Nursing Student HATES Nursing Assistant Job

MiaNJ · Apr 21, 2007

Before I started nursing school I was really freaked out because I've never worked in a hospital and I wasn't sure what to expect when we started clinicals. So, I decided to get a job as a PCT on a med-surg ortho floor (also known as CNA or nursing assistant) to gain some experience. Well, I HATE my job. The nurses treat me like crap (I don't even bother telling some of them I'm a nursing student because most of them sterotype PCT's as being stupid and uneducated), and the unit secretary is a pain in my a$$. She's always following me around telling me to go do this and that. She'll even call me (on the intercom thingy) while I'm in a patient's room to tell me to go do something else when she can clearly see that I'm busy. I hate doing Q4 vitals on 15-20 patients, I hate passing 15-20 trays, I hate being called every 5 seconds to "go do this, or go do that", I hate everything about nursing that I've experience thus far. Thing is, I only work once a week, and each week I find myself becoming physically ill at the thought of having to endure 8 hours of their crap. I'm starting to wonder, if I can't even hadle being a PCT, how the heck am I gonna be able to handle being a nurse? Sorry for the long rant. I just needed to vent.

Have you started clinicals at your school yet? I can assure you not even nursing students get treated like that. Maybe the hospital where you work has a shorting of CNAs and you have to work so hard and they constantly call you to do things.

I recently finished nursing school, and at most clinical sites, even the busiest floors..the nurses may have had a top workload of 6-7 patients the most that I've seen. But most of the time, in critical floors they have less patients per nurse. I don't think any nurse would have to take care of 15-20 patients, that would be impossible and unsafe. So what you are doing isn't really exactly like nursing and it's more 'routine' tasks which you may find boring or tedious, and they are giving you too many patients to take care of at once.

Also, RNs are mostly autonomous and aren't called to do things every 5 -10 minutes, not even by nursing manager.

So don't feel so worried that nursing will be like what you are doing now.

SteveNNP, MSN, NP · Apr 21, 2007

Try to get a nurse externship on ANOTHER floor this summer, where the nurses can recognize your knowledge and floor smarts while working with you in the role of an RN. Then transfer to that floor as a PCT after the externship is over! That's what I did....

allnurses Guide · Apr 21, 2007

RN and CNA are different . . .which is why I've never recommended becoming a CNA first.

I love my CNA's but would not want to do their job. It is hard physically and pays less than nothing.

Don't judge the RN's role by what you are doing as a CNA. And please don't judge all RN's by the folks you work with.

We love our CNA's. In fact, we are short two CNA's right now . . one for nights and one for days and so some shifts the nurses have to do total patient care and do vital signs and give the patients showers and feed the patients who cannot feed themselves, etc. All the honorable but hard work you are doing now.

steph

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Apr 22, 2007

I could have written your post!

I got a job as a nurse aid on the float pool at a hospital and omg I HATED every SINGLE SECOND of it and just up and quit. If I knew that I had to work one 8 hour shift it would ruin my whole week just dreading that day! I mean it was that bad.

I was floated all on the med/surg type floors as an aid (med/surg, oncology, neuro, etc). It was probably the worse job I've had in my life....and this is an excellent hospital! The only good experience I got out of that job was knowing I would never be a floor nurse on a med/surg or likewise floor and knowing that CNAs work their asses off.

I'm just finishing up my first year of nursing school and I can tell you that working as a CNA is nothing at all like an RN. I wouldn't recommend the job of CNA and I don't think it is necessary at all for future RNs. I do have to say god bless CNAs because it is a hard job and it takes a special person--I absolutly admire them, the good ones that is.

I always had 10-15 patients and it was just a nightmare and most of the other CNA were unhelpful.

So please don't judge your job as a nurse aid against nursing school....it is totally different and you may just also dislike floor nursing, I prefer critical care areas and have a job now as a nurse partner in the PICU where the RNs have 1 patient each and there is always an MD on the floor as well as a resident and a pharmacist....a world of difference. Every single RN on that floor goes on and on about how much they love their job and it is well known in the hospital for being such a supportive place to work.

november17, ASN, RN · Apr 22, 2007

It sounds like the place where you work is the problem. I hated my CNA job when I was pre-nursing - mostly related to recurring issues and stress with my coworkers. I found much more hospitable environments in other places, and realized that nursing didn't have to suck when I had the right people to work with!

