Caselicious

Hello, my name is Casey, I am 25 years old, and live in San Diego. I have a little more than 2 years as an MA, and am currently working in Medical Records. I was unemployed for a year after the last company I work for downsized considerably, and since then, there hasn't been hardly any openings for my position out here. What is available I either have not heard back from after applying, several times on most occations, or they require someone bilingual, which I am not. I took the Medical Records position out of desperation, and I hate it. Patient care is my passion. Every day I go to work and see so many people in their scrubs, taking care of the patients, or patients who need help that I am not allowed to help, it just aches in me. I've continued to apply for every clinical type job that I can that's anywhere close to MA as I can find, but I have still had no luck. So, right now, I am considering going back to school. There is a program offered locally here for a 12 week CNA program, then, once that is complete, I can enter into their LVN program. It's very very cheap, and at a great local school, only problem is that they do not have very flexible schedules, so in order for me to go to school, I would have to TRY to go to part time, that is if my boss will allow it. I don't know if I can afford to do that, but if I want to get to where I really want to be (eventually an RN) I feel like this is a step I need to take. My fear right now is, would doing the CNA program be worth me dropping to part time and taking that pay cut for three months? Am I really going to get much out of it? I figure once I graduate and get my certificate, I would get a job as a CNA so I can get back to doing the patient care I love so much, but I hear mixed reviews on it. Some say that, as a CNA, the income is far less than MA, but when I research it online, it seems to pay better. I just really don't know what to do, and I need some honest opinions from people who might have been through similar situations as me. Either way, I need to get into an LVN program, so that is another obstacle, lol. I just wish it was all possible! Any advice on this would be an incredible help. Thank you all so much!