how many cna's plan to continue their education?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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i am planning to become a cna and then after about a year continuing on to become an rn or maybe lpn. are other people considering a similar career path? i think i'll be more comfortable getting some training and experience beforne going to nursing school. it seems lees intimidating this way. anyone else doing this too?

I don't know what the difference is here locally, because they get interchanged all the time. I'll see PCA at school, then go look at job listings at hospitals and they want PCTs and PCAs and CNAs that do all the things that the PC~'s do. And in the federal government job listings, sometimes they're not even called that, sometimes they're called Health Technicians!

My name is April Rose and I am a resident of Ohio.

I plan to take my STNA near the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010. After, I finish my STNA class and pass the exam. I will be going to school for my Associates of Nursing(RN).

I want to become a STNA for a job which will give me experience.

An associates degree usually takes 2 years but I am not starting my degree for a year.

I will earn my (RN) about 3 years from now and transfer to a 4 year university which will be an extra 2 years.

5-6 years from now I will have my RN and my bachelor degree.

I will take pre-med classes and major in Psychology or Creative writing. Then, I will apply for medical school and hopefully get in.

After I finish medical school then I will start my residency in family medicine or obstetrics. After 3-6 years of residency I will take the test to become a physician.

I plan to become an Rn because of the experience and money. I considered my life in my 20's and I know I will have children before I graduate medical school. My plan may take 12-20 years but its my life goal along with having a family.

P.S.

The RN takes 2 years with an extra semester for support courses, like english science and math. The LPN program takes 1 year of nursing classes plus a semester of support courses. I would not go for an LPN because RNs earn more and some people have been discussing how LPN jobs aren't flourishing like years ago.

My mother and brother are both LPNs and they have told me how they wished they had went for their RN.

Don't stop at your cna or lpns license go for your RN.

I've been juggling a lot of different options and trying to figure out what I really want. I finally decided. I'm going to go for RN.

But I've got at least 4 semesters of pre-reqs to get out of the way before I do that. And possibly as much as 6 semesters. Just depending on if I go to school year-round, or take a semester or two off to work.

Also, the only place locally for me to get my LPN costs $6,500. The RN program just costs $4,500. I don't really know why that is. Maybe it's because the LPN program is at a "technical institute", while the RN is through a community college.

Anyway, the thing is, if I went LPN then used that as a faster way to get into the RN program, it would cost me thousands more dollars. I would still have to do all my pre-requisites, too, which would cost thousands on top of that. So in the end, it doesn't make sense to me to spend thousands additionally to become an LPN first, even though I would actually love to go that route. Oh well.

What I am doing in the meantime is racking up my pre-requisites. I just finished CNA (will take my state test in a month), and am about to start PCA, then in the fall, will start my RN general pre-reqs as well as take EMT. It's weird how that works but it won't actually cost but a few hundred more, so it's worth it to me.

So hopefully by the time all my pre-reqs are out of the way, I'll be a CNA/PCA and an EMT, and if I can get some experience in, then it will help my app to RN school.

Whew! I'm about to turn 37. I guess I should be applying to nursing school at least by the time I'm 40! :)

hi fellow cna's and future cna's!

i just received my certificate from the state of ca for cna.

i have already registered to take some courses at a local community college for two prerequisites (this august) that i'll need to do for their part-time lvn program. i chose part-time so i can continue to work and still be able to go to school without it killing me. i am in my mid 40s and now that my daughter has graduated high school i have decided to pursue my dreams of becoming a licensed nurse. i've been doing private duty nursing off and on over 20 years and was even a medical assistant for a while.

i have lots of experience in the medical field, but want to go the slower route of the lvn as opposed to just going straight for the rn. i feel very intimidated by the rn program and want to build up to it.

good luck to all in whatever you decide to do.

cyn

Yaaay, I'm different! lol Instead of going for my RN like I was originally going to do, I'm currently enrolled in school for occupational therapy. I didn't flip through all of the pages, so I don't know if anyone else is planning on doing it,but it's sooo similar to CNA so my current job will be a nice transition for me. I like it because it has so much more freedom than nursing, in the sense that I get a chance to exercise my creativity when problem solving and helping people accomplish their personal goals. And it doesn't pay too shabby either. :D I'm pretty stoked about it.

Specializes in LTC.

I am. I became a CNA at 17 and now I'm 20 and 3 weeks away from getting my LPN. After that, I'll be starting back this fall to work on my AA RN, then BSN here I come. Maybe I'll go for masters ! So yes I'm taking baby steps but I'll get there... we'll get there

Specializes in Alzheimers and geriatric patients.

