inprocess

In our area, virtually all of the nursing schools require applicants to have their CNA 1 (certified nurse aide) license AND a minimum number hours of paid CNA work experience before they're allowed to enroll in nursing school. The nursing schools do not want to take students who might quickly change their minds about nursing, and they don't want to spend time teaching basic ADL and vital signs skills. Check with your nursing school to see what is required and go from there. Also, in our state, no one can be hired as a CNA without a license, and you have to take the written and skills test for the license. You can challenge the test, but you'll be teaching yourself the required skills. Most students go to a private CNA school and take a class that includes classroom instruction and three or four days of clinical work. The state will not issue CNA 1 licenses just because you completed first-semester nursing classes. Again, check with your school and go from there.

Around here, most RN programs require students to have their CNA 1 licenses and some CNA work experience as well before applying to the nursing program. Check your program requirements.

You're right--this hasn't been the easiest place to work. I've had many days with no breaks. I had heard that this facility didn't treat its staff well, and that seems to be the case. The supervisor yells at people, and a couple of weeks ago some CNAs (not me) threatened to walk out. As to my time-off request, I did offer to swap shifts with someone else, but that was denied too. I hate the thought of bailing on the residents, though.

I'm a nursing student. I was employed in January as a CNA at an assisted living community--part-time, one day a week. I've worked every shift and completed all training, and my reviews have been good. I requested two unpaid days off to attend a previously planned family reunion in July and was turned down. So now my choices are to cancel my trip or resign. My question is: Will resigning hurt my chances of getting another CNA job or a nursing job when I graduate? What reason do I give on application forms for my resignation?

School nursing comes to mind. You'd need a BSN, and you might need some experience before you get there. But that would work around your daughter's schedule.

I'm a prenursing student. I began working as a CNA a few weeks ago at an assisted living community. I got sick this week and wasn't sure I would be well enough today to work safely around elderly clients. So yesterday I called in sick and gave them 24 hours notice. The human resources manager snapped that I was still within my 90-day probationary period and hung up on me. Can they fire me for being sick? If they do, what do I do about my resume? I need to have at least 50 hours of direct patient contact to apply for nursing school. I wouldn't be able to use this facility as evidence of that. And would dismissal stop me from getting another CNA job? What do I do?

I failed my CNA skills test. My teacher thought I had a good reason to appeal, so I filed a grievance, but NACES denied the grievance. Will this hurt me in the future? Now I'm worried that this will stay in my file forever and the examiner and NACES will fail me no matter what I do.

I've completed my CNA class and already passed the written NNAAP test, but I've failed the skills test twice. The second time, I missed a total of 4 steps in all 5 skills. How should I study so I know I can pass the skills test? Should I get a tutor? Help!