Copperismydog

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this question since I'm talking about a CNA job, but here goes. I'm in my first semester of nursing school and completed a CNA training course over the summer. I'd like to apply for a part time job as a nursing assistant at the hospital where I do my clinicals. The problem is that the job application asks for my most recent work experience and if they may contact my previous employers. I haven't worked in health care AT ALL, and I actually haven't had ANY job for 4 years. I was self employed as a wedding planner for a little while, but I doubt that will impress a prospective employer. So should I leave the employment section of the application blank? I'm wondering how I should fill out the application. I don't know if I should bother to write down my past work experience since it it so irrelevant and so long ago. Also, I'm not in touch with any of my previous employers so I don't really want to give them as references. On the plus side, I'm doing very well in school, and have two professors and my CNA instructor who have agreed to be my professional references on the job application. Do you think this will be enough? Does anyone have any recommendations of things I should include on my application to increase my chances of getting a job? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this question since I'm talking about a CNA job, but here goes. I'm in my first semester of nursing school and completed a CNA training course over the summer. I'd like to apply for a part time job as a nursing assistant at the hospital where I do my clinicals. The problem is that the job application asks for my most recent work experience and if they may contact my previous employers. I haven't worked in health care AT ALL, and I actually haven't had ANY job for 4 years. I was self employed as a wedding planner for a little while, but I doubt that will impress a prospective employer. So should I leave the employment section of the application blank? I'm wondering how I should fill out the application. I don't know if I should bother to write down my past work experience since it it so irrelevant and so long ago. Also, I'm not in touch with any of my previous employers so I don't really want to give them as references. On the plus side, I'm doing very well in school, and have two professors and my CNA instructor who have agreed to be my professional references on the job application. Do you think this will be enough? Does anyone have any recommendations of things I should include on my application to increase my chances of getting a job? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I was wondering how many people who are in nursing school or starting soon will still have some courses to take besides nursing classes? Is it very difficult to take other classes while in nursing?

Hey everyone! I'm finishing my CNA course next week and will be looking for a job soon. I'm not sure if I want to work in long term care, home care or a hospital. I start RN school in September and want to find a job that will allow me to work part time and have very flexible hours. I'm nervous about starting work as a CNA and am wondering what people think would be the best place to start to get experience. I know CNAs who work in long term care are crazy busy. Is it like that working in a hospital? Also, are there any shifts that are slower than others where I could maybe even get some studying done for my nursing program?

Hi Everyone, I'm a Canadian citizen but am now living in the US as a permanent resident and am about to start a 2 year associate degree RN program in the fall. I will probably work as an RN in the US when I'm finished school, but I want to leave the possibility of moving back to Canada to work open. I have heard that you need to have a BSN to work as an RN in Ontario, and that you must pass the Canadian version of the NCLEX, the CRNE. I am planning to work in the US as an RN after I get my ASN degree, and then go back to school later to work on my BSN. So I was wondering if anyone knew if I'd have to have a BSN to take the CRNE exam, or if I can take it after I pass the NCLEX with my ASN degree? I'm worried that if I wait a few years after I've taken the NCLEX, after I get my BSN that I may forget everything that was on the NCLEX and not be able to pass the CRNE. Does anyone have any info or advice? Thanks!

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I might look for a nursing assistant job after doing the CNA program in July. I'll only have a month to work before school starts, but I suppose I could work during school if it was just part time. It seems kind of pointless to me to look for just any job this summer just for something to do. Might as well do things that will prepare for nursing school, or just relax and have fun!

Hi Everyone! I was accepted to an ASN program at my local community college for the fall and am so thrilled!! I've been doing pre-requisites all year and they are just ending now. My husband has a good job and can easily support us both, so I'm not sure if I should look for a job this summer or just take it easy before school begins in the fall. I wanted to visit family for a few weeks this summer, and I'm also doing a nursing assistant program in July to get comfortable with patients and everything. I don't know if I'd be able to find a job with the flexibility I need. But I feel sort of guilty and lazy not working this summer when my husband works full time. Anyone have any opinions on whether I should get a job, or maybe other things I could do to stay productive without making me too stressed before school beings? Thanks!

So my teacher ended up deciding to give the exam as a take home after all. However, now she is only giving us 2 days to write the exam instead of 13. She admitted that she wasn't thinking clearly before and that 13 days for a take home exam is ridiculous. She's not changing the format of the exam -so it will be 64 multiple choice questions that was meant to be written in an hour long class. I still feel like anyone who wants an A on the exam will be able to get one now. All they have to do is flip through the lecture notes or textbook to find the answers. But at least having fewer days to write the exam might decrease the chances that students will talk to each other about exam questions or write the exams in groups. I think that this type of take home exam does not help students learn at all. Now no one cares about learning the material, because they can just look up the answers while they write the exam. I don't understand why teachers of pre-requisite classes try to make the classes so easy? It's not like nursing school is easy, and I don't think that there are take home exams, extra credit and dropping the lowest grade. I think that many students who are used to getting easy As in pre-requisite classes are in for a rude awakening once they get into nursing school.

