I need some CNA career advice....

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I was recently offered a position in a hospital as a per diem CNA. I currently work every other weekend at a ltc facility and I am honestly not liking it at all. The only problem is that if I accept the hospital position, I would be making less than I am at the ltc facility. Should I accept the position because it is in a hospital which could lead to more possibilities or should I stay at the facility where they pay more???

I was under the impression that hospital CNA's get paid more than LTC CNA's, but I guess I was wrong.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!

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Specializes in LTC.

I don't really see how we can answer this question. It's up to you whether you want to stay at a job you don't really like and make more money, or take a pay cut for a job you may or may not like better. What makes you think you'll like working at the hospital any better? And what are these "possibilities" that a hospital job leads to? If all you're doing is working every other weekend at the LTC then why can't you take both jobs?

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I also work monday thru friday at another job and go to school part time. What I mean by "possibilities" is learning new skills like ekg, phlebotomy, etc. I was hoping for some advice from somebody who may have been in my situation, that's all.

But thanks for your input.

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your work load in the hospital setting is what i'ld be interested to know. in ltc it could be 15+ patients, in a hospital setting it's likely it's less than 10 (although that's just a guess based on the workload of cna's in hospital settings I've encountered as a student) I'ld advocate finding out your work load, and comparing the reduction in terms of percentage of patient load versus reduction of pay. If you can get a 50% reduced work load for a 10% reduced pay it sounds favorable, but there's too much to know without some numbers. Definitely the hospital is more likely to have continuing education reimbursements that exceed long term care however.

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Just gonna throw this one out there. I work at a hospital and on the days I have less than 10 patients, I'm joyously walking around the halls, savoring the moment because I KNOW it won't last. I have had from 8 all the way up to 18 patients at one time. Doesn't seem that bad compared to LTC... but I haven't had the "pleasure" of having a whole floor at once... 38 patients. The average I would say is around 13-15 patients. Definitely look into your work load. And keep in mind that there is more going on at a hospital, too. There will probably be a transportation department, or volunteers that transport, but you will have to assist getting patients onto stretchers to go down for tests, getting them into wheelchairs to go to therapy, etc. You will probably see more "interesting" and acute care cases in the hospital, and therefore learn more. But don't think it's gonna be a walk in the park. I have had several days when I didn't get to sit down until 8 hours into my 12 hour shift... or not pee until 10 hours into it. Not saying all days are like that (as they certainly aren't!) but don't think it's gonna be easy. But yeah, I agree with above poster... find out work load, and do fancy math to see which job would be more worth it :)

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Thanks you both for your advice. I never thought to ask about patient load, I was certified over the summer and only been at the ltc for about 2 months. So this is all still sort of new to me.

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.
I also work monday thru friday at another job and go to school part time. What I mean by "possibilities" is learning new skills like ekg, phlebotomy, etc. I was hoping for some advice from somebody who may have been in my situation, that's all.

But thanks for your input.

But you didn't explain your situation in the OP. Remember, we can only chew on what you feed us.

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