part time work to prepare for accelerated BSN

[Guest867093, BSN, RN]

I am planning on applying for an accelerated BSN program and am taking the pre-requisite science requirements over the next year. I also need to work a part time job and get more healthcare experience while I'm taking classes. I already have research assistant, hospital nurse assistant volunteer, and some other healthcare stuff on my resume but am thinking I need more nursing-related experience to be a competitive applicant. One option I have is to get cna certified and work as a cna part time while taking classes. My other option would to get part time job related to healthcare as a nurse research assistant or something else (through the student jobs available to students) and then do a weekly nurse assistant volunteer program at a local hospital to get more specific nursing/patient experience. I am thinking the second option would be better because it would be more cohesive with taking classes and focusing on raising my gpa/studying for the gre's (since the cna shifts might be overnight and then class is during the day). However, being a cna could be good to get experience in what nursing will be like, and possibly look better when I apply to accelerated bsn programs. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what type of work/extracurriculars I should do while taking my pre-requisities? How important is working as a cna in terms of getting into a good accelerated bsn program? Would not working as cna hurt my chances of being accepted to programs? Thanks in advance for any opinions/suggestions!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Have you already obtained accurate information about how much time will need to be devoted to the accelerated program? I have found that many students underestimate this because they don't have a good frame of reference. It is nothing like a normal educational experience. In order to accomplish the 'acceleration', you will have to deal with much more reading, processing, learning, projects, writing, planning, etc... than ever before. Much of the learning is self-driven because of the decreased class time. This means that you have to engage in more study time outside of class just to keep up. The pace is relentless. If you can, I would advise you to talk with some students who have been through the program - they can provide you with essential information.

Volunteer activities have very little value other than increasing your awareness of the healthcare environment because volunteers are restricted from participating in patient care activities.

[direw0lf, BSN]

I'll just speak from my personal experience. I got certified in CNA, PCT, med assist, EKG and phlebotomy. Everyone is different but my fellow CNA students who were going on to college said...well they said that they'd rather work in mcdonalds than as a CNA anymore.. and get paid just as much.

I did not hate my job as a CNA, actually I found it rewarding (very hard also) but it's a lot of physical work and really left me tired and sore. I'm small body weight and to be blunt, I'm weak (it's a goal of mine to build some muscle!) so that was a large part of why. I should have worked in pairs for certain things but most of the time no one could help me. In the state owned nursing home facilities...ugh.

My licensing and job title didn't have much weight on my nursing school acceptance. What they wanted to see the most I was told is a big desire for continuing education, a pattern of following through with things in your life even unrelated to healthcare, and completion of the pre-reqs especially A&Ps. How early you apply, your grades and a good essay that reflects those things I mentioned are what matters the most to my knowledge.

My school is really big on volunteering. In fact we need to volunteer in order to meet the graduation requirements. So I guess it depends on the school, but probably only private schools would put so much emphasis on volunteering I guess.

Anyway have you thought about a job in home health care?

[Niandra]

I worked as a CNA while I was an undergrad (studying psychology and political economy). It wasn't an easy job but it was great experience. I switched from a med/surg floor to float so I got to work in every unit at some point. I feel like I know what I'm getting into by pursuing nursing.

Lifting patients seemed intimidating at first (I'm also petite), but overall it wasn't too bad. The other CNAs and RNs usually just asked for help, it wasn't a big deal.

I'm not sure how much it will help my applications when I get to that point, but I'm sure it won't hurt. Further, I noticed that nurses who had been CNAs tended to be much better nurses and worked better with everyone in general.

[Guest867093, BSN, RN]

Thank you all for your feedback!

[BiotoBSNtoFNP]

Take the cna job. It may not be as pleasant as your other option but you will learn a lot and it will ultimately help you land an RN job after you get your bsn.

[princesagris]

it sounds like you are a strong applicant already, trust in yourself :) I'd like to add that it is also important that schools see consistency in your involvement. So it's better to stick to the volunteering/experience you are currently gaining, and really commit to it long-term, than to do a lot of different things just to embellish your resume. I hope that makes sense. It's not to say that you shouldn't do any of the proposed options, but you can find a way around them.

Really focus on getting good grades in your classes, and ask yourself if your clinical experience thus far has convinced you 200 % that nursing is your life purpose.

BEst of luck!

[Guest867093, BSN, RN]

Thank you both for your responses!!