New LPN, should I go back to hospital CNA instead of long term care?

SunnyAndrsn · Sep 30, 2008

A lot of workplaces will not consider your LPN experience (so I've been told...not entirely sure) but I did go this route for the pt. care experience. Although LTC is not where I want to be, I really needed the experience b/c I never worked as a CNA.

Ultimately, you have to be happy with your decision. I would be torn, but consider the experience you are getting--do you find it valuable? Does it solidify your learning/nursing skills?

If so...then you may want to consider staying.

I'm a new LPN who graduated last May & am bridging to become an RN, which will be completed next Aug. I've been working night shift in a nursing home and have approx. 55 patients with only 2 CNA's. Long term care is definetly not for me, however, hospitals in my area no longer employ LPN's.
Should I stay working as an LPN at a job that I hate, or should I go back to working in a hospital (which is where I want to work) as a CNA until I become an RN?? I realize I will also be taking a pay cut, which will not affect me

puppielove · Sep 30, 2008

If you have never been a cna stay at the ltc job. cna is a physically demanding job and at times you'll be treated as if you are a nothing, you get enough of that in nursing school.That said if you don't mind working like a dog and being treated like dirt then by all means take the cna job.:deadhorse

pepperann35 · Sep 30, 2008

I hear what you are saying........I might be tempted to go back and work in the hosp. as a cna until finishing RN program. If you are truely unhappy in LTC, I would not stay there and be stressed out while trying to finish school. Go to the hosp. that you are considering working in after you finish school and work there. Then you already have 1 foot in the door when you start looking for an RN position. I have been a LPN for 19 yrs. and worked 3 yrs prior to that as a cna. I have worked in LTC for most of those years...I did not like working in a hosp. as an LPN. I am now supervisor in LTC and love the cna's I have..they are the eyes and the ears for noticing changes in patients conditions before anyone else and I don't know what I would do without them! Go where you will be happy! :nurse: :heartbeat:up:

ShayRN · Sep 30, 2008

Why do you have to do one or the other? Why not check into a doctor's office or some other type of setting? Our home care team just hired 5 LPN's on a "crisis unit." The LPN that just started in our inpatient Hospice facility came from a dialysis center. You worked way to hard to be a nurse, please think outside the box and I am sure you will find a way to gain experience and use your liceanse.

DoeRN · Oct 1, 2008

What about home health as an LPN until you finish your RN program? You are still using your LPN license that you worked hard for and getting experience for when you become an RN.

Simba&NalasMom, LPN · Oct 1, 2008

Like others said, there are options other than LTC. There are also memory care facilities where you have a lot of patients but the acuity is very low and you send them to the hospital if anything goes wrong; there are group homes for medically fragile residents where your census is no higher than 5 or 6; there is correctional nursing depending on the state; there are also methadone clinics that hire dispensing nurses (the ones in my area start very early in the morning and do not pay that well, but the pay is still better than CNA pay). Assisted living in my state uses lots of LPNs and is much easier than LTC. Check out all your options before taking that huge a cut in pay.

jjjoy, LPN · Oct 1, 2008

In regard to the OP's situation, I can understand the temptation to take a CNA job in the hospital where you want to work instead of staying at the LTC LPN job you hate. If you ultimately think that's the way to go, just remember that there's no absolute guarantee that they will ultimately hire you on as an RN. Hopefully, they would, and it may be a good chance, but if they don't, would you be okay with that?

There's also the chance that they'd be reluctant to hire someone "overqualified" for the NA position.

I agree with ShayRN that it's a good idea to see what else might be out there that might better suit you now as well as be a good experience for the future. There may be more options out there. Maybe even just a different LTC facility. Since you now have some experience, you are better placed to evaluate other LTC job opportunities and to pick and choose one that might be more tolerable.

Good luck!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Oct 1, 2008

What I am concerned about is that you are a licensed practical nurse that wishes to work as a CNA. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but to my understanding, should something go wrong, you are held liable to you higher license. To get paid less and still have some sort of legal responsibility is not comfortable to me. I would try and take a home care case, where it is just one client, and you can study after you do care and administer medications. Many of my LPN friends got by very well with that while working on their RN.

klink · Oct 1, 2008

Did you ever think about a working in a doctor's office. I work in a pediatric office and we do injections , phone triage, charting, patient education, etc. It's a great alternative to LTC or hospital nursing.