Is it the right thing to do?

[mylittlelulu]

Hello, all. I have been viewing the posts on allnurses for a few weeks now. I am hoping I can get some help advice. I, too, am considering a career in nursing. I am just not sure. The step to it seems so scary.

I am currently taking classes at a local tech school. I just discovered that I only need one more quarter (3 classes) to complete my prereqs for LPN. That means that as long as my grades are good, which I think they are and I do well on the psych exam, I can get into the program next Spring. However, I kind of keep wondering if this is the right thing for me to do. I am currently working as a cna at a nursing home. I have been employed there for nearly a year; this is the only experience I have with nursing. The attitudes of our LPNs scare me a little. They think cna are less then they. We are only there to wipe butts. I love my residents. I am a caring person with a HUGE heart. I am not that strong of a personality, but I want to take care of people. I like being a CNA, I just absorb the negative attitudes of the people around me. I hope that I if I do decide that nursing is my thing then when I get into a hospital where I have more say in the care of my patients (not being a cna reporting to an LPN) then it will be better. I am thinking that I would like to work in hospice. I do plan to bridge to RN so I can get into case management, but I need money to help support my family.

I thought of social work, but 6 years of school is scary too. I am 34, I have had many jobs but never a career.

Any advice is appreciated!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Go for it! There is nothing wrong with being a CNA and even as a nurse, you continue to do pt care and yes, you do still wipe butts. However, you have the opportunity to further impact your pts care and that is something wonderful.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

[mylittlelulu]

Thank you! I will!