Should I try to get a CNA job?

[sjalv]

Hi guys.

I'm starting my first semester of nursing school this fall. I'll be attending school here in my hometown, but I have a concern. I would like to start working in an ICU directly after nursing school, and while the job market here in the Tulsa metro is good, I know it would help to have some clinical experience with a certain department to get hired on. I have a friend who worked for a year as a nurse aide in the ICU of a downtown hospital before transferring to the ED, so I think she might be able to help me get a job in the ICU there with her recommendation to the unit manager, but this is my concern: I live 45mins-1hour away from Tulsa (especially downtown), and I'm living at home so I don't have to have a job.

I have heard that holding a job while in nursing school is ill advised, especially if it isn't necessary. My days without classes this semester are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I would have a limited schedule availability. But I feel the leg-up that having ICU experience would give me, even as a CNA, would be very helpful when graduation comes around and I start looking for an RN position.

I know y'all don't know what kind of learner I am, but I am very dedicated. I do not see failure as an option. I'm uncertain if I could secure a part-time position, or if that even counts as 'experience' since it wouldn't be full-time.

Sorry for the long, aimless post, but basically, would it be worthwhile for me to try and get a job as a CNA in the ICU if I want to work in the ICU as an RN, and if so, do you think it would collide much with my success in nursing school itself?

If not a CNA job, then perhaps an externship, even if not in the ICU? My local hospitals all offer residency programs and externships, so would those be worth looking into?

Thanks for reading.

[LifesAJourney]

It's always a good thing to get your foot in the door! If you are able to work as a cna go for it. Sometimes you can go prn or part time and work one or two days a week during school. Then go fulltime in the summer/winter breaks. Shifts can be anywhere from 8-12hrs. The ICUs in my area are highly sought after position in my are. Once a listing is posted, the opening doesn't stay vancant for long. However, in the chance there may not be an opening in the icu, the next best thing is float pool. With float pool, you can at least float to different floors/ICUs and maybe ER. If that is not available, take a med/surge position and transfer to an ICU when eligible. After passing fundamentals, you can work as a nurse tech as well. You still perform your cna duties, but you are allowed to perform skills you learn in school minus passing meds.

I've done all of the above lol. I worked as a cna before nursing school. I worked med/surg for over a year. Transferred to float pool for a couple of months. Then accepted an offer I couldn't refuse. I accepted a nurse tech position in the MICU and work there for a year. Being an ICU tech, you can get additional training like cardiac monitoring, drawing from a vamp, etc. Good luck!

[runsalot]

Yes. If you can get a tech job.

[boogalina, ADN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN]

If you believe you can balance school and work, then I'd say go for the ICU tech job.

I worked full-time as an ICU CNA during nursing school, just graduated and got my license, and got a float pool RN job at my hospital. Doing all this isn't easy but you will learn a great deal and gain experience.

Try to record lectures so you can listen again to them as you commute. That helps a lot!

[sjalv]

Thanks everyone, for the responses. Yeah, I realize it might not be feasible to get a job directly in the ICU with no previous aide experience, but any hospital CNA job I can get would help. I'm just concerned because most of the postings I see for my area are full-time only. I definitely don't want to do full-time, especially not my first semester since I don't know how hard my program will be or how I handle it.

Recording lectures is an excellent idea! Thanks for the suggestion.

[green34]

Good luck with the ICU tech job! It is well worth it to get into a hospital as a tech in anything. It gives you the possibility of getting professional references and access to internal hiring sites. I work part-time as a unit clerk but most of the time I am changed into a paramedic in the ER. It's supposed to be just 1 shift a week as a medic but more often than not I am either called in for extra shifts or they make someone else clerk and I am sent up to triage.

I would consider holding off till you have 1 clinical semester under your belt.

[BlueMoon2]

Check directly on St. Francis' web site if you have not done so. They almost always have PT jobs, though rarely in ICU.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Are you a CNA? If not, you will likely need to wait until you have completed your first clinical rotation before a hospital will consider hiring you into an aide role.

That said, yes you should do it.

[jennannwarren]

YES! I got a CNA job and I have learned more about patient care than I ever thought I would. Clinical is great, but you are only there for a short amount of time. Only being a CNA for a three months, I have seen and learned more than I did in a years worth of clinical. I can only perform CNA duties, but my charge nurses and the DON know I am a student and are willing to help me learn. It's great experience and I love it.