No med experience affect RN start salary?

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · May 14, 2008

I think this is a great question and in my mind it has 2 parts.

1)Does med exp get you a higher starting wage as an RN? Sometimes--not always. A few of the hospitals in my area will factor in CNA/LPN exp into the equation of starting pay, it only adds a few bucks max. Other hospitals have a set starting pay and it doesnt matter what you did prior to getting your RN lic . You get what you get--same as every other new grad.

2) Will being a CNA help you in your transformation into nursing and through out school? Yes. You will learn the flow of a hospital, you can see with your own eyes certain disease processes, you will know how hard a CNA works and value a good CNA once your a nurse. You will have less anxiety about talking with Drs and other members of the health care team. You will be able to perform a quick and thorough assessment. You will also work very hard for very little money, but the hands on experience will be of extreme value.

Not to mention, I was a CNA through out school and in during my final semester when my classmates were scrambling and stressing out trying to find a job, I had 3 dept heads seek me out and ask what my intentions were after graduation, and as an added perk the hospital I worked for as a CNA was generous enough to pay a large chunk of my nursing school tuition.

RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P · May 14, 2008

NO. not having any past medical experience will not hurt or hinder you. once you have your degree, Thats what they care about. well, where i live and where i have been anyhow. i had a couple ppl in my class that had nothing at all medical, and they are just fine

Besides...that is exaclty the reason we go to school!

BrnEyedGirl, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 14, 2008

I worked as a medical assistant for almost 3 yrs before I became an RN,.for the same hospital I'm currently working for,..I was started out a bit ahead of my fellow new grads only because I got to keep any raises I had recieved as an MA.

jjjoy, LPN · May 14, 2008

You might also want to look into a unit secretary position. Those personnel work on nursing units assisting at the nurses' station - transcribing physician orders from the charts and sending them to pharmacy, answering calls to the unit (which includes MD call-backs to nurses), and more. This person works directly with the nursing staff and learns a lot about what nurses do besides basic patient care. They also get familiar with common medications and doses and deciphering scribbled writing.

You might also inquire at local hospitals about what roles their assistants play. At some places CNAs only do basic care (baths, toileting, etc). At other places, the aides (sometimes called patient care techs) are trained in EKGs, phlebotomy and other useful additional skills. Also, in some environments, CNAs are more or left alone with a list of patients who need to be bathed, dressed and toileted by 10am. In other environments, the CNAs work more closely with the nurses and can learn more about overall patient care. Oftentimes, a university-affliliated teaching hospital will provide more learning experiences for an assistant than a community hospital. Of course, each unit and facility is different so you can't make assumptions. If you interview for CNA positions in various units and facilities, you might find an environment that is appealing to you.

Since you recently completed the CNA course, it might be worth your while to look around a bit more to see if there might be more appealing CNA opportunities out there. Good jobs in good facilities are much harder to come by than mediocre/lousy jobs in mediocre/lousy facilities.

Finally, and you've probably already done this to some extent, reflect on what your experience with the CNA course tells you about what you do and don't want to do jobwise as a RN. What did you like? What didn't you like? What of those are specifically related to the CNA role? to health care in general? Are you concerned that you might finish nursing school and feel the same way about working as an RN as you currently do about working as a CNA?

The bottom-line is that many people start nursing school without any previous medical experience. Whether or not that's the best way for you to approach it depends on you!

Dolce, RN · May 14, 2008

I had zero nursing experience when I got my first nursing job. I had worked one summer as an extern and that was it. I was offered the standard new grad rate when I first started and have received wage increases as my experience as a nurse has increased.

SoulSearcher79 · May 14, 2008

perhaps i should rephrase my original question...

i dont want to take a paycut to work as a cna if it's not going to really help me get a higher paying salary once i become an rn. i understand i would gain a great deal of experience but unsure if it will be worth taking a step back from my current salary and believe me i understand a cna's worth (my mom has been a hard working one for 25 years, 22 yrs at her current job)

frankly, i have been accepted into an lvn program in my area the cost is only $4500 (they have a %100 pass rate) and it starts in only 4 weeks.

does anyone think it's worth investing 15 months in a vn program if you ultimately plan on becoming an rn within 5 years.

i appreciate everyone's input so far!!!!!!

jjjoy, LPN · May 14, 2008

[i dont want to take a paycut to work as a CNA if it's not going to really help me get a higher paying salary once I become an RN.

Then, no, working as a CNA will not, in most cases, help you get a higher paying salary as an RN - and almost certainly not enough of a difference to give up a good paying job now.

Does anyone think it's worth investing 15 months in a VN program if you ultimately plan on becoming an RN within 5 years.

Financially? Probably not. It sounds like you already have a decent-paid position that could support you until you start nursing school and going to LVN school means time and money that you don't *have to* invest in to go to RN school.

On the other hand, if you do become an LVN, then you might have the option of working part-time while in RN school, which might be an advantage over your current position.

If you *can* afford LVN school and *want* to get started with nursing ASAP and knowing that many RN programs have several pre-reqs and wait lists which can make it a long time to get started, then I don't see any major reason *not to* go to LVN school.

Ultimately, there is no BEST way to become an RN. And in regard to starting salariers, again, starting RN salary likely won't be significantly impacted by having a few years of previous experience (not just training) as an LVN.

SoulSearcher79 · May 15, 2008

thanks jjjoy, you have made some good points!!!

the only thing steering me to go straight into rn is there is a program here in l.a. that allows you to go straight into rn (adn) no wait as long you have the pre-reqs which i can finish in about a 1 yr 1/2. the only downfall is the cost - $2400 per semester.

decision, decisions, decisions...

RazorbackRN, BSN, RN · May 15, 2008

thanks jjjoy, you have made some good points!!!
the only thing steering me to go straight into rn is there is a program here in l.a. that allows you to go straight into rn (adn) no wait as long you have the pre-reqs which i can finish in about a 1 yr 1/2. the only downfall is the cost - $2400 per semester.
decision, decisions, decisions...

actually, $2400/semester doesn't seem unreasonable at all, especially for l.a.

i am in arkansas, where the cost of things is considerably lower comparatively speaking, and my tuition wasn't much less than that (about $2000/semester) 2 yrs ago.