So, I've been accepted into the nursing program at my community college. There is a 1 to 2 year waiting list. While waiting I'm taking my pre-req's. I also took a CNA class, so that I can get started in the health field, gain some experience with working with patients, & possibly to test out of the beginning nursing class.
When I tell people that I'm going to start as a CNA, people immediately say that I won't like being a CNA due to the low pay & the hard work. People act as if I chose this profession lightly. I feel like the nursing profession in & of itself is a physically demanding & stressful job. I have been thinking about being a nurse well over 10 years & I know what I am getting myself into. I know the type of person that I am & I know the contribution that I want to make to the profession.
Does anyone else have people discourage them from being a CNA or going into nursing because they think that the work is to hard & stressful?
I had that reaction too when I wanted to go to CNA school. After working as a CNA for a couple of months, I don't find it as bad as people make it out to be. I like it.
People can be so cross when talking to others about their career choices. I've experienced it a lot as a CNA/MA. I always respond when someone says I wont like it, "Well now you're just making me want to do it and make it work". Good luck on your career and always be proud of the things you've done!
Older student nurse here with 10 years plus experience working as a CNA and HHA...My personal belief is that ALL perspective nursing students should have to have a CNA license or HHA title with minimum 6 months experience prior to or as a condition of entering a nursing program. This is because there are so many students that have no concept of the realities of nursing, especially nursing care and dealing with patients and families on a psychological level. This alone would weed out 20% of applicants before they drop nursing programs after they see what reality is like. Just my $.02 cents.
As far as working as a companion, HHA or CNA: know the difference in terms of expectations, requirements and levels of care you can legally deliver. It's quite different and I've even worked for agencies that confuse the two. With a CNA you are operating under a nurse's license legally. In home care I've been sent to cases that required wound care with no staff RN on board so I refused those cases due to liability issues.
I agree that working as a CNA can be low-pay, back breaking work. It really does open your eyes in many ways not just to how screwy our medical system is but how difficult it can be not just working with the sick but also difficult coworkers and families, etc. Also, you have to remember exactly why YOU are there to begin with: the patients are incapable of caring for themselves for physical and psychological reasons (often both) and the families either cannot do so or do not want to do so. It can be very sad. I also think nursing students should be trained on Alzheimer's dementia care, because you will be seeing tons of that. Bed sores and elder abuse can be issues, too.
I used to think that I could save the world but the reality now is to follow my care plans to a T, safely and hopefully provide some comfort and happiness along the way.
Private duty is sometimes better pay with less stress, agencies charge clients $23-30/hr. but pay CNAs $10-12 where I live. Now I work private duty cases and will now work for less than $15/hr, PERIOD. I did find an agency I worked for that paid $12/hr around the clock for live-ins and time and a half for over time so if I worked 3-24s I'd usually make $700 clear, but those are cases where you are up all night and running all day. Still, it was better than agencies paying a flat rate of $110/day...which is RIDICULOUS. I also screen cases to make sure it's something I can legally handle. Families will often minimalize the care needed, i.e, Grandma sometimes has "accidents" and is "forgetful" when in reality she is late stage 6 Alzheimer's and completely bed-bound. I also will not tolerate abuse form families and clients--especially physical. I once had a demented client try to punch me in the face and then I finished my shift and resigned. Unfortunately a lot of seniors I've encountered have underlying psych issues besides forms of dementia that were never addressed and escalate as they age. I love helping people but I'm not losing an eye or limb to do it. I also fully establish care plans and responsibilities before I start because I cannot tell you how many families think that in addition to Grandmas 24-hr care I am also the family personal babysitter, shopper, chef and laundry worker.
I was told the same thing about being a CNA. Most people also added that being a CNA was for single parent, low income and under educated women who could not get a job doing anything else and that's not what I was....and therefore, I should just go to nursing school and become an RN!
That was more than 20 years ago! I love my job as a CNA and I think I do well supporting myself doing it. I have no desire to become an RN. So, they were wrong!
Being a CNA isn't for everyone and not any CNA can work in any given area. For an example, I find it difficult to do home care because I get bored easily, others can be overwhelmed by working in long term care.
Specializes in Post Acute, Med/Surg, ED, Nurse Manager.
I think you either like it or you don't. It is HARD work and on your feet all the time. Most people wouldn't like it. I mean it involved seeing people at their worst right? But for people that understand you get the privileged of helping people at their worst and most vulnerable and every single thing you as a CNA does impacts their overall care and health....well I think they like it.
Does it involve poo, spit, vomit, blood, contagious poo, dementia and crazy comabtive people? yeah at times. But I have met a nun who walked with Martin Luther King jr, held the hand of a the last crew member of a WWII sub as he passed, comforted a wife who was an Olympic athlete in the 40's as her husband went on hospice, and cheared on a 105 year old lady who recovered form surgery and went home walking steady! I have been part of amazing things as a CNA and that was all THIS year!
I got the same negative reaction from nurses when I told them I was going to cna school. It really rained on my parade because I was so excited to start. I hope to eventually move on to RN but in the mean time I am finding a lot of purpose in cna work.
Don't be discouraged! It makes me sad that so many nurses dread the bedside but it is an unfortunate consequence of the crazy hospital work place that we now have. The pt to nurse ratios are crazy for RNs and CNAs--the patients suffer. I hope all nurses will unionize and end this unsafe practice. It is also contributing to high attrition rates of new nurses, nursing burn out of seasoned nurses and thus the perceived "shortage"--though we are now graduating more nurses than ever.
dfw_bsn
12 Posts
I had that reaction too when I wanted to go to CNA school. After working as a CNA for a couple of months, I don't find it as bad as people make it out to be. I like it.