LNA: What Next?

[betheroo9]

Hello!

At 36 years old, I decided to leave my career in Sales/Management and "do something that made me happy". I took an LNA(CNA) course and got my license. I have been working in a Nursing Home (Located in a Hospital) for a year now and I love my job. I love caring for people and have learned enough about the healthcare field to know that this is where I want to be.

That being said, I want more. I want to further my education and qualifications in the Healthcare field... my ultimate goal would be to become an RN in MedSurg. The hospital I work at has a great tuition reimbursement program which would help defray the cost of school and (because I currently have low income) I know I would qualify for decent financial aid. My big problem is figuring out what path to go. My husband is paraplegic and does not work fulltime so I need to be able to work enough to cover our bills as well as have heath insurance, this basically means I HAVE to work at least 32 hours per week. We also have a 14 year old son. I am not sure if I will be able to make Nursing School work with a fulltime job and a family. I also live in Northern NH and the closest nursing program is a 45 minute commute for me.

I have looked into a Phlebotomy Certification program and can accomplish this in 2 semesters. The lab at my hospital is always hiring per-diem as well as some full time here and there. I am interested in this field and the pay/schedule is better that what I do now.

If I go the RN route, the program that I would be able to do (at the Community College) is just an Associates RN so my job prospects would probably be limited to Long Term Care.

I could also do the Medical Assistant program (there is a Certificate (12 month) program and an Associate Degree (2 years) program for this at my Community College and there are always MA jobs advertised at my Hospital.

OK all of you seasoned pros... what path do you think makes the most sense for my life? Would the Phlebotomy Cert be a waste of my time/money? Would I be better off doing the MA thing? If so, should I do the Certification or the Associate Degree?

HELP!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Do NOT fall for the fallacy that an associates degree is required to be an MA. Some practices actually prefer to train their own MA's. At most, take a certificate class that is a few weeks in duration. Associates degrees are a recent invention of for-profit institutions.

Also do not fall for the fallacy that ASN's can only work in LTC. Both of these issues need to be researched in your area to get an accurate idea of what's available in your local job market.

[betheroo9]

Thanks for your reply.

I think the MA route is where I am heading... just want to make sure I am not wasting my time/money. I know that many jobs will train MA's on the job but I would ultimately like to be working in the hospital that I now am employed at and all MA jobs there require certified MA's or multiple years of experience (neither of which I currently have.)

I am leaning toward the shorter MA certification (because of time and cost mainly) but I don't really know the difference (do employers prefer one over the other?) and I want to make sure that whatever path I take is the one that will make me the most prepared/marketable in the workforce.