Hello nurses and nursing students! I was hoping you could please help me out.
About me: I am in Atlanta, Georgia. I am about to finalize my divorce, and I will be a single mom of one. I have no degree and no career training.
My goal is to become an RN, but I also need to start bringing in income as soon as possible. What is the smartest way to do this? Become a medical assistant or something similar, start working, and take courses slowly to progress to LPN or LVN, work at that level, while I continue to hack away at the courses to become an RN? Please forgive my ignorance, I really have no understanding of this process. What is the fastest certification or training I can do (nursing assistant? medical assistant? I really have no idea!) that is on the track to getting my RN, but I can start working quickly?
Sorry for the ignorance again, I know I want to be a nurse for the job security, it matches my personality and personal strengths, I just don't know the best way to go about this.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Is the over supply of nursing not concerning? It's a lot of time and money for a single mom to not have high likelihood of employment upon graduation. Is the job market different in GA?
I'm not concerned & I live in Texas. If you live in a small outlying city you can get a job.
Here in Oklahoma, there are always job postings for both LPN and RN. One would just have to be willing to move here. I also was a young divorced mom when I started. I personally think everyone should start out as a CNA in order to appreciate what they do when you become a nurse; however they usually only make a couple of dollars more than minimum wage. Most LPN programs can be completed full-time in 10 months and part-time over 2 years (at least in Oklahoma). Not sure how it is where you are at. If I were in your situation and there is a need for LPN's, I would go that route. The deadline for most programs here are the middle of April. Again, you would have to check your local schools for specifics. Good luck. It is doable, but hard.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
If I were the OP, I would avoid the medical assistant route for two reasons.
First of all, the medical assisting vocation falls under the medical model of care provision, whereas nursing follows the nursing model. Someone who wants to be a nurse would be better off training for a role that falls under the nursing model (read: CNA, LPN or RN).
Secondly, medical assisting is the most graduated vocational program in the US. This means that their numbers are not closely regulated, resulting in a glut of too many MAs, too few available jobs, and low wages in many cases.
I completed a medical assisting program 15 years ago and, other than a few procedural skills, my training did not help me in nursing school due to the two different models. In addition, I was never able to find an MA job that paid a living wage.
I wanted to say I am sorry you are going through this hard time. However, please know that this mountain is not unclimbable.
I was a single mother, my son's father left when our son was about 6 weeks old. I was working as a 911 operator (which was amazing BTW), and I lived in a house with an air mattress and an infant swing. I had nothing else, my son's father wouldn't let me take any of the furniture and left me pretty much bankrupt as I had unpaid maternity leave (I was at my job for less than a year so my vacation time barely covered any time, plus I had to be on bedrest, etc). It was a mess. When my son turned 1 I signed up for college classes. I started taking it one class at a time - year round, until I could apply for clinicals. After that I started working 20 hours a week - at a local hospital who had tuition reimbursement. I continued through school and made it through. It took me FOUR years to get my ASN, but you know what? I did it.
What you're about to go through is harder than anything else you will encounter. But if this is a dream you really want, go for it. You don't need to work in a hospital right now, just start checking off classes. You'll get there when you get there.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
As a new grad?
Then what's all the fuss been about?
Yes, as a new grad RN. And in my city there is even a sign on bonus. In small, small cities there they can't keep RNs. I'm sure they are hiring in small cities all over Texas. I wouldn't move to a bigger city, I know I couldn't get a job.
I'd get your CNA certificate first. In Wisconsin where I hail from, I want to say the adults who took the class went full-time for 2 or 3 weeks and then were able to take the exam (Not 100% sure because I took it as a 17 yr old HS senior through my school. The RN instructor's lectures were simulcast to several area schools; we had lecture during school hours and clinicals on Saturdays...so anyway, not the typical CNA class timetable.)
Being a nursing assistant is more applicable to a future RN/LPN role than a medical assistant. Plus, some schools require it as a prerequisite anyway. My own school didn't, but then I was able to skip the Basic Nursing Skills lab because I already knew how to give bed baths, move patients, take vital signs etc.
Being a CNA is hard work and the pay isn't fabulous, but if you want to be an RN I really think the experience will benefit you more than, say, a retail job.
Find out where all of the nursing schools in your area are. They should have information sessions for prospective students. Attend as many information sessions as you can. Listen carefully to the presentations. Ask lots of questions. Even if you start with an LPN program, attending an information session about getting a BSN is a good idea so you can begin to plan ahead for the next step. You need to thoroughly understand all of the requirements so that you don't waste time or money. Be sure to ask questions about retention rates. How many people who start the program finish in the originally scheduled time and get licensed? How many take an extra semester or more before they get licensed?
Be wary of for profit schools. You don't want to take on a lot of debt. Your local community college is the most affordable option if they have a nursing program.
Check out the ultrasound tech program at your local community college. It is a short program and starting pay is as good or better than RN, plus working conditions are much better and you could actually have your weekends and holidays off! Seriously, why don't more people check this out instead of everyone jumping on the nursing bandwagon. There are better jobs out there. I was watching Suze Orman and a paralegal made more than what many nurses make! Why put yourself thru the stress of mind and body, look for a better way!
Waste of time here in CA. A glut of graduates, waaay more nurses than jobs. (That goes for RNs & LVNs) Pls investigate thoroughly availability of jobs in your area before going forward.
Not trying to discourage- some areas of the country may have jobs, hopefully yours is one.
Agree with posters who discouraged MA to RN (although the skills training helped me significantly). CNA to RN, at least in the states I have practiced, offers more easily accessible options for "upgrade". Also agree that, if you have a dependable support system in place, RN is possible, as long as you grasp the tail of that comet and FLY. All my best to you!
Bbett, MSN, NP
314 Posts
No over supply of nursing here in Michigan!