Starting CNA school in January

melizerd, ASN, RN · Nov 11, 2012

In my area we are required to be CNAs before starting nursing school. Not everyone works as one but you must be certified. I know some people who started right in hospitals and others that only work in LTC, and those that started in LTC and then moved to hospitals. I never interned anywhere before being hired, just got certified and then got a job, but that might vary by area.

I have found nothing but wonderful nurses on the floors I've been on for clinicals and they are all glad to see us and look forward to helping us learn things. Some are better than others and some are more "into" teaching than others. I know one nurse where I am that loves being a resource for students and so she's told our instructor that we can always shadow her. Our instructor loves her of course!

Nursing school is hard, it is tiring, it means giving up 99% of your social/family life and still feeling behind. It is the hardest thing I've done and it is amazing!

werty86 · Nov 12, 2012

5 month course? that's the longest i've heard of for a nursing assistant course. how many contact hour is that?

anyway, i just applied to nursing school this past aug. so i decided to take a nursing assistant course, which i just completed about a month ago. i have no prior healthcare-related experience so everything was new and interesting to me. personally, i find a lot of the things i've learned to be pretty much common sense but made very technical. but i did learn a lot in the 6 weeks that i was there. i decided to take this course to prepare me for my nursing education/career. i now have a job at the hospital that i will start tomorrow and i am very excited!

my advice is to start applying for jobs right away and to get bls (for healthcare providers) certified or whatever equivalent certification your desired employer(s) required. besides indicating on my resume that i am pursing a nursing degree and has completed a nursing assistant course, these are the only two things i did. right away, i got 3 interviews at 3 different hospitals.

good luck to you!

sakiohma · Nov 12, 2012

My CNA course lasted for about 5 months too. I got mine for free at Job Corps. It's a long time, but it really pays off. You'll never forget, lol.

shannon96 · Nov 12, 2012

5 month course? that's the longest i've heard of for a nursing assistant course. how many contact hour is that?
anyway, i just applied to nursing school this past aug. so i decided to take a nursing assistant course, which i just completed about a month ago. i have no prior healthcare-related experience so everything was new and interesting to me. personally, i find a lot of the things i've learned to be pretty much common sense but made very technical. but i did learn a lot in the 6 weeks that i was there. i decided to take this course to prepare me for my nursing education/career. i now have a job at the hospital that i will start tomorrow and i am very excited!
my advice is to start applying for jobs right away and to get bls (for healthcare providers) certified or whatever equivalent certification your desired employer(s) required. besides indicating on my resume that i am pursing a nursing degree and has completed a nursing assistant course, these are the only two things i did. right away, i got 3 interviews at 3 different hospitals.
good luck to you!

Well, the course I'm in takes in High school students, and sense they have to work with my school SOME HOW I go there for a hour/half everyday... So it draws it out a lot.. also after the course is done I'm going to obviously get a job, but use the money to pay for nursing school cause I don't JUST want to be a CNA forever.. Lol ... But I'm soo excited to start in January