was a CNA in a LTC and hated, but knew I wanted to be a nurse so I held on. Then I got hired as a CNA in an ER and loved it and wanted to be an ER nurse.

Once done with nursing school my first jobs as a RN were SNF/LTC and I hated it!

Hated how I was treated how I never had enough time to provide quality care.

I am now in a hospital and love it. Most nights I work without a CNA, or our aides will get pulled to sit.

I know when I was a CNA the parts of my job that I hated were related to how I was treated by administration and envoirnment in which I was in.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm not here to burst your bubble but just because you become a RN doesn't mean you will not have to do patient care. A lot of student nurses come into the hospital and think they won't have to do certain things like put someone on a bed pan, walk someone to the bathroom, clean up a room full of poop (yes it does happen) If you become a nurse and you think your to good to do any of this you will not last long. Maybe you might be a nurse that remembers being a CNA is hard work and you can appreciate them more then some RN's do. Now think of this if your mother was in the hospital and asked her nurse to a bed pan but the nurse says wait hold on let me get your CNA, but it was to late for your mother and she is embarssed. Would you of wanted that RN to give your mother the bedpan when she asked? How about your grandma asking the RN to take her to the bathroom but the RN says wait let me get your CNA and has accident all over. Can you imagine how that would feel? You would be pretty upset wouldn't you? So I'm not sure what kind of nursing your getting into but it is far from getting away doing any of the CNA duties.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have no experience in nursing except for CNA clinicals, but I can relate to your summary, having worked IT.

The Power of educations; increased responsibility, increased stress, increased skills, increased self worth, increased pay.

Good luck on your journey.

I worked help-desk. Six bosses. low skills, low satisfaction of accomplishment. Independence is a small step up from being a ward of the state. 2 foot leash. Low pay.

Desktop support. Five bosses. Medium skills, Medium satisfaction of accomplishment. A taste of independence. 200 Yd leash. Medium pay.

Systems engineer. Two bosses. High skills, High satisfaction of accomplishment. The power to negotiate your independence. High pay.

note: Point intention was related to individual personal goals, not disparagement.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

If you hate what the CNA job entails, I'm not sure you're going to like nursing. While it's true that there are many avenues of nursing that don't involve direct patient care, you don't get to those positions without doing ALOT of patient care, bedside care. And it's also true that becoming a nurse doesn't get you away from CNA duties, it just makes you responsible for them AND the core nursing work as well.

I've had some really terrific CNAs that made my job as floor nurse much easier; I was able to pay more attention to meds, treatments, careful charting instead of what I'll call "CNA duties". However, I've had some really unfortunate staffers who made my job that much harder: I had "my" nurse duties and everything they should have been doing to do as well. And that doesn't count the many-many-many shifts with NO CNA available, primary nursing care meant you got it all from soup to nuts.

Think carefully, OP.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

I know I would not like being a CNA. Now do I think that I am above doing anything a CNA does, no I do not. But what I want is more of the critical thinking that a nurse does. I want more of a challenging job. Yes, I understand I will do bathing, and cleaning, and so on. But I want the more challenging job that a RN has. I want to be able to educate, give meds, and really take care of my patients. A CNA plays an important role in the healthcare team but that is not what I want to be. You just need to ask yourself what it is you want out of your job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It depends on what bothers you about CNA work. There's a good chance you'll dislike nursing if you dislike CNA work as CNA work is really the basics of the nursing profession.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Personally, I know I'd hate being a CNA because I enjoy making a living wage! Being paid like absolute crap while doing the hard physical and emotional work of patient care is demoralizing as hell.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Personally I know I'd hate being a CNA because I enjoy making a living wage! Being paid like absolute crap while doing the hard physical and emotional work of patient care is demoralizing as hell.[/quote']

This makes me sad. CNAs do important work. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a caregiver who felt demoralized. In fact, seeing the cnas and techs you work with as grunts who have the worst job probably hurts the whole care team, dontcha think?

This is not helpful to the OP, but I look back on my time as a CNA fondly. It was hard but gratifying work, with little responsibility. It is where I developed my conversation and assessment skills. It's where I learned the basics that I now won't have to worry about like I would if I had no patient care experience. Liking CNA work is how I know I will love being a nurse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
primary nursing care meant you got it all from soup to nuts.

Soup to nuts.....is this some delightful nurse-ism I have never heard before?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion