What to do now

[kachowell]

i am in my last semester of nursing school, and will graduate in december. i have never worked in the health care field and know that it will look good on my resume showing that i have spent more time in the field other than my clinicals. im not sure i want to be a cna. Any one have any ideas on a direction to go?

[neonatal_nurse]

I think rather than asking us, YOU should ask yourself what YOU really want to do.

Volunteer work is good and yes would look good in a resume, but it's not the main reason that you'll be getting the job. A lot of factors can be involved like personality, attitude, etc. Employers usually would like to match-up this things when hiring potential employers.

It's like what the author Paulo Coelho said, "How can you hit bull's eye when you're not looking at the target?"

Maybe you need to meditate on this.

Good Luck!

[MissBrittanyRN]

You're also getting pretty close to graduation so employers may be hesitant to hire you at this point, because after they train you, you will be graduating and will most likely be leaving them after they invested the time, money, and training you. I think volunteering is the way to go. Perhaps contacting your local health dept. or the health dept. in the area that you want to apply as an RN in (to be consistent with supporting that community), and asking them what type of opportunities they have for you, such as assisting with physical assessments or teaching. I don't know how long it takes to get a certification for it, but maybe working with the red cross at blood drives? What kind of nursing are you interested in?

[newbebop, ADN, BSN, MSN]

Believe it or not some hospitals prefer you to not have the experience. That way they won't have to break all the bad habits you learned at your other job. ;-)

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Working as a CNA is not going to help you get a job as an RN. I was a manager who hired new grads. When we hired new grads the information we were primarily interested in was the reference we got from your nursing instructors. They are the only people who can tell prospective employers how you are going to be able to handle the LPN or RN work you are being trained to do. CNA work is not LPN or RN work. Your nursing school is also going to tell us prospective employers about your attendance and a few things about your character that we want to know before we make a decision to hire you.

If you want to work as a CNA to bone up on basic nursing, OK. But as an RN we are hiring you to be a problem solver and manager of your patient's care. You'll master the nursing skills over time as you go.