Is CNA good experience for a future RN?

[DeanaKay]

Is becoming a CNA while pursing a RN license good experience?

[Lovelymo79]

I think it would be a great experience for you. I'm in my first year of nursing school and I work as a nursing assistant at my school's hospital (I attend one of the oldest diploma schools in the country). I also switched from Business to nursing (I have a BA in a non-nursing field).

Anyway, I think you will learn a lot. I work on the telemetry unit, which happens to be surrounded by the CICU, MICU and SICU units. Everyone knows I'm in nursing school and the nurses and manager are really nice and eager for me to learn. They love showing me new and "exciting" things..which helps me in school and during my clinical. Plus, since I work here, I'm also going to apply for an externship in the ICU..which I already have my foot in the door since the manager of my floor is also the manager over the units.

I think it is DEFINITELY worth it. You learn time management, how to interact with patients, different tests, different medications, etc. How much you can learn depends on how much you WANT to learn!

As someone stated, however, your studies should take precedence..no matter what the job it. I work 2 days out of the week (including weekends) at the hospital, I also work as a substitute teacher when I'm not at the hospital and go to school full-time in the evenings (after which is when I get my study time in. I also have an A average (3 exams). So, while it is possible to work and go to school..it is NOT EASY and you have to be determined to make it work. I have no choice but to work..but best believe if I feel my schoolwork is going to suffer..I will be changing some things around...

Good luck!

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

I do not agree with your post. I was an CNA for 10 years before becoming an LPN and I will tell you that the very hardwork that CNA's do are the basic care of the nursing profession. It is by no means a very small part. Even now I like to do vitals on my patients because I can assess skin temp, pain level, mental status, airway, breathing, listen to heart tones with apical pulse all at the same time. I like to empty the foley so that I can smell and look at the urine. I like to assist or even change my patient to assess stool color, consistency smell and assess skin. I like to assist with transfers to assess strength. I am not saying that I always have time or that I do this with every patient but when I do I take full advantage of the extra assessment I can get in with my patients. JMHO

I completely agree with you on that! I disagree with elkpark that being a CNA is only something you should do if you NEED to have a job during nursing school. I have been a CNA for over a year now while I am in nursing school and I think that it has not only helped me to be more confident with patients and comfortable around them but it has also helped me with my time management skills to balance working and going to school. Would I recommend a full time CNA job while in school? No way. But a part time or per diem job would be fine. I also think that you tend to get more nursing related experience if you work as a CNA in a hospital rather than a nursing home (only because they tend to be more receptive to teaching hospital CNAs who are also nursing students than nursing home CNAs) but that is just an opinion. I think that another reason to be a CNA is because it helps you to get your hands dirty and get over this phobia that some RNs seem to have about doing some basic forms of patient care (like helping clean up a patient or helping them to ambulate) because some new grads who have never worked in a health care setting before seem to get it set in their heads that they are above cleaning up patients and doing some basic forms of patient care they they deem as "CNA work" and sometimes by being a CNA before graduating it helps you to get that attitude out of your head. Its really a personal opinion thing but I haven't met (in person at least) a single nurse who has said "OMG being a CNA was such a waste of time! I wish I had never done it!!" but I have met nurses who have said "I kinda wish I had been a CNA in nursing school even if it was only for a few months before graduation to help make me more comfortable when I first started as an RN." Plus, I have noticed that overall RNs who have worked as a CNA or in the health care industry in some way (as a medical assistant, secretary or unit assistant etc.) before they became an RN, are easier to work with in terms of the RN - CNA relationship because they tend to view CNAs as partners and assistants to patient care rather than as someone that the RN can boss around and have command over. Keep in mind every RN is different but I have just found that as a general rule of thumb I prefer RNs who had experience as a CNA before they became an RN because they are better able to empathize with me and we tend to work better as a team.

!Chris

[Lovelymo79]

Plus, I have noticed that overall RNs who have worked as a CNA or in the health care industry in some way (as a medical assistant, secretary or unit assistant etc.) before they became an RN, are easier to work with in terms of the RN - CNA relationship because they tend to view CNAs as partners and assistants to patient care rather than as someone that the RN can boss around and have command over. Keep in mind every RN is different but I have just found that as a general rule of thumb I prefer RNs who had experience as a CNA before they became an RN because they are better able to empathize with me and we tend to work better as a team.