RNMom2010 · Apr 22, 2007

I briefly worked as a CNA (PCT) at a hospital on the rehab floor before moving on to Assisted Living. My experience at the hospital working with the nurses and other staff was HORRENDOUS! I was treated like complete crap, told I wasnt doing enough (I was fully busy at all times) and looked down upon. I was treated even WORSE when they found out I was a nursing student. I was called into the nurse managers office and she told me that the nurses were complaining about me thinking I was better than the other CNA's because I was a student. That was the farthest thing from the truth! God forbid I actually take a personal interest in my patients and their care and am interested in observing some procedures when I had the chance. I have never met more bitter, uncaring nurses before than those I worked with. They really give a bad name to the profession and I cross my fingers that I do not have to fight off woman like that when I hit the floor as a RN.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Apr 22, 2007

I was treated even WORSE when they found out I was a nursing student. .

Ya, I made the mistake once of telling them I was in a nursing program myself....that ended up being a bad idea.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Apr 22, 2007

Your post is precisely the reason I avoided getting a CNA or PCT job before starting school. I was petrified of having exactly the experience you mention. We have a number of students in our class who works in hospitals, and it seems to be working out great for them. Most of them have been doing it for several years however.

I am going to be starting an internship this summer as a student nurse, and I am excited and interested to see how that pans out. I have been told I will get a ton of experience doing skills we have learned over the last 2 semesters and then have the opportunity to stay on prn after it's over. I will make a decision on whether to stick around based on this experience over the summer and how I perceive the treatment from the staff overall. There are a number of us who will be working different floors at this facility, so it will be interesting to see how we are treated on the whole.

If you think you are still interested in being a nurse, you may want to consider doing something else while you are in school. A job that makes you physically sick is definitely not worth it!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2007

I was a PCT the last six months of nursing school prior to becoming a an RN and highly recommend it. I also needed a full-time job to pay my bills and it paid more than I was getting at Pizza Hut at the time.

It got me used to hands on and made me more confident with the patients. It was horribly busy and demanding. I enjoyed the one-on-one with patients while I was taking their vitals, passing their meals and performing ADLs without having to worry about critical thinking.

If you hate it that much and don't need the money to pay the bills, and don't think that quitting will burn bridges at a place you might want to work, if it's not advancing your knowledge and learning experience, then please by all means quit. Life is way to short to be this miserable.

Being a CNA is not the same. So as was said above, don't judge that this is how nursing is going to be.

Also, don't shoot the messenger when you're busy and you get a message to do something else. That's one you you'd better get used to now because that's one thing that isn't going to change. You're going to be knee deep in a sterile dressing change and the intercom is going to come on for pain medicine in the room next door and it's not the secretary's fault for giving you the message.

There's a day in every new grads life when you think "gee I wish I was a CNA without all this responsiblity". LOL

Scrubz · Apr 22, 2007

As far as how they're treating you, you can find better, because they shouldn't be treating you so poorly. As far as what you're doing in terms of work, everything fits in the job description. You might be able to find an easier place to work, but you'll be doing some of the same.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2007

futurnurse. . .you remember how every box of Crackerjacks came with a free prize? Well, maybe you don't 'cause you're only 26! But, here's your prize--a bit of wisdom for you. Take some wisdom from this experience on (1) how to interact with co-workers (2) how to be respectful of others feelings in the workplace (3) that we all need a pat on the back and recognition for the hard work we do BECAUSE some day you are (1) going to be in charge (2) have the authority to influence some of the way the team you work with behave toward each other, but (3) if you turn a blind eye to it or participate in that same behavior yourself then "futurnurse, jr" is going to be on allnurses also talking about how he/she HATES their nursing assistant job.

I have to tell you that not all work places are like this. Places like yours have problems because of poor management and supervision. Plant a couple of people with nasty attitudes in the middle of it that the poor managers don't know how to deal with and you end up with work situations similar to what you've gotten stuck in. I've worked with some terrific people where we were all kind to each other and helped each other out. I would have shoveled excrement all shift for some charge nurses because they were really nice, considerate persons, and would have lent a hand. You are learning something that you won't find in your textbooks or on the career information sites. That is what you can't learn from the job application and interview process. You can't always learn what it is like to be with the people you end up working shoulder to shoulder with until you are actually there, sleeves rolled up and ready to work. Remember that when you are out looking for your first nursing job and some of these recruiters are trying to sweet talk you into signing on at their hospital--a hospital that might have an alarming turnover rate.