If you are a bad CNA, does that make you a bad Nurse?

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I'm not calling myself a bad CNA, I must have been doing something right since I'm licensed and everything. But my last few jobs in LTC haven't been very successful or long for some reason or another. I'd like to become a nurse in the future, but I wonder if that will carryover to my success as an RN.

I just wanted to mention something I feel needs to be stressed. Just because one can pass their State Board Exam, and have earned the credential C.N.A, does not guarantee that they are adequate and capable of providing direct patient care. Passing your boards does not mean you will succeed as a Nurse's Aide. A CNA is not made... they are born... I honestly believe that if one is a "bad" aide, then they have a high possibility of becoming a bad nurse. A nurse has many responsibilities and their job is very stressful, so anyone considering nursing as a profession should do as much research as they can possibly can. I'm not just talking about googling information, but actually interview nurses and let them talk you through an average day of being a LVN or RN.

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Specializes in PACU, LTC, Med-Surg, Telemetry, Psych.

RN/LPN and CNA are separate disciplines, pay scale, and is treated by big medicine and society differently.

You can hate CNA, but still be a good RN.

However, the best RNs I have had the pleasure of working with were CNAs.

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I have been feeling the same way. I been working as a CNA for 3 weeks now and i think i'm bad at it too.But at the same time i still want to do my LPN. I just feel like i don't catch on like everyone. Sometimes i think i take alot longer with my patients than everybody else or i need more help with my patients than everyone. I'm one of the small ones, so i need help with the lifting. Things just aren't going as smoothly as i thought. I thought about quiting twice this week, but deep down i really don't want to.

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Specializes in LTC.
I have been feeling the same way. I been working as a CNA for 3 weeks now and i think i'm bad at it too.But at the same time i still want to do my LPN. I just feel like i don't catch on like everyone. Sometimes i think i take alot longer with my patients than everybody else or i need more help with my patients than everyone. I'm one of the small ones, so i need help with the lifting. Things just aren't going as smoothly as i thought. I thought about quiting twice this week, but deep down i really don't want to.

I felt the same way when I first started. It takes time to get into the swing of things, but it does get better.

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Sometimes i think i take alot longer with my patients than everybody else or i need more help with my patients than everyone.

I thought the exact same thing as a new CNA. Turns out I was one of the few aides making sure people were shaved, had their teeth brushed, were wearing their glasses hearing aids, had (their own) clean clothes on, was using proper transfer procedures, had proper perineal care, emptied foley bags, took out trash, replaced soiled linen, ensured needed supplies were available.....

Keep doing your best, you will speed up.

I sure learned a lot there and gained experience that allowed me to find a much better job, but boy do I not miss working at that horrible nursing home.

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I have been feeling the same way. I been working as a CNA for 3 weeks now and i think i'm bad at it too.But at the same time i still want to do my LPN. I just feel like i don't catch on like everyone. Sometimes i think i take alot longer with my patients than everybody else or i need more help with my patients than everyone. I'm one of the small ones, so i need help with the lifting. Things just aren't going as smoothly as i thought. I thought about quiting twice this week, but deep down i really don't want to.

I quickly discovered after I received my CNA and got a job that school is a lot different from the "real world" I went home practically in tears every night, thinking I would never catch on. Then it occurred to me. We are dealing with real people, with real feelings. Not everything we may do is perfect, but if you care about your patients and their well-being, then you will get there.

I have been in a nursing home for about a year. I am still slower than a lot of the other cnas, but I also know that my patients really do get bed baths (not just a wipe and a promise) in between their shower days , their hair is combed with glasses and hearing aides in, and they have thier dentures cleaned or teeth brushed. I know that there is a certain amount of speed that must be maintained when working in health care, but I do believe it is quality, not quantity that counts. What good is it to have all 9 of your residents up and in their chairs by 930 or 10 if they are not clean, wearing clean briefs, and smell? They deserve more respect than that.

BTW, I cannot wait to get out of LTC tho. Its just too much.

Hang in there and be the best you can be.

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Specializes in Home Health, Long-Term Care.

A little update on the situation from last year. I am a CNA in a home-health environment, although for the time being it is more of a personal care provider situation, no medication administration, that kind of thing. I also volunteer in a hospital ED doing pretty much the same thing. I think the ED is where I'll probably wind up when I'm done with nursing school, although the particular place I volunteer doesn't have a new grad program that I'm aware of, there are several hospitals in the area that do. I had considered becoming an EMT-P but decided to go right for the RN and start somewhere in critical care instead.

And yes, I am male, and on the wrong side of 30 (I'll be 36 in February) so I'm starting a little later than I would have liked. I do like the health care field, and do wish I had started it earlier. The goal now is to get the pre-reqs started for nursing school and get on the list, which at present is about a year of waiting before I get in the program.

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