Is working as a CNA necessary?

BSN_to_ICU · Mar 19, 2016

Thank you all for your thoughts! Unfortunately, the agencies I am looking to work at when I graduate are too far away from my university to work there during school (some of you mentioned it would help getting in at the specific facility if I worked there). I am looking into multiple leadership opportunities and plan on volunteering a lot and hopefully that will help my chances. I am not totally giving up on the idea of becoming a CNA before I graduate, but we will see :)

allnurses Guide · Mar 19, 2016

My mentor who told me not to go the CNA route also hired me. I'm forever grateful for her sage advice and help along the way.

I hope you can find someone like that.

Xlorgguss · Mar 20, 2016

Working as a PCT or PCA in a hospital will be infinitely more helpful then being a CNA in a nursing home. You get exposed to all the CNA tasks but actually get to do the vitals and watch the nurse do interventions. It can also be helpful to have those contacts when looking for that first job too.

RN Mae · Mar 21, 2016

The fact that you said you have no problem with CNAs is a problem...

I am a RN but was 1 st a CNA or Nurses Aide....after 1st semester of my ADN... Then went for my BSN... I was Working as a RN saving people's lives before you at this point I can tell you if you are using terms that make you elite.... You are a small moment to the big picture.... There are admission clerks, doctors, pharmacists and techs, and lab technician, X-ray techs and radiologists.... And 12 million other people just important as you feel.... If you don't walk in their shoes using their Degree and expertise , you should be grateful to be a part of a team of people helping this patient....and will never succeed in being the patient advocate till u do...so you and your patients will suffer ...

always be humble and kind.... And that as a RN will help tremendously

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Mar 21, 2016

You shouldn't have to pay money to become a CNA after your second semester of the program. In most states you are qualified by that point.

I will tell you I recently got a pct job in a hospital. They hire nursing students after their second semester. We are the transitioned into RNs after we pass NCLEX. You really need to know your job market.

I will tell you what the positives are of this job. I'm getting to know the unit. The way it flows, the other nurses, the physicians, and they get to see me and how I work. I'm learning the hospital itself. Policies, procedures. I also am getting experience with the basics. Nursing school trains you for nothing but the NCLEX. Here, I'm getting suctioning, oral care, accuchecks, bathing, all of that down pat. CNAs or PCTs do way more than you probably think they do.

its up to you and what you are comfortable adding to your load. I work 1, 12 hour shift a week.

BSN_to_ICU · Mar 21, 2016

I said I had no problem being a CNA because I have seen so many people look down on CNAs. I don't have a problem working my way up and if I could get a CNA job more easily I would do it in a heartbeat. I will have to pay for both the exams in North Carolina. NA I and NA II because the hospital where I live does not hire NA Is. So I wouldn't have to pay for the class but the exams add up.

BSN_to_ICU · Mar 21, 2016

If I could work at the hospital I plan to work at after graduation, this would be no question. I am moving a few hours away from where I am currently at for college. I wish the situation was different because I know working at the hospital I want to when I get my BSN would be infinitely helpful.

allnurses Guide · Mar 21, 2016

I will tell you what the positives are of this job. I'm getting to know the unit. The way it flows, the other nurses, the physicians, and they get to see me and how I work. I'm learning the hospital itself. Policies, procedures. I also am getting experience with the basics. Nursing school trains you for nothing but the NCLEX. Here, I'm getting suctioning, oral care, accuchecks, bathing, all of that down pat. CNAs or PCTs do way more than you probably think they do.

I learned all of that in nursing school. I'm sure that not all programs are the same but we rotated through every clinical site - the GI lab where I helped prep and got to watch colonoscopies, the ER where I started my first IV, checked blood glucose, did pre-op and post-op care, got to watch surgeries, helped with labor and delivery, I got to draw labs . . . we got a little taste of just about everything a nurse will do once we are licensed. During school, I trained in acute care at first where I did CNA work by bathing patients, changing beds, helping patients up to BSC, emptied F/C bags, etc. That was the first 6 weeks of school - learning to be a CNA.

In the state where I live, CNA's do not check BG, draw labs, place F/C's . . . that is not within their scope. So, for me, CNA consisted of learning bedside care of patients with baths, etc.

We rotated through the 2 large hospitals and one rehab facility. We practiced all those skills (IV, F/C, NG Tube, IM injections, etc.) in the lab at school as well.

spence41 · Mar 23, 2016

I am two quarters away from getting my associate's degree in nursing. For my program, getting your CNA license is a requirement to even apply. You don't have to work as a CNA, but you have to take the class and get your license. Having the license encouraged me to actually seek out some CNA work, and I think it helps immensely with gaining confidence in the healthcare setting. Also, working at my local hospital as a CNA first is pretty much the only way to get hired as a new RN. If you don't already work there, you either need your BSN or a couple years experience before they will hire you. Not to mention, working at the hospital as a CNA has given me the opportunity to see skills being performed in the real world many more times than in clinicals.

Wake88, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2016

If you deal with any sort of social anxiety then becoming a CNA will help acclimate you to the clinical setting to an extent.

Necessary? No. Wise? Probably.

guest798886 · Mar 23, 2016

Necessary? No. Helpful? yes. The skills you learn as a CNA will definitely help during clinicals and in your courses, specifically Fundamentals of Nursing, bt since you're a 2nd semester student, it'll help from here on out for jobs.

And like one of the posters said once you start clinicals in the program you don't have to go through a CNA program and pay for it. You automatically qualify and can just apply for that position.

Wake88, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2016

Same here.

Also I've developed contacts with the two wound care RNs at the hospital, and they allow me to help and observe. This is invaluable since I aim to specialize in that field.