Just asking..

Volunteering would be a good way to get a first look at what you'll have to be doing once you're a nurse. I think you should stick to the RN since you're already on the path. It'll take you longer to be an RN and there's no rule that says you have to be a CNA first.

I am 4 weeks into my nursing program and have been a CNA for 2 years. got the CNA over the summer while working on my pre-reqs. The CNA class isn't that long and is not stressful to do. I think that it does make you more comfortable working with pts, during clinical. My school had a 2 credit summer class that basically was a CNA class without the clinical part included so those that were not CNA's learned how to bath and transfer pts.

I personally think being a CNA is a good idea, but after the first 4 weeks, I am no more farther ahead than those who haven't been a CNA. However because I work in an ER I am then able to see what I have been learning in school applied by the nurses around me, I also am able to ask the nurses I work with a lot of questions, and 2 of the nurses I work with graduated from my school, so that is a bonus.

However another down side is, during my first two weeks of clinical, I hardly saw my instructor, because she was "Oh, well you two students are already CNA's so I am going to put you down at then end of the hall, and I am going to be with these students who haven't had any experience yet." I have now learned to seek her out because I want the same amount of instructor time as everyone else, she is grading my performance.

Also you wont have the attitude of "I am never going to wipe butts" as I just heard a fellow student today say. She said that she makes the CNA's in clinical change her patient because that is not what she is going to school for. Personally I think that she is scared to clean someone who has a BM, but if you have been a CNA it is second nature you get used to it, it is part of the job, not the whole job, but part of it and RN's need to be able to clean someone up too, and it is a good time to do a skin assessment.

Volunteering is a good way to see how the department runs, but you really don't get to see the nurse in action.

Working as a CNA for a short time is good. For the year I was, I learned a lot about taking care of another human being, some of the really fundamental skills. But it is not the same thing as being an RN. Many nurses I know were techs before they were nurses, but most nurses I know were not.

Don't know what the job market is like out there but around here seems like almost all of the new hires in my facility over the last year have been CNA's-mostly from this hospital.

I never worked as a CNA. I think the experience would be valuable, but your success as a RN does not depend on whether or not you decide to do this.

If you are already stressed, then taking on an additional responsibility at this time is inadvisable. When you are at work as a CNA, you need to be there body and mind, stressing about your schoolwork while at work is not going to help you or the patients.

Perhaps when you are in nursing school, you can take advantage of the nurse extern programs that many hospitals have. It builds on the experiences you have in clinicals and they are paid positions.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Blee

Some schools require that you already have the certification for CNA to enter into an LPN or RN program, you should inquire. While I do believe that having it will definitely be an asset in patient interactions, ADL, turning/positioning, vital signs, etc, I have also seen many successful nurses with no CNA or tech training whatsoever. Volunteering might give you the same experience.