Should I work as a CNA first?

[malestudentnurse]

I am an RN student about to begin clinicals in January. I have the opportunity to work for an in-home care provider who will provide me with CNA training. Should I do this or not. I know I need the experience but not sure about the in-home part. Thanks, you people are great!!

[Kay28]

I am currently in nursing school and am also working as a CNA. It will help you to have some CNA experience, but it is best if you could work in either a hospital or long term care facility or rehab center. You get to see a little bit more than if you work in home care (not that there is anything wrong with that). So, in my opinion, if you feel that you can handle working as a CNA and going to school, do it!

[yousoldtheworld]

While I agree with the above poster that you'll see more in a hospital, hospital work is STRESSFUL. I worked at a hospital while I was in school and at times it was a bit much.

With in home care, you will still gain valuable experience. You might not see as much, but you will get practice with caring for a human being. It might even be better, because most likely you will have one patient or a small number, so you will actually be able to do things the RIGHT way, as opposed to in a facility setting where you just don't have the time to do things as well as you'd like to.

I'd encourage you to take it, especially since they will provide the training. Once you work there a while and feel comfortable, you could then decide to try to find a hospital position if you felt you were ready for more experience. Just keep in mind it can be really hard to get a hospital position without a year of experience in many places, which is another reason I'd encourage you to take this opportunity!