!Chris

I TOTALLY agree!!!! The nurses who were previously CNAs seem to be easier to work with than those who weren't CNAs first. I :redbeathe them!! They don't mind helping and getting their hands dirty when they can. I remember one I worked with..I complimented on how strong she was (she's a little one) when she was helping move and clean a patient and she stated she worked as a CNA and learned how to "get down and dirty" with the patients. She also stated she loved her job as a nurse. They tend to be happier as nurses (because they were exposed to a lot more than those that weren't CNAs). I dunno..I just think they are great. Plus, when I become a nurse, I'll know how it is to work as a CNA and won't be like the type of nurse who isn't willing to help and looks down at CNAs..not that I ever would..but now, I'll REALLY know how it is to be a CNA..

[elkpark]

I do not agree with your post. I was an CNA for 10 years before becoming an LPN and I will tell you that the very hardwork that CNA's do are the basic care of the nursing profession. It is by no means a very small part. Even now I like to do vitals on my patients because I can assess skin temp, pain level, mental status, airway, breathing, listen to heart tones with apical pulse all at the same time. I like to empty the foley so that I can smell and look at the urine. I like to assist or even change my patient to assess stool color, consistency smell and assess skin. I like to assist with transfers to assess strength. I am not saying that I always have time or that I do this with every patient but when I do I take full advantage of the extra assessment I can get in with my patients. JMHO

ITA with you -- but most all of that assessment you are doing is not what you learn as a CNA doing those tasks. That was my point.

[husker_rn, RN]

I was a CNA in a small town hospital while in nursing school. I learned a lot which made school a bit easier. I was exposed to many things which helped re-inforce what I was learning in school. And it made me appreciate my CNAs that much more !!

[RhiaRN75, RN]

Absolutely!! (In some programs, my nsg school was one, you had to have some medical thing to even be accepted.)

The experience you'll have as a CNA will without a doubt make you a better nurse. It's not a menial useless job that is for uneducated people who really make no difference in pt care. It's the foundation of healthcare. You do this day and age as a CNA the precise thing that WAS nursing several decades ago. As a CNA, you may be the first to notice a pt is in trouble, the skin is starting to break down, the foley is clogged, the HR now irregular, the fever spiked, the family abusive... and on and on.

Let's aknowledge the cynical aspect- you'll do menial tasks, make no money, be underappreciated, be written up, get yelled at by a doctor/nurse/pt/family member, groan about management, work too much, not work fast enough, mess up, never have enogh linen/snacks/supplies, look foolish, hate call bells, hate pts who love demerol, stop answering your phone, find out some men do enjoy a cathater, have various bodily fluids appear on your uniform, have a pt stop you while getting a chart for a code and ask for coffee, find a pt 'passed out' on the floor in an artistic and flattering pose, have a nurse hunt you down and interupt a pts bath a privacy to let you know a urinal needs emptied, have pt manipulate you, lie about you, blame you even for something that happend on your day off, and generally be used and abused just like..... nurses!!

