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I think you will enjoy it. I learned a lot and grew up a lot as well. only a little bit though

I graduated from Nursing Assistant Training Institute in Shoreline today. I recommend them highly.

I graduated from NATI today by completing my clinicals. After this whole experience, I feel confident to work in this field and also feel as though I've grown up a bit as a person. The clinicals instructor was awesome to work with and the staff at the nursing facility was great. I enjoyed getting to work with the students from my clinical class and got to know them a bit better and will kinda miss being around them since I've spent quite a bit of time with them during class and clinical. I sit for the exam in a few weeks and am very confident and excited!

I have a sleeve on my left arm, and a lot of tattoos on my right arm. I have had exposure to other RN's and staff members that work in hospitals around the area and they have never said anything about my tattoos other than the odd, "I wouldn't expect you to be the type that would care so much about others." I also have a long sleeve dickies scrub shirt to wear under my scrubs that is comfy. I've had the tattoos for well over ten years, and I feel that if someone doesn't want to hire me even though I obviously worked my way to having credentials and a license to help others, then they will have to deal with having one less caring individual on their staff. Someone else will hire me, and they will be able to see how caring and smart and helpful I am. My tattoos are big, but my heart is bigger. :redbeathe

I just had my last day of classroom experience at NATI today. Tomorrow I'll be taking a Skills class, and next week the final exam. Then I begin my clinicals. I enjoyed the classroom experience a lot. My teacher was great, and she enjoyed teaching and nursing, and you could just tell by the look on her face, as she was smiley and generally happy. One hard part about the class is that there are some people that just won't get it. And if you are interested in academic results, you may find yourself frustrated with these people as they may seem to hinder the progression of class days sometimes. Maybe a better entrance filter? Other than that I enjoyed the classroom experience and would generally recommend this school to anyone. I am both happy and scared to death to do the clinicals as I have never been in an environment like that before, but I feel prepared due to the class. My clinicals take place on weekends, so it is stretched out over two weeks, then you take the state exam after your final day of clinical experience. I feel a great sense of accomplishment in completing this course, and in a few short weeks I join the ranks of medical care providers!

I probably shouldn't name the place of the clinical, but it's a local skilled nursing home. When you schedule your clinical, we had three options that would best fit our schedules. I chose the evening shift so that I would be able to also work with some of the people from the class, so that I felt a little more comfortable with familiar faces.

It isn't really too difficult, you just read from a textbook, watch videos, perform in-class clinical, and also 40 hours of clinicals in a skilled nursing facility. It is important to follow along in the book, and study because you'll find that you may have 3 to 4 days in between classes, but then have a grouping of classes all in one week. Pay attention in class, and get to know some of the people there, you never know, you may make some good friends!

I begin my clinicals next month, you do them after you complete the classroom experience. I really enjoyed the classroom experience. The teacher is great and she has such a positive vibe. I think you'll enjoy the class, I know I did!

Thank you all for your replies, I think I will stay the course and just continue on for my ADN.

I begin taking my pre-reqs at Shoreline for the RN program there in June, and am now currently working on my CNA cert. I want to become an RN, however I oftentimes wonder how I will benefit from going from working as a CNA while going to school for RN. Since this experience is new to me, I wonder if I should first work as a CNA and go to school for LPN and then do the LPN to RN ladder? Or should I just go straight for the big time with an RN degree? My girlfriends dad is an RN, BSN at a local hospital and did his study as an RN then BSN and skipped LPN, and a good friend of mine also did the same with a BSN from UW. They both say I should study and become an RN and just forego the idea of LPN. Now since they are the only nurses that I know, I thought I'd post my thought and questions on the matter to the forum. It seems to me that working as a CNA and then achieving high marks in pre-reqs and earning competitive points for RN degree approval would be the way to go, however, I'd like to see how some of you guys made your way to earn your degree. I apologize if this is a topic that has already been brought up, and I'm sure it has a million times, I'm a new forum member and am just excited to hear from some local nurses that I may soon have a chance to meet or even work with! R.

I'm actually enrolled in my CNA training class at a place called Nursing Assistant Training Institute in Shoreline. http://www.natraining.net/ There are new classes starting roughly every 4 weeks and costs $655 to get started. Check em out! The timing of the course is perfect because it ends on May 11th, then I do my clinicals and then I begin to do my pre-reqs at Shoreline in the summer for RN.