Take a pay cut to be a CNA for the experience??

OwlieO.O · Oct 17, 2013

Do what you can to become a nurse. If it gives you more points to get in, then do it. If it's just for experience, I wouldn't. You'll get plenty of experience in school. Since you're already in, I don't believe it matters.

i_love_patient_care · Oct 18, 2013

You don't have to necessarily work part-time or full-time to get experience. They do have per diem positions where you can keep your regular job and then work a shift here and there. That is what I would do.

Mandimack · Oct 18, 2013

I guess I'm just afraid that I if I don't have any patient care experience (besides clinicals) when I graduate, that it will be harder to get a job.

Stephalump · Oct 18, 2013

I guess I'm just afraid that I if I don't have any patient care experience (besides clinicals) when I graduate that it will be harder to get a job.[/quote']
I really don't think healthcare experience is much of a hiring factor. In the nursing world, a new grad is a new grad, because nothing else you could do is like nursing.
The exception would be the "foot in the door" issue. It might be easier to get hired at a facility if you work there through school, but there aren't any guarantees.

OwlieO.O · Oct 18, 2013

I guess I'm just afraid that I if I don't have any patient care experience (besides clinicals) when I graduate, that it will be harder to get a job.

I would focus more on excelling in your clinicals. If you spend more time in a specialty, you can usually jump past med-surge and on into that if they're amicable. CNA work won't do much to get you beyond med-surge/assisted-living, unless you were a CNA 2 in acute care for pedes, etc.

thenursemandy · Oct 18, 2013

Apply. If they offer you a job and you can afford the paycut, take it. It'll help you network with other nurses and get a real feel for the hospital environment.

Mandimack · Oct 18, 2013

I was offered the job for the nursing assistant position. It's a day/evening rotation. There is a shift differential for evenings and weekends. They will work around my school schedule. I will get acute care hospital experience on a floor for overflow ED patients at a great Massachusetts hospital. I think that having patient care experience will help me be more confident in the future when it comes to being an RN. I'm currently an admin at a construction company. It's a boring job but the pay and benefits are great. It's really tough to figure out especially since I'm only in the ASN program and will be doing the bridge to BSN after I get my RN.

MrsClarkRN · Oct 18, 2013

I work as a CNA in a hospital while I'm in an ADN program and I love it! I think getting your foot in the door of a hospital is invaluable especially with all the new grads having a such a hard time getting into the hospital. I feel so much more confident in clinicals and I get to see nurses and how they operate on a weekly basis.

boogalina, ADN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN · Oct 21, 2013

I would focus more on excelling in your clinicals. If you spend more time in a specialty, you can usually jump past med-surge and on into that if they're amicable. CNA work won't do much to get you beyond med-surge/assisted-living, unless you were a CNA 2 in acute care for pedes, etc.

Med-surg is a specialty unto itself - ortho, surgery, ACE, tele and oncology are quite different from rehab/LTAC/LTC. It is not accurate to compare these levels of care, as each has its challenges and talent requirements.

That being said, I would encourage the OP to work as a CNA in the hospital if that facility is where OP wants to work. Acute care CNA work allows for different experiences that help with providing good bedside care as a RN. And having that experience makes clinicals easier in some respects.

Lastly, it's a lot easier to work as a new grad RN if you don't also have to consciously think through how to ambulate a patient, or position them in bed.

Just my two cents as a former LTC and ICU CNA who works as a new grad float pool RN!

soxgirl2008 · Oct 22, 2013

I would focus more on excelling in your clinicals. If you spend more time in a specialty, you can usually jump past med-surge and on into that if they're amicable. CNA work won't do much to get you beyond med-surge/assisted-living, unless you were a CNA 2 in acute care for pedes, etc.

Med-surg gives you LOADS of experience. Don't discount it. I was a CNA for 2 1/2 years on a post op floor and I wouldnt trade my experience for the world. And btw, I'm now a CNA in the emergency department drawing blood, doing splints, wound care, etc. so being CNA can get you to more than just med-surg/assisted living....I also know plenty of CNA's who worked in ICU and were able to land an ICU job after graduation because of it.

I think having healthcare experience helps. The only people I know who didn't have trouble finding a job after graduation were the ones with healthcare experience. Yes, a "new grad is still a new grad blah blah blah" but like someone else said, it's a lot easier to just concentrate on being an RN if you are used to the healthcare environment. Almost all the RN's I know who didn't have CNA experience said they wished they did because it made their transition that much harder. Where I work the only new grads hired into OB, ER, ICU, etc are ones with healthcare experience, and it's hard for new grads without healthcare experience to get a job even on med surg because our hospital has so many CNA's in nursing school that are almost always considered first over outsiders. I've seen postings at other hospitals that have said "RN experience required, but new grads with CNA experience in a hospital setting will be considered" So it DOES help in some hospital systems. Especially since you are in an ADN program it is important to do whatever you can to give yourself an advantage. In some areas it's a lot harder to get hired with your ADN than with a BSN, but if you have healthcare experience that may give you an edge. Just my 2 cents.

If you can't afford to take a pay cut, I totally understand that. I would only do it if you think you can afford it financially.

Mandimack · Oct 27, 2013

@soxgirl2008 thank you! Since I posted this topic I was offered part-time nights (11:30-7:30) so I will be getting shift differential and will be able to afford the switch. It will be tight but I can do it.

I think the experience will be worth it but I have so many people telling me I don't need it or that it's not worth witching just to get experience, especially when I'll have to pay student loans etc. I have made the decision to accept the job. I just hope that I made the right choice!!