is it true?

I'm not sure about your other questions but as far as down time goes for 3rd shift, it depends on where you work and who you work with. At my prior nursing home, the nurses helped with rounds so we were able to get them done pretty quickly and had quite a bit of down time but at the nursing home I work at now, it depends on who I work with. Some nights there has been absolutely no down time, not even to take my breaks but some nights there's been a little down time. But I wouldn't say enough to be able to study.

I'm unsure about your first question. Most hospitals will help you with tuition if you agree to work x amount of years for them.

Third shift downtime? Depends where you work. I've never been able to study on 3rd shift because you always have to have an ear out for the pts. Never able to concentrate. Most hospitals frown on studying at work. Their feeling is that there is always something to do. Cleaning, stocking, straightening pts rooms, etc needs to be done before studying.

I am a nursing student. Nursing school is 4-5 semesters, depending on what program you are in. I'm getting my Bachelors degree, so it's 5. After your first semester, I am sure that you can sit in on a CNA state test--but-- you really don't need to. Hospitals will hire you as a Student Nurse, and you will perform many of the same tasks as a CNA.

After the second semester (1st year) of nursing school, you can sit in on the NCLEX-LPN. This is the test that will give you your license as a "Licensed Practical Nurse" or a "Licensed Vocational Nurse

Hopes this answers your question.

Never Heard Of Anyone Sitting In On A Exam, But The Nursing Home I Worked For Offered Cna Classes For Free! You Even Got Pd For Attending Just Like Working, You Also Got Alot Of Hands On Experience That Make Passing Your Clinicals A Snap. They Even Pd For State Exam. I'm In School Now For Rn, And Work Midnights In The Er Doing Admitting, Do Alot Of Papers And Studying During The Night. Hope This Helps.

I'm not sure about sitting for the exam, but I worked as a CNA/PCA in a hospital in Cincinnati on 3rd shift while going to school and taking my EMT class and I know that I had ample time to study. There were some busy nights, but mostly patients were sleeping so I studied until I was needed. It depends on what floor you'll be working on too.

I know here in NH you are allowed to test out after your first semester, and after your third semester, you can sit for your LPN, so heaven forbid something happened and you couldnt finish, whatever. check your state board of nursing website, see if you can find it!