Yep, I know that my science background is making the class easier than it would be without it. However, I think the class is still pretty easy for most people to do well in. We get to drop our lowest exam grade, and there's an extra 18 points available in extra credit essays. So I don't think the final exam needs to be take home. I think if our professor allows us to bring in a "cheat sheet" that will make life easier for many students. It just seemed ridiculous to me that some students were putting pressure our prof to make a multiple choice, 64 question exam take home. The exam was designed to be written in class in one hour and my prof was talking about giving us 12 days to finish it at home! I just can't see how anyone wouldn't be able to get an A on it. Unfortunately having a degree in nutrition doesn't mean that I'm sure to get into the nursing program. I was a major slacker in my undergraduate days and many of my grades are less than desirable. I've changed my ways and am getting all As now, and I hope they can make up for my poor performance in the past.

I haven't found the class to be all that hard. I do put in effort, but the work isn't terribly overwhelming. I felt that a take home multiple choice exam would be ridiculously easy and wouldn't be fair to students who are expecting more from this class and want to be challenged. When this class is over, I want to feel like I earned a high grade, not that it was just given to me.

At my school grades ARE all that admissions looks at. And this is the only school I'm applying to. That's why I feel it's so important that the tests are an accurate reflection of each student's efforts and abilities. I don't want to bring other people down, but I don't think it's fair that people who would normally get lower marks will have a chance at an easy A on a take home exam. I actually talked to my professor and she seems to agree with me that giving an exam that's only 64 multiple choice questions as a take home isn't quite fair. She says she is going to think it over and will let our class know what she decides soon. I believe that she's going to allow us to bring in a "cheat sheet" of information, but to write the exam in class. I'm so happy I talked my professor about this! I could tell that the students in our class were putting pressure on her to make the exam take home, and I think she just caved. I think more people should speak up if they don't feel that's somethings right rather than just letting it go.

Well the school I'm attending is the community college where I plan to apply for nursing. So at least most of the students applying for nursing will have taken the pre-requisites at the same school. I don't know if the whole school is "easy". My former school was a highly ranked university, and this is community college, so maybe that's why there is a difference. I had never heard of extra credit, dropping the lowest exam grade, and so on until I came to this school. But from what I understand, it is similar at other community colleges? I hope that admissions takes the difficulty of the school into consideration when admitting students into the nursing program. By the way, everyone is saying that nursing schools look at much more than A&P1 and chem. Well, at my school they don't even look at second semester grades (because they aren't in on time), so that eliminates A&P2, microbiology, and other classes for many students who are doing their pre-requisites in one year. And they ONLY look at grades. There's no interview or entrance exam. So, it is really important to get good grades this semester, and I don't want it to be so easy for everybody to get an A.

THANK you!! So nice to hear that someone agrees with me. I don't want to be that obnoxious student that has to do better than everyone else, but when more than half the class is going to end up getting an A just because of how easy it is, it's a little upsetting. I have good marks in all my pre-requisites, expect I have a C in chemistry, which I took at a MUCH harder school. I will be devastated if that keeps me from getting into nursing school, when people who barely study can easily get As at my community college and might get in instead of me. I feel like I should do something about this. Our teacher asked in class if anyone had a problem with the exam being take home. I obviously couldn't say anything in front of the other students, but should I speak with her alone about this? If she can be convinced to change the exam to take home, maybe I can convince her to change it back to in-class.

Well the averages on the last 3 exams have been a low B. But my professor gives extra credit essays that bring everyone's score up by 6 points. So it is already very easy to get an A. I'm a little worried that if everyone does amazingly on the take home exam, then lots of people will end up with As in the class. I know they can look anywhere for the answers, but they can also check with each other, making it pretty likely that anyone can get an A on this exam. I wouldn't think it was such a problem if the exam were short answer, but being multiple choice makes it really easy for people to go over the exam together and make sure all their answers are correct. I don't think my professor is an idiot. She just tries too hard to be nice, and gives in easily to pressure put on her by students. She teaches well, but the exams are too easy with the extra credit essays and everything.

Today in my A&P1 class the students managed to convince our professor that our last exam of the semester should be a take home exam! My professor said that she wont change the format, so it will still be multiple choice and true/false questions. I feel like this will make it so easy for people to just compare answers and cheat and be able to get an easy A without studying or coming to class. The crazy thing is that it was going to be a regular in class exam, but my teacher is a bit of a push-over and the class actually convinced her to make it take home. I feel like this is unfair for students like myself, who put in effort and get excellent grades on our own. My biggest problem with this is that the nursing program at our school only looks at our first semster marks for addmissions. (They wont have semester 2 marks in on time). So if it's so easy to get an A in A&P1, there is nothing to distinguish the students by, and I'm worried students might be admitted by lottery! Plus making the class so easy is not a good way to prepare student for nursing school. Should I tell my professor that I don't think this is fair? I was thinking of suggesting that we have an "open book" exam as a compromise, since the students seem to think that the regular exams are sooo hard. At least that way people can't cheat off each other. Or am I being really obnoxious and should I just let this go? Thanks for your help everyone :)