I've been a CNA since I was 16 and now at 21 I'm finishing up my pre-reqs for the RN program (hopefully start that in the spring). It has taken a long time but the reward will be well worth it!

Specializes in Substance Abuse, Mental Health.

I passed my nurse aide exam only a week ago, but like many of you, it is a stepping stone for my ultimate goal of being an RN. I've already wasted time and money earning a Bachelors degree in something I'm not currently using, so right now it's a toss up between a 1 year LPN program followed by a bridge to RN or an accelarated BSN program (13 months). Some might say, Oh it's the same amount of time...just go for the BSN. Well, I have a husband and 2 small children and the accelerated program is very time consuming, grueling, and you can't work while you're in it and I'm not sure if I want to put my family through that for a year. I'm still undecided of the route, but I'll be an RN one day.

I kinda came to AIN (Aussie CNA) from the other direction. I'm a second year RN student (3 year Bachelor degree) and realised that with my course I'd be rocking out with very little experience in patient cares.

Soo, I slowed down the study to part-time and swung over to AIN work in a nursing home. Excellent experience and in Australia it's also pretty reasonable pay. Base rate of $16.44/hour with 23% casual loading; 12.5% afternoon and 15% night loading and of course weekend rates are higher again. EEN's (our LPN's I think - anyway, endorsed to give out meds) get a couple of dollars more an hour and RN's a couple of dollars more again.

Though weirdly the private sector (where I'm working atm cos of lack of experience) pays about $2-3 / hour LESS than the public health system. Is that the case in the USA? Cos it confused me. lol

Kirri

Where I'm from the two schools that have an RN program are so competative that I spent 4 years waiting! I recived an AA in general studies, got married, and started a family and I'm still waiting.

The CNA to LVN route seems to be the only way I'll be able to go. Who knows, maybe when I'm in my mid 30s I'll finally be able to take the 3 classes I'd need to get my AA in nursing

I kinda came to AIN (Aussie CNA) from the other direction. I'm a second year RN student (3 year Bachelor degree) and realised that with my course I'd be rocking out with very little experience in patient cares.

Soo, I slowed down the study to part-time and swung over to AIN work in a nursing home. Excellent experience and in Australia it's also pretty reasonable pay. Base rate of $16.44/hour with 23% casual loading; 12.5% afternoon and 15% night loading and of course weekend rates are higher again. EEN's (our LPN's I think - anyway, endorsed to give out meds) get a couple of dollars more an hour and RN's a couple of dollars more again.

Though weirdly the private sector (where I'm working atm cos of lack of experience) pays about $2-3 / hour LESS than the public health system. Is that the case in the USA? Cos it confused me. lol

Kirri

Kirri,

I think the pay here in the US mainly depends on budget and locale. And where I'm at, Arkansas, is one of the lowest-paying states there is. Mostly CNAs make around $8-$10/hr. On a rare occasion I'll see one that will start a CNA at $13/hr. Really rare. The state-run LTC I looked at was starting CNAs out at $10 an hour, and they had a better staffing ratio, plus a little bit better compensation package and scheduling freedom (but not a lot), and if you take advantage of the incentives, you make a lot more. They are also a not-for-profit facility, which is probably why they are a little better. I believe they had 17 CNAs total, with 12 or 14 on the floors at any given time, with about 97 residents. I know, it sounds pretty great. The private facility we're helping move my grandmother to has 80 residents, and 2-3 CNAs plus 1 LPN for every floor. And they start at about $10 an hour also.

But with every place, there are different pay incentives depending on what you do and what shift you're on. In fact, the moment you leave Arkansas and go anywhere north, CNA pay starts to go up. Like, you might make $2,000 more a year if you move from New Orleans to St. Louis.

CNAs working on the federal level might actually have better working conditions, better pay incentives, better benefits packages, and better pay. A CNA might start out at $25,000 or $30,000 just depending on locale alone. Plus, the benefits and automatic yearly step up in pay grade make it a tantalizing option.

So, in a nutshell, that's what I'm seeing on average on private, state, and federal level for CNA jobs. Hope that helps answer your question some :nuke:

Specializes in LTC.
Yaaay, I'm different! lol Instead of going for my RN like I was originally going to do, I'm currently enrolled in school for occupational therapy. I didn't flip through all of the pages, so I don't know if anyone else is planning on doing it,but it's sooo similar to CNA so my current job will be a nice transition for me. I like it because it has so much more freedom than nursing, in the sense that I get a chance to exercise my creativity when problem solving and helping people accomplish their personal goals. And it doesn't pay too shabby either. :D I'm pretty stoked about it.

same here!

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