So confused/upset/hopeless. Current CNA student needing advice.

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I am one confused student.

Right now I am getting my CNA certificate from my college as it is a pre-req to even applying to nursing schools. I'm already becoming a little disgusted with some of the work I'll be doing as a CNA, (mainly vomit :bugeyes:) but I keep reassuring myself I won't be a CNA forever.

I didn't realize how hard it is to get into nursing school! It looks like I may be wait-listed for up to two years!

I really don't like the idea of being a CNA for two years, so I was thinking of getting my LPN then doing the advanced course afterwards from LPN to RN.

My main concern is math. I am not the best math student but I AM a hard worker who is willing to give it my all and spend tons of time studying. Not to mention every school around here (Washington State) has different pre-reqs, so I STILL have to take some more classes.

I am so compassionate for people and am truly interested in nursing. I am just so fearful of waiting for two years for RN school and weary of whether or not I'll even find work as an LPN. Will it be worth it in the end? Can I ever get into nursing school? Should I start applying in other states? :confused:

Can anyone give me some words of advice or wisdom? I am feeling so dissapointed and angry with myself today. :cry:

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even as a nurse you will still be dealing with Vomit and poop. its true. I work as a cna and start my nursing program in the fall and after a year it has gotten much easier and natural. I work more in a acute care facility and the nurses are around the poop as much as me. And............i think as a cna i have it easier. I get hold a patient up while the nurse dresses a sore........ if vomit is hard wait until you see (and smell) a stage 4 pressure sore for the first time.

but it does get easier if you stick with it, and you learn little tricks to help you through. When im doing rounds and i know a patient's room has a foul smell im put on smelly lip gloss on before i go in or some other thing to offset the smell. Hang in there but i hate to tell you that as an LPN and a RN you will still do that work at times.....

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that nurses don't do any of the dirty work. Caring for a pt means caring for the whole pt, poop, vomit and all. Where I work the degree RNs clean their own pts.

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Specializes in ICU.

I am in a similar situation as you. I just finished my CNA class as a pre-req for nursing school in the Fall. We had a couple of students that vomited at clinicals, and one girl said she refused to touch anyone's feet before we went there (she got a real eye opener once we got to our first clinical). Anyway, a few of the more naive one's had this idea that once they got through clinicals that they would never have to deal with feces again. Our instructor tried to explain to them that if they were going to be nurses that they would have to be able to handle this stuff, but I just don't think they have a realistic view of what they are getting themselves into. I am sure you can handle it if you put your mind to it. I actually had fun at clinicals. I am not working as a CNA, but I am thinking of working part-time as one over the summer.

That waiting list stuff would be hard to deal with. My school takes all the applicants and ranks them based on a mathematical formula, then they pull from the top of the list until the slots are filled. If you don't make the cut you can work on improving your score, then try again next time. There is no waiting list at all. I like that system, I am wayyyy too impatient to sit arund for years waiting to get into a program. Maybe you should check with some of the surounding schools and see what their requirements are and how they decide who gets in. Maybe you can find one without a waiting list.

Good luck.

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I'm cracking up over here....you have no idea of all of the nasty things you will encounter as a nurse. :chuckle

This past weekend I was giving a resident her meds and she choked on the water and sprayed the entire mouthful directly into my face. I had to make sure she didn't choke to death so there I was taking care of her with a mix of her water/spit running off my face! Thank goodness I wear glasses and my mouth was closed so I was able to wash my face and keep it moving.

Please don't get mad at me because I'm not criticizing you it's just that nursing is one of the dirtiest jobs out there. So at some point in your career whether you are a CNA or a nurse you will encounter urine...vomit....feces....saliva...blood etc.

Heck, just wait until you discover the joy of trach care. :imbar

I get grossed out when I think of those things too but it's like something takes over when I am in front of a patient that allows me to deal with it w/o getting grossed out or making the person feel bad.

You'll never know until you actually try it.....maybe you have what it takes to be a good CNA and a good nurse someday.

