RN work as NA?

silentRN · Jul 19, 2009

Is your license expired? You can still do CNA work. Most hospitals hire PCT's and they don't even have their Certifications. I don't really know to many hospitals that require PCT's to have a CNA certification anymore.

Before I became a RN I was a CNA and a PCT, and it seemed like the hospitals I've worked for didn't care about the certification ha!

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 19, 2009

If you are an RN and work as a CNA or PCT or NA, you are still held to the standards of an RN by law. So, if something happens that you, an RN, should be able to handle, and you don't, since you're working as an aide, you could be in legal difficulty, and so could the agency you work for.

It's quite complicated though. Way beyond my understanding!

nminodob · Jul 19, 2009

After passing the boards I continued working as a patient care tech at my hospital - there were no RN openings at that time. Other people I know did the same thing, worked as PCTs or nurse assistants after being licensed. I keep reading on this forum that you will be "held to the standard of your highest licensure" and therefore cannot work as a CNA - but I would really like someone to provide a link or something to that effect. It isn't true in California. And here's a link showing that it's not true in Illinois, either.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/nar/cnafacts.htm

BTW, for those that say you are taking a risk by working as a CNA with an RN license, I have to mention that besides helping me pay my rent, it allowed me to keep me connected, and when I was hired I was told that my persistence impressed my nurse manager.

rn2bnwi, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2009

I have seen a Rn working as a CNA while she took her refresher course.

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 20, 2009

I'm not saying you can't do it, just that it could be risky. I have a MSN and have worked as an aide when an aide is needed in a place I work. I've worked as an RN when I am licensed as a CNS. There's risk there too.

I understand needing to work and am not arguing with you in any way. I just would like you to use care.

Check out the scope of practice for RNs in your state.

Moogie · Jul 20, 2009

I know a licensed RN cannot work as a CNA or LPN but what about a NA position that does not require licensure?
Do you think employers would be super hesitant to hire an RN for a NA position?
I ask b/c I wasn't planning on taking a RN refresher course for another year and a half or so (and don't feel comfortable getting an RN position until then) but saw a NA position at a local hospital on a floor where I'd love to get a job as an RN (after I complete refresher). Plus, the NA experience would help fulfill the practice requirement to renew my RN license. And it would be hands on experience...more than what I am doing now. And I'd get to know the floor...
Is this a state board thing??
Thank you!!

I guess I'm a little confused----are you currently a licensed RN or have you let your license lapse? If you aren't currently licensed as an RN and are planning to take a refresher course, you probably could work as a nursing assistant without too much trouble. However, do check with your state BON regarding the practice requirement. Working as a nursing assistant may not necessarily fulfill that requirement since your job responsibilities would be different. When I did my RN refresher course and renewed my license after being away from nursing for several years, I had to complete eighty hours of clinical experience at a local hospital in order to pass the requirements for the course. By the end of that experience, I was functioning as an RN on that floor, with the same patient count and the same responsibilities as any other RN working there.

The other thing about which I'd be careful is that you don't let anyone push you into tasks that are beyond your job description and in violation of the state nurse practice act. Especially if you aren't a currently licensed RN, don't let anyone talk you into doing thing that you could do as an RN (or even as a student nurse in any capacity) but can't do as a nursing assistant. I see a real potential for someone saying, "Hey, Thrasej, you're really an RN---go hang this IV, give this med, do that assessment."

Hope it works out for you!

kingsmiley · Jul 20, 2009

I have a question, when you become an RN do u still go aheah and renew your CNA/GNA license or is it pointless? Thanks. Any info will be helpful.

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Jul 20, 2009

I have a question, when you become an RN do u still go aheah and renew your CNA/GNA license or is it pointless? Thanks. Any info will be helpful.

I didn't and when I look up my licensure at the BON website it just has lapsed next to the CNA certification.

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2009

Hmm..wow, this is really confusing.

My license is still active. I work very part time outside of nursing..that's why I thought if I could work PT, even as an NA, it would look better when I do take the refresher and try to go back. But now I am not sure it would fulfill the practice requirement. My state just says it has to be "within the scope of RN" but that even volunteering at health assessments would qualify! So seems like NA work would. I guess I should just call the board.

Thank you!!

Moogie · Jul 20, 2009

Here are one state's requirements:

Practice Requirements for Licensure Renewal
Nursing practice for the purposes of relicensure must meet or exceed four hundred (400) hours within the preceding four (4) years. Nurses who have completed a refresher course or graduated in the last four years with less than 400 hours of nursing practice will be able to renew their license without meeting this requirement.

When I was first licensed in that particular state, I received a package of information that included definitions of acceptable nursing practice to fulfill that particular requirement. Nursing education, whether in the role of staff development educator or the role of faculty at a nursing program, counted. So did nursing management and, to my surprise, parish nursing, which is usually a volunteer position. I did not see anything about working as a NA helping to fulfill that requirement.

Definitely contact your BON. Your license is too valuable to risk losing over not understanding your state's requirements.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Jul 21, 2009

I'm not sure on the law....I know when our employed CNA's (who were going to nursing school) could no longer work as CNA's once they passed boards. I am not sure that NA would be much different?

I agree with all who said to check with your state's BON. That makes the most sense, for sure.