Starting CNA course in July: tips?

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Morning, y'all!

I've registered for the Red Cross CNA program (I'm in the Los Angeles, CA area) and I'm starting in July, I'm equal parts excited and nervous!

I know job outlook isn't necessarily The Best for new CNAs, so I'm hoping to get some feedback and advice as far as the job search after certification, what to expect from the actual course itself, anything that may be of use not just to me, but anyone else who may have the same question.

The Red Cross program states that at the end of the program, you'll be introduced to several prospective employers in a job-fair type atmosphere (but I wonder how many new CNAs actually get hired by this route).

Thanks in advance for any feedback! :)

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Specializes in GI & Urological Surgery.

I just finished my 160 hour CNA course. I was so lucky to have an incredible instructor who really cares about nursing. I really enjoyed the class. The lecture portion got a bit boring, but was necessary to build the lab and clinical portion off of. Clinical was so much fun, and really helped me see the difference between the real world and the lab. For the skills, practice practice practice. They are all logic based too, so if you get stuck just think about what you'd do logically. My instructor told us "think safety and infectious control. If you do those two things, the rest will fall into place." and that helped me a lot, especially in clinical when I couldn't find things, or something unexpected happened. I'm not sure about the job fair thing, as we didn't have that after our class. Good luck to you!

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Specializes in Critical Care Transport, Cardiac ICU, Rapid.

Because CNA is just the basic licensing there's not much you'll need to worry about prior in my opinion. Just make sure you understand the information youre presented as it touches the surface level of what you'll be doing and it'll be nice to know why you're doing it (vitals, turning, proper body mechanics).

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical.

I did the red cross CNA course like 9 years ago, before I went to nursing school. I was straight out of high school with hardly any medical experience but I found it to be fairly basic. I graduated with a perfect 4.0 (I am normally a 3.0 kind of student). I remember a lot of basic anatomy on the tests, and the licensing exam was laid back, consisting of a proctor watching you perform skills like bathing, bed making, vitals, etc...

As soon as I had my certification I applied to this assisted living community that hired me right away as a med administration tech. I liked the job but the pay was only about $12/hr... after a few years of experience and starting nursing school i applied at a few hospitals (hospitals usually prefer to hire experienced CNAs or nursing students). Every hospital I applied to tried to hire me, so I picked my favorite and started making $20/hr. Nice raise!

Overall, the Red Cross CNA program was a great experience and they will prepare you well for the certification exam! They took us to two job fairs as well!

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