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I'm cracking up over here....you have no idea of all of the nasty things you will encounter as a nurse. :chuckle

This past weekend I was giving a resident her meds and she choked on the water and sprayed the entire mouthful directly into my face. I had to make sure she didn't choke to death so there I was taking care of her with a mix of her water/spit running off my face! Thank goodness I wear glasses and my mouth was closed so I was able to wash my face and keep it moving.

Please don't get mad at me because I'm not criticizing you it's just that nursing is one of the dirtiest jobs out there. So at some point in your career whether you are a CNA or a nurse you will encounter urine...vomit....feces....saliva...blood etc.

Heck, just wait until you discover the joy of trach care. :imbar

I get grossed out when I think of those things too but it's like something takes over when I am in front of a patient that allows me to deal with it w/o getting grossed out or making the person feel bad.

You'll never know until you actually try it.....maybe you have what it takes to be a good CNA and a good nurse someday.

Great. Well I'm sitting here balling my eyes out. I feel like a failure. I guess I can't freaking do this.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical, L&D, Postpartum.

Meghanlee,

Hi there! Do not feel like a failure! However the above posts are true, as a nurse, you deal with bodily fluids on a daily basis. Whether it be poop, vomit, urine, people coughing up gooky stuff! LOL You just learn to deal with it. I think of it as this: I am treating my patients the same way I would want to be treated if I was in the same situation. I take care of them to the best of my abilities! There is more to nursing than just dealing with gross bodily fluids...so so so much more. It can be very rewarding and stressful at times. You DEFINITELY need a strong stomach to be a nurse, and do not be afraid to touch your patients! I think in time if you truly have a strong passion for nursing and you want to take care of very sick people, you will find a way!

Oh yeah...breathe through your mouth!! LOL I wish you the best!

3KittiesRN

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I apologize for upseting you because it was not my intention to do so.

I tend to look at the gross situations I find myself in with humor and I thought that I was expressing that emotion with my post to you but I guess I was off the mark and for that I am sincerely sorry.

The thing is that like I wrote before:

You'll never know until you actually try it.....maybe you have what it takes to be a good CNA and a good nurse someday.

Why have you already made up your mind that you are a failure before you have even worked as a CNA or attended a single day of nursing school?

For me the gross things that I have to deal with are offset by the positives. I deal with nastiness but I'm not dealing with it for every minute of my shift.

You just won't know what it's really like until you are actually doing the job.

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical, L&D, Postpartum.

Oh yeah, regarding your math question...purchase a dosage calculations book for nursing students. It gives you a review of basic math concepts and some formulas to help you calculate dosages, IV drip rates etc.

Some people in my class had math anxiety, esp. during pharm class. They made it through! Nursing math really is not that complicated. You just need to know the basics.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I think many of us feel grossed out at first. I was. Eventually you will realize that it is part of being a nurse and caring for our pts. It does get easier.Just remember you can't always expect someone else to clean up the bad messes.

Chin up and hang in there! You can do it.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
Great. Well I'm sitting here balling my eyes out. I feel like a failure. I guess I can't freaking do this.

The first thing you need to do is get your emotions under control. When you're at work, dealing with sick and dying people and their family, you're not going to be able to be confused, hopeless, upset, or crying your eyes out.

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Don't give up! I felt very discouraged about being about to get into nursing school this time last year. I decided to go the LPN to RN route and I'm loving it! I'm almost halfway through LPN school and it is just wonderful. Lots of poop, vomit, and gross stuff though. I do think you'll get used to it in time though. We had a pt with a stage 4 decubitus ulcer that was necrotic, whoa! that smell will knock you off your feet :no:

As far as the math goes, I feel like I worried for nothing. I'm a HUGE math phobe and was dreading pharmacology, but I've been doing great with all my med calc. tests :up: I made it out to be much harder than it really is. It's more about being careful with the details and using logic to double check yourself.

Good luck, it this really is your dream keep pushing through it!

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