Nursing has always been such a strong pull for me and I want to be a nurse so BAD, even though it does seem to take forever! I have family that are nurses, I have family that are Drs. and admire nurses, I know people that are nurses and they all love it! But I'm CNA right now and I can't stand it! I've been a CNA for 3 months now and I can't get over it. I don't want to wipe bottoms, feed and dress people, shower people.
I love my residents don't get me wrong, but I don't want to do this day after day for the next 2 years until I finish school. I know it will make me a better nurse and I have no problem doing it but I just don't want to do it every single day and I know most nurses do not do it every single day, some nurses like the one's I work with are great and will help out sometimes if we are really strapped but for the most part they do wellness checks, push meds, and do paper work among other things.
Please don't hate me but I don't want to be a CNA while I'm waiting to get into nursing school. I don't want to work in LTC and I don't know about HHC. It's just not my cup of tea and no matter how much I do it I just can't get over it, give me blood and guts arm deep in an abdominal cavity and I'm fine, make me pick up poo off a shower floor then wipe someone's bottom, nope! Doesn't matter how much I tell myself I'm professional and to make it one more day, still gag and sometimes vomit (never in front of a resident, so far).
It doesn't help my facility is a horrible horrible place to work from what I've heard about other facilities. But it's even starting to make me reconsider being a nurse which is leaving me kind of panicked! Because I WANT IT! Plus any other place I apply at want's me to work overnight because that is what I do right now and I want day or evening hours. I'm sorry of the wallotext but I need to vent my concerns to others that maybe can help suggest better options for me at the moment.
Hm, I always figured that other types of nurses wouldn't escape "CNA duties"... Nice to have this confirmed... lol.
I just started a CNA program. I'm very excited but kind of scared about what's to come... Isn't being a CNA a prereq to becoming an LVN?
I'm also waiting to get into an RN program (admission is based on a lottery). I figured that after I become a CNA, I'll work and get the experience then jump onto LVN.
Is that how it works? If so, maybe the OP should consider going on to become an LVN... Also, my school offers a bridge from LVN to RN which shaves a year off of the program. Maybe you can find something similiar.
Thanks everyone for your input. I learn so much on these forums!
LTC is not for everyone. I had two clinical placements for my CNA course. One was in LTC and it was appalling. The smell of urine (and other stuff) didn't leave the floor until after lunch. The facility was depressing. The second placement was on the neuro unit of a local hospital. It was great -- like night and day. For me the environment was much better in the hospital.
well in iowa you have to have your advanced cna before you are allowed to work in a hospital, i've applied other places but they want 6+ months of experience which i'm almost there. look i don't mind being a cna but ltc really is not for me. i actually want to work with autoimmune patients i really want to go into nursing informatics or research nursing. i think my dis pleasant mood is because i took a 5 dollar pay cut to work as a cna because i heard it would make me a better nurse. and i'm drowning in debt and cannot live this way anymore, i want to be a nurse but it seems like a very difficult road ahead and i find it discouraging.
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[color=#333333]if you hate what you're doing now, you probably won't like what you will do as a nurse. nurses don't get to say, "well i'm the nurse and you're the cna, so you're going to clean up all my messes for me, and i'm just going to give meds and do "nurse" stuff." there are nurses out there who have that attitude, but no one likes them. you have to be a team player, and you have to be willing to do even the menial tasks."
also when people use this kind of language i find it very discouraging, that is one thing i dislike about the nursing field is peoples attitudes towards each other, it seems like a very cliquey and cut throat industry even more so the less education you have. i don't like sure but instead of saying "well then you shouldn't be a nurse" give me alternatives. i am developing and learning and i'm not the best critical thinker, i'm a late bloomer, its not completely my fault i have no idea what is out there so if you have the experience and the knowledge, teach us newbies, show us guidance, "be a team player".
jval
47 Posts
Hm, I always figured that other types of nurses wouldn't escape "CNA duties"... Nice to have this confirmed... lol.
I just started a CNA program. I'm very excited but kind of scared about what's to come... Isn't being a CNA a prereq to becoming an LVN?
I'm also waiting to get into an RN program (admission is based on a lottery). I figured that after I become a CNA, I'll work and get the experience then jump onto LVN.
Is that how it works? If so, maybe the OP should consider going on to become an LVN... Also, my school offers a bridge from LVN to RN which shaves a year off of the program. Maybe you can find something similiar.
Thanks everyone for your input. I learn so much on these forums!