Should I get a job as CNA during nursing school

[asiacl]

Hi. I am in my first semester of nursing program at Purdue. So far I love it. However, I have no prior experience in medical setting. Do you think I should get a job as CNA during school? If yes how many hours per week and where. Is it easy to get a CNA job? Thank you for your help.

[Marsha238612]

Some nurses think its helpful some not so much (according to prior NA threads).

Anyhow, I'm actually waiting a response to see if I got accepted to nursing school to start this January 2014, so stoked.

While I wait, I decided to go for my CNA certification. I like it, I feel like it'll help me because I have no prior medical experience whatsoever. Not that CNA and RN jobs are alike but at least I've touched, interacted per se with patients.

So, if you have time, money to pay for the training and want to do it, I say go for it. You'll feel less awkward when nursing clinicals come and you have to invade patients privacy

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[libran1984, ASN, RN]

You should do it. Being a CNA will def make you more appreciative of how to delegate and use them when you're an RN. I'm sure you already know this, but after your first semester of fundamentals, you are able to sit for the CNA exam. It would be even better if you could obtain a position in the hospital. However, I think the hands on care in a nursing home will make you have more respect for how hard the nursing home nurses have it so when you get that horribly unhealthy pt from "the ECF", you'll not entirely blame the nurses for the sad outcomes before you.

[charris61]

I am a CNA. I think it is helpful. I am also a student nurse and it's helped me to know what ask of my staff when I become a nurse. It also helps to know what is a good workload for one aid and if I am asking too much of them. I hope this makes sense. :) I also know that it helped me with my fundamentals class.

[yesterdayschild]

I would say if you have time to do it, you should! The job market has been kind of hard lately for new grads, so having CNA experience may help you out. Some other jobs you can look for that you can do once you're in nursing school (sometimes after a semester or two) are student nurse positions, student nurse extern (SNE) positions, patient care techs, etc. Each hospital calls the position something slightly different. If you can get a job on a floor or area that you might want to work in (ER or cardiac, etc) you'll be even better off in the long run.