Nursing School questions..

SKRenee · Nov 21, 2016

I had scholarships to help me allay the cost, but other than this I worked some part time seasonal jobs. I know a lot of my friends in nursing school worked as waitresses however and made a lot of money doing this. Also, nurse managers LOVE waitresses because it shows time managements skills.

As far as being a CNA though, I and everyone I know went straight into a BSN program. Once you have completed a semester of nursing school you are automatically qualified as a CNA and can just contact the appropriate person in your nursing school to get the CNA license or find a job as a Nurse Tech, which takes the same qualifications. Some people say that it's better to be a CNA before school, however my experience as a nurse tech showed me that you mostly just end up doing the grunt work and it's not a good indicator of nursing.

I am in my last semester of nursing school and love nursing. But if I had been a CNA first I don't think I would have ever gone into nursing.

Hope this helps!

carmelruth · Nov 21, 2016

Thank you so much for responding. I'm hoping & praying I will be awarded with scholarships when the time comes. Oh wow! Thanks for that, why do you think you would have not gone into nursing if you would've became a CNA first?

SKRenee · Nov 21, 2016

Well if you can get into a CNA or Tech job in the ER the story is VERY different, but anywhere else is awful. My job was on a Telemetry floor and the workload is unbelievable. I took the job while I was in nursing school mainly because it was advertised as a great thing to have on a resume and very educational to see and help nurses working. Well it may be great to have on a resume, but once out of orientation you never see the nurses and the work is very rote: blood glucose checks, turn patients, change patients, etc. I ended up quitting after 4 months, and a friend with a similar job made it 6 months. In short, it just burns you out.

AliNajaCat · Nov 22, 2016

I took a year off from college after my freshman year and did CNA work full-time for 15 months, then part time for my next two years of college, including full time summers and every vacation. My senior year I was married and my husband had graduated a year before me, so we had enough money to live on without my working. (My grades went up. Surprise, surprise.)

My advice? Suck it up and do what you have to do. You can do anything for a year. Oh, and hope is not a plan. Make the scholarship office people your best friends; visit in person often. They know all sorts of things and can tell who's actively engaged and who's just, well, hoping.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · Nov 22, 2016

I saved money for several years before going back to school. I was making good money and my previous BS degree was super cheap and my employer paid for my grad school. So now I can still get financial aid and I'm going to the same state school.

As for CNA, try to get one during the first summer break or CNA positions within a hospital that are specifically designed for BSN students. The real benefit of working as a CNA is networking. If you're lucky and work in a good hospital, there's potential to learn more. But at the end of the day, you'll be a CNA and are limited as to what you can do. I would try working FT in the summer and switch to per-diem during the school year. I would not recommend working as a CNA in a nursing home just for the sake of getting CNA experience.

ThatBigGuy · Nov 23, 2016

Apply for every scholarship under the sun, both nursing based and GPA based. Go ask the finaid department if they have anything they can offer. My school had a small scholarship for anyone who had the foresight to walk in and ask, simple as that.

In the meantime, work your tail off and save as much money as you can. You'll likely be limited to private loans during some or most of your BSN program, so every dollar you save now will save you in the long run.

I think CNA is a good way to go, although more for the experience rather than the pay. You get your foot in the door, learn basic skills that you will use when you are an RN, learn teamwork in the healthcare setting, and learn how to accept delegation. It doesn't pay well at all, and you'll wipe so many butts, but it gets your foot in the door.

Another option is become a phlebotomist. You don't have to clean butts, and learning stick skills will directly translate into nursing skills. IV skills are crucial, and a phlebo turned RN has such a huge advantage.

Do everything you can to save and reduce the cost of your tuition before you start school. Just remember that the average student loan takes 20 years to pay off at a 7% interest rate. This means that every $1 you borrow now will cost you $2 later.

AliNajaCat · Nov 23, 2016

Another option is become a phlebotomist. You don't have to clean butts, and learning stick skills will directly translate into nursing skills. IV skills are crucial, and a phlebo turned RN has such a huge advantage.

No, phlebotomy will translate into ONE nursing skill, and even that may not work out, because so many places have IV teams and you'll hardly ever have to cannulate (not just stick) a vein. If you do get a nursing job that requires proficiency in venipuncture, you'll learn it then. Not such a big deal.

Cleaning butts is something that everybody fixates on but it's 1) also not such a big deal, and 2) not something you'll do all day long or even every day for the rest of your professional life. Why does everybody fixate on rectal temps and bedpans when they think of nursing? Because they have no fricking clue about what we really are.

carmelruth · Nov 28, 2016

Thank you everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it