I would like to get some feedback about my issue

[BelieveNovember]

Dear Reader,

I have been working on my pre-requisites for the Nursing Program for a while. I finally finished them, I applied to Nursing School, I was admitted. After the first month and a half I obtained the worst grades that I could have ever had. I have a B.S. in Business, therefore, this complete failure in the Nursing School has been traumatic for saying the least. I withdrew from the program, and since then I have been very upset about the whole thing. One day, I started looking for info about CNA programs, how to challenge to get the license, etc. I am scheduled for the test, written and practical at the end of this month. I still feel very frustrated about not being able to be successful in the Nursing Program. I wonder if after becoming a CNA should I still give it a try to the Nursing Career. I am not a spring chicken, I am going to be Fifty Years old in two more months. My drive is strong and my life hasn't been easy, but I have managed to keep going and follow my dreams. But the Nursing dream maybe it is just that... a dream. Please send me your comments or any other questions that you may have. By the way, I am in Florida. The Sunshine State. Regards, Nurse November

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

If it's your dream follow it. From what I understand many nursing students get "shocked" by the first bad grades they receive. I would go and talk to your old program adviser and professor and ask them what you can do in order to build your confidence. Never give up. What part of Florida?

[BelieveNovember]

South Florida. I did speak with them. What is your opinion about working as a CNA first, and then go back to Nursing School? Thanks for your comment.

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

It can't hurt.

[Missingyou, CNA]

It may be good for you to work as a CNA if you've never worked in the field before. You may even discover that you love being a CNA and may decide to make it a career rather than going on to getting your RN!

If it's your dream to be an RN then follow it and never give up. It took my sister 7 years (with a young child and working part time)and lots of tears to get her RN.

I thought I wanted to be a nurse, but once I worked as a CNA and saw what the nurses did, I decided CNA was the best choice for me and I love my job. :)

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Being a CNA would give you an idea of how things work in the health field. However, keep in mind that it will not give you a full look into what a nurse does. This is often evidenced by the complaints by CNAs and PCAs (and any other number of unlicensed assistive personnel acronyms) where a nurse is often seen sitting at a computer with the assumption that he/she is not working when in actuality they are working on the redundant documentation requirements. While a nurse can do anything CNAs do, a CNA cannot do everything a nurse does.

On an off-topic tangent, about that user name. The word nurse is protected in many states. Using a name such as nursenovember implies that one is already a nurse, although your post demonstrates otherwise. nursetobenovember or similar would be a better and more accurate user name. Directly from the terms of service:

8. You agree NOT to use titles that you have not earned. ie. RN, Dr, LPN, LVN, Nurse, etc

[BelieveNovember]

Thank you very much for your comments. It helps a lot to read other professionals' opinions about the topic.

[BelieveNovember]

Thanks for your comments. It is sad to know that people may think that Nurses don't work a lot because they are working on documentation/computers. Ridiculous. Thanks for the suggestion about the name. Is there a way to edit the user name?

[BelieveNovember]

User name edited. Thanks Rose_Queen.

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

I am in my 2nd semester of NS. Just got my CNA cert a couple weeks ago and start next week. I did that for two reasons. One, I pay my own way through NS, no grants or loans, so I needed the job! And two, my employment is at a LTC facility that is managed by the largest hospital employer around here, which makes me an "internal applicant" when it comes time to look for RN jobs. And I just turned 50 in August. My passion is in trauma, but I enjoyed my clinicals so much in LTC that I am super excited about starting work there!