Nursing school and CNA

[tayyy]

Hi, I'm new to the site and have a few questions about being a CNA in North Carolina!

I take my state exam July 6th and am feeling pretty nervous. Any tips?

Also, I start college in Fall 2012 and was planning on applying to nursing school in Fall 2013 but due to placement testing I need to take some extra math classes so applying to nursing school might have to be held off until Fall 2014. I start school in August and do not plan on working so I can focus on school. Is there any point in working for a month until school starts? Could I even get a job as a CNA for only a short amount of time? Does that look bad? I will hopefully work all next summer (2013) though. But by the time I apply for nursing school in 2014, I think my CNA will be expired and I'm worried about how to renew it if I won't be working that much.

Sorry for so many questions. Any help, tips, or advice is greatly appreciated! (:

[ProudStudent]

Welcome to the site! I'm in a similar situation as you are, although I just completed my CNA licensure exam two days ago. I was as nervous as I can be. Now I know that my nervousness was just silly and my way of overreacting. I became a CNA as a requirement by the RN program that I will begin in August. In order to keep the CNA license, you will have to use it -as you already know. You could work prn for home health agencies or your local hospital to keep it active and gain some bedside experience at the same time. This way, you don't have to work yourself to death while you try to finish school. That's my plan anyway! Here in southwest FL, CNA's are a huge necessity for many LTC/ALF facilities, home health agencies and even private families looking for a caregiver for granny while they're here on vacation. From my view point.. I can say that switching from one place to another or having multiple clients isn't necessarily a bad thing, but a way of gaining as much experience as you can.