What you will gain. You can step on the floor on the first day of clinical and not be scared stiff. You can start your first clinical day and have a game plan while the other students are panicing about the possibilty that today may be the first IV stick. You'll know it really is possible to bathe a pt in bed. Traction will not be scarey. A code will not terrify you. You will be able to handle pts and their families. You won't freak about being yelled at by a pt whose demerol is one minute late. You will know the difference between a jello colored emesis and true blood, you will know how much blood is really too much and when to panic about it. You will know the difference between a seizure and a drama-fit and how to properly care for each. You will know death can be dignified and the passing can be made as easy as possible. You will know purple koolaid causes grass green poop, and that rotovirus and c-diff does as well, and which is which. You'll know why a lowgrade fever in an ortho pt is no biggie but recognize when it is. You'll learn that pts are thankful and appreciate you, nurse and doctors are cool people and you can talk to them about things not pertaining to pt care- and recognize the ones that are just twits. You'll have a good idea of what you want to do as a nurse and what you wouldn't do no matter what the pay. You'll learn that if the monitor shows an impressive run of Vtach you need to check the pt to see if they are still breathing but realize if they are brushing their teeth they are probably ok. You'll learn that taking the IV out is the very last thing you ever do in the discharge process no matter how much the pt begs. You'll also learn that tons of tape under the opsite of said IV is really not any more secure but IS a PIA when you do take the thing out. You'll develop your gut instinct. You'll get to learn from your mistakes, and better yet- learn from other peoples mistakes. If you work in a supportive enviroment with cool nurses that are all for your nursing school process- and you are not nosey in bad way and prove you can keep you mouth shut- you will get to read charts during your down time and LEARN. Maybe even start formulating your careplan for the next clinical. You will have access to the hospital careplans, hee hee. You might even get to see a pts back surgery as a student nurse, then take care of that pt as a CNA that weekend, and tell the tale of how those old titanium rods for scoliosis had the spine pulling away from them, bone growing where it shouldn't grow, and how you saw the athletic 6'3" ortho doc stand on stool for leverage and literally chisle everything clean with all his might so that everyone can better understand why THIS back-surgery pt really truly needs a boatload of drugs and your coworkers will ooooo about, wince, and work hard to get them said boatload of drugs.

Most importantly- you'll be a better, kinder nurse. You'll learn to appreciate your CNAs, and wouldn't ever be that nurse who interupts a pts bath and privacy to tell a CNA to empty another pts urinal.

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

I think one thing that I forgot to mention to is that it depends on the CNA. I started being a CNA before I was actually accepted in nursing school but when I looked at my patients I examined their skin, mental status and breathing and while I may not have known all the terminology or exactly every aspect of the assessment but I was making some very important observations that I in turn would report to the nurses. I think like clinicals in nursing school its all about what you make of it and the more you put into it the more your going to get out of it.

!Chris

[vivacious1healer]

Absolutely!!!! Being a CNA gave me a greater appreciation of how to work as a team, how to delegate since I now know both the roles of CNA and RN, and time management since I can relate on how much time is needed to complete tasks.

At the nursing college I had attended, the first year they did not require everyone to be a CNA to get into nursing school....wish they had because we lost 25% of the class, as they could not handle it.

[scuderiax]

Thank you all for your responses. I'm just starting out in the health field, switching careers from Business to Nursing and wanted to know what it would be like to start out as a CNA.

Thanks again!

hi thre i know this post was a little old.. but i am in the same boat as you right now. I have a degree in Business and trying to get in to the medical field..?. Are you in school right now how is it? I am in the process of looking into schools now myself.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

I was a CNA for a couple years, then during school also. I would advise against it. Not a popular opinion but I'll tell you how I feel about it so you can make your own decisions about it:

While being a CNA in school, I felt I did have an advantage. I struggled less with organizing my pt. care, less overwhelmed with things like cleaning a pt. up. It definitely helped.

I had the opportunity to become a medical secretary/HUC while in school. I declined the position because it was, as I saw it, away from the bedside. I wish I had not done that. That experience would have done me a lot of good post graduation.

HUCs (Health Unit Coordinator, the one who puts the orders in) get to see a lot CNAs do not. And it was that side of nursing that I struggled with as a new grad. Sure I could race through bed making, but that only helped so much, it wasn't my primary focus anymore. But I had a difficult time reading MD handwritting, figuring out all the odds/ends of putting orders in so that they are effectively carried out and learning how to make what the chart said match the real.

I would suggest getting a job as a HUC. It just gives you insights that are invaluable. Three months as a CNA gives you all the experience you need IMO. I overdid it learning that aspect of things and it did not help as much as I expected post graduation.

[scuderiax]

^^ thanks for the reply.. what are your inputs should i go straight to BSN?.. i have a degree in business and wants to be a nurse.. what is the fastest most efficient should i take

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

^^ thanks for the reply.. what are your inputs should i go straight to BSN?.. i have a degree in business and wants to be a nurse.. what is the fastest most efficient should i take

I'll say to you what I've said to every other person I've had this discussion with:

If getting your BSN is an option, even if it is, in the short term, a little more difficult, do it. Lots of people did not have the option at all and it can be hard getting back to school to do it. I am trying to and not managing to because of the economy.