MA and Volunteering

[sneaky_des]

So I was wondering....I'm a pre-nursing student about to be done with prereqs this Fall and taking the TEAS early next year. Ever since I started school I've been actively volunteering at local hospitals and working as a Medical Assistant. Its been really exhausting but also very rewarding working with different people and continuously learning. What I was wondering about is, will this really help later on when I do become an RN? Or does it only matter to Nursing schools? I love giving back to my community plus it has strengthened my career choice but it would be awesome if it would help later on. Lately I've been feeling frustrated and overwhelmed with school, work, and volunteering and also being a mom and wife so I guess I just need some reassurance that it will all be worth it. Any advice would be appreciated 😊

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Volunteering is/should be a rewarding experience from a personal standpoint. How much it "helps" in career advancement depends on what you actually did while a volunteer.

Nursing schools (any college) likes to see volunteerism because it's something that helps develop you as an individual, "rounds out" your application. Since you cannot volunteer in any patient care capacity, that's where the help to your application/career ends. Only patient care experience counts as such, so....it will be helpful only in the sense that it shows you took initiative and did something :)

Working as an MA will give you no "edge" when it comes to finding employment as an RN. Only working as a nurse will count as nursing experience.....and sometimes, even LPN experience isn't considered to be enough as it's not uncommon for RN experience to be the minimum consideration. Much depends on where you expect to work later on down the road.

In a nutshell, volunteerism and MA employment will have no real bearing on RN employment later on, but might just help you to get your foot in the door at a school so you can BECOME an RN! :)

Good luck!