Ok maybe a dumb question but.....

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Did all of you have some sort of medical experience before becoming a nurse? I was a CNA for about a year before i decided thats what I wanted to do. I am just asking this because at the school where I take my prereqs there are some students in their late teens and early 20's that work at banks and offices and have no hospital experience. With a 2 year waiting list to get into the nursing program at my school I think these students should have some experience so they know what they are getting into before they take up a spot in the program they are not prepared for.

I didn't have any medical experience when i started nursing school. I think it worked better that way for me personally. I think because people that had "experience" would not do as well on exams because the exams were based on the "perfect world" and they knew working on the floor you did this or that, but not like what the exams wanted. They also had a harder time passing boards, sometimes experience can hurt.

Angela R.N.

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I will have no experience when I finally start my clinicals. In a perfect world we might all be able to get hospital experience before Nursing School, but that just doesn't happen for everyone. I have been looking to change jobs to get into a hospital setting, but I don not have any certifications so I am limited to what I can apply for. Even the Unit Secretary jobs are hard to come by. I don't think it should be a requirement thought, unless the school you are attending has a job placement program and they find you a job.

I am sure there are many absolutely wonderful nurses out there who had no prior expeirence in a hospital until their first clinical rotation.

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Specializes in Public Health.

I have never worked in a hospital and I'll have my BSN in May 07'. I get better grades than the CNA's in my class. I think it comes down to how bad a person wants it, and how hard they're willing to work for it. People can change their minds no matter what field they decide to go into. I was worried when I first started nursing school that I would be at a disadvantage by not having worked in a hospital, but it hasn't affected me at all.

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I don't think so, but I could be wrong.

There are some states that GRANT you CNA status after your first semester of nursing school. But that is different than requiring it as a pre-req.

~faith,

Timothy.

I agree - I've seen SCHOOLS require it (which in my opinion is a bit silly - UNC Wilmington being one of them), but in all my time on this board I've never seen a STATE requirement - and we're all pretty much everywhere!

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Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.

I am in a second-degree program, and appreciate the diversity of backgrounds of my fellow students. There is a former business executive, a biology researcher, teachers, a social worker, and people with psychology degrees, among others. Our discussions are much more interesting because of the variety of perspectives we bring to our program.

For many people who are changing careers, spending time working as a CNA or in some other health care position is not practical, and as far as I can see it confers only a slight advantage. I thought that I would have a leg up because of my volunteer experience and four years as a medical technologist, but most days I find myself working just as hard as everyone else.

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Specializes in ICU, step down, dialysis.

I was fresh out of high school when I started nursing school, and had no experience whatsoever. I didn't even know a nurse or anyone in the medical field at all.

Here's something REALLY embarassing...I had never held a newborn or changed a diaper before my L&D/PP clinicals. Talk about scared to death when I had to go to the nursery! :lol2:

Did all of you have some sort of medical experience before becoming a nurse? I was a CNA for about a year before i decided thats what I wanted to do. I am just asking this because at the school where I take my prereqs there are some students in their late teens and early 20's that work at banks and offices and have no hospital experience. With a 2 year waiting list to get into the nursing program at my school I think these students should have some experience so they know what they are getting into before they take up a spot in the program they are not prepared for.
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Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.

had a distinct advantage over us "newbies" when clinicals started and they were able to jump right in. Many of the people who were already in a different health care profession had a tough time with the written tests *at first* because in their words, it was tough to change their perspective from one profession to another. Especially after working all day and then going to night school.

For the record, those with previous experience had the same or lower drop out rate than those of us who came from different fields. The confidence was already there. I doubt that our LPN to RN students felt like they were going to vomit from fear the first time she went into a patient room as an RN student!! (unlike me, who really could have used a touch of zofran...)

Blee

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I had been a CNA for about 6 years by the time I graduated. I knew from childhood, though, that nursing was what I wanted.

There were some kids in my class who had no idea what they were getting into, they did not last beyond the first year.

In my school people with CNAs did not have to attend the clinicals for the summer session, which was the first session.

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Specializes in OR.

I have also seen classmates of mine who were CNA's have a real difficult time thinking like nurses, instead of CNA's. An example: a classmate of mine had a patient who had a fractured arm and was in pain(despite being medicated) This woman needed to be turned on her side and this student wanted to turn her on the side with the fractured arm because " it would be quicker". I do think experience is valuble(I worked full-time as a surg tech while in school and it helped me immensely) but not everyone has the same circumstances and I don't think work experience should be required. Many people do just fine without it. You always have to be careful when you work in a healthcare capacity that you not depend on personal experience when taking tests because there is a big difference between the "real world" and the ideal.

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i kinda agree with that last post. it did seem to me in my first semester of clinicals that the PCT's had a hard time not acting like a PCT's and getting to the nursing stuff. i walked past my PCT friend and the nurse she was shadowing and the nurse saw me with meds and said the the girl "oh i didn't know that you can pass meds".

i did work 6 months as a CNA years ago and that is where i got the idea to go into nursing, but i know one girl that just passed her NCLEX and she had zero experience, and i know many like her. so i think it just depends on the person.

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
there are some states that required that you do take the cna classes in order to get into the nursing schools.

Well according to one of my sisters who lives in Iowa, she IS required to go through a nurse's aide class and become certified before she will be accepted into nursing school---maybe it's just THAT particular school in Iowa but I know she is very upset with that as she's been a certified medical assistant for 9+ yrs and sees no sense in having to spend many hundreds of $ to go through the class again.

I live in a northwest state and was NOT required to have my CNA at the time 21 yrs ago when I went to nursing school but I was a nurse's aide for about a year before attending nuring school. Although I don't think it should really be required for admission, I found it to be very beneficial.

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All sorts of different experience can be valuable.

I completely see the benefit of CNA experience - no doubt about it, it's helpful.

I had no hospital experience before my clinicals started, but I had been in business for 10+ years, so that gives me different skills that are useful. Some of those skills overlap with skills that CNA's learn - like talking to all different sorts of people, figuring out how to present information tailored to someone, planning my day, organization, jumping right in because I have a finite period of time to accomplish so many things.

Then there's age - in my case, being a bit older has been helpful because I seek out opportunities to learn things that I wouldn't have when I was younger (and I know that's not true across the board, I'm just saying that's how it was for ME) and I take the role much more seriously than I would have younger.

So I guess this is just my long-winded way of saying that everyone can contribute something, even if their experience is much different. But yeah, CNA's totally have the advantage in clincals! Not to mention, usually a job waiting for them on graduation!

Amanda

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