I am currently attending Hamilton college lincoln campus for my associates degree in Medical Assisting my overall goal is to become an registered nurse specializing in labor and delivery and / or pediatrics.
is my method of my career going nowhere and should i of spent way less money and time and became a cna then continued on to recieve my nursing degree...
what i think im trying to say is that i would like input on how others recieved their education and also...
The value of an associates degree in Medical assisting vs. a Certified Nurses assistant which career choice is the better one to
what are the restrictions of a MA and CNA...which can possibly be employed in a hospital... i know ma are clinical and whatever but im so beyond confused at this moment that i am scared...
I am a CMA. I became a CMA because I wanted to see if I truly wanted to go into health care (said I wanted to since I was a kid) and my Bosses wife at the time was a MA and it sounded like a fun job. I applied to the program and got in. Before starting the program I saw that the LVN program was only 1 semester longer and considered doing that instead but stuck with the MA route instead. I use to wish that I had go ahead and did the LVN instead because it would have been more cohesive to moving up to getting my RN (I am in a BSN right now) but we can not dwell on what we could have or should have done....plus I enjoyed my job as an MA for the most part....not even a year into it I knew that it was not going to be enough more me, after a year my level of being challenged ceased, but I could not afford to go to nursing school at the time. I actually became depressed because the FNP I MA'd for was a total orifice and I felt trapped in my job. A year and half later my husband go a new job that paid 8.00 more per hour and since I was only making 8.25 at the time I told him there was no way he could stop me from going back for my RN. I cried when he agreed there was no reason for me not to go back to school and that he wanted me to quit my job...I was so happy! So I signed up full-time to take pre-reqs and transfer classes at the local JC....it took me two years but I got into the BSN program at the State college the first time I applied (they went by merit and because I had good grades and experience as a medical assistant I got in).
I never regret going the MA route, even though I often wished I had just signed up for the LVN program instead, whats done is done. I really do not think that you need to be a CNA before you apply for nursing school; we learned all the CNA duties the first two weeks of lab in my BSN program, but if you plan on being a nurse and want experience before doing so I would suggest doing the CNA, but depending how far you are in your MA program I would say just stick it out and finish it, because it is good experience too.
what I ment was if you are almost done go ahead and wrap it up, but if you just started, quit and get your CNA...most nursing homes will training you to take the exam and pay you while you train! You could work as a CNA while you go to school, unlike medical assistants what work in offices, most CNAs can find 24hr work.
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sharlynn
318 Posts
Check in to the nursing school of your choice. Here in the panhandle they are now requiring you to be a CNA before starting LPN classes.