Why become a CNA? Be a Medical assistant instead

Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 1, 2010

I think you just had a bad experience. Don't ruin it for people that actually have the heart to try. God knows they're needed.

To be honest, I see sooooo many schools offer medical assistant classes that I can't imagine there being enough jobs available. My gut tells me to go to nursing school, not MA school. Being a CNA is a good way to get started with that.

lina.561 · Mar 2, 2010

I would like to say however, that I totally understand how the OP feels. CNA school prepares you to pass your state boards, it is not an absolute indicator of what you will really experience. Being a CNA is VERY, VERY hard work. I myself have had days when I just could not figure out why I would subject my body to such physical and mental stress for the shotty wages and the ungreatfulness I often recieved in return. You can experience life long pain if you endure too much of those back breaking days. You just have to weigh the pros against the cons.

Im in the CNA Course now, we are currently at the Jupiter nursing home and we have awesome hand on experience. I would say that it all depends on what school you go to when you say " CNA school prepares you to pass your state boards, it is not an absolute indicator of what you will really experience."

My PCA school is 3 months long and my teacher teaches REAL WORLD and state exam.

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2010

Im in the CNA Course now, we are currently at the Jupiter nursing home and we have awesome hand on experience. I would say that it all depends on what school you go to when you say " CNA school prepares you to pass your state boards, it is not an absolute indicator of what you will really experience."
My PCA school is 3 months long and my teacher teaches REAL WORLD and state exam.

I'm with asun12ta on this one. During clinicals you will probably be assigned to a couple of residents, & you won't be alone ..you'll have a couple of your classmates with you, one of the CNA's, or even your instructor. When you get out into the real world, you'll probably have 7-13 residents by yourself. That's the point asun12ta was trying to make.

sakura_k · Mar 2, 2010

Im currently a CNA and I have been for two years. I work in the hospital and I do all those same things blood draw, EKG, Lab Cultures ect. I get paid almost 15$ an hour and I definatley have the respect of my peers. Even when I worked in LTC a lack of respect was never there. It just really depends on where you work as a CNA. I actually liked working the LTC too. It takes compassion and patience to be a CNA its not about the glory. Its about the patient. I took a six week class by my employer at the time and got my CNA. I got paid to take the class and it never cost me anything :) Its really just about whats right for you, some people would rather be a KMA or MA than others like me would rather be a CNA. I like the variety in different positions you can work as a CNA youre not limited so it never gets boring.

I agree completely - being a CNA is not about being in the spotlight, it's about the patient. That's part of what I love about the job. I'm not here to get appreciation and tons of money, I'm here because I care about the people I come into contact day in and day out. And because I care, I have the respect of the multiple providers and RNs I work with in a hospital clinic. (Where I also do all sorts of interesting things, including assisting with wound care, lab cultures, and helping therapies.) The cost of becoming a CNA was much closer to my reach than the cost of becoming an MA.

Not all CNA positions are alike. Sounds like the OP had a bad experience, which is really unfortunate.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2010

Being a CNA means you see the whiniest, neediest dark side of people. After I became one, I've heard one consistent caveat amongst nursing professionals, "You'll get burnt out and will start hating your patients." All true.
Another caveat? The nurses, whom you work with and are hoping to become one day, you eventually deeply resent. Why? CNAs do ALL the heavy lifting. If a resident vomits or ***** in his pants? Guess who the nurse immediately calls because she can't stomach it. You'll have three call lights to answer and the nurse is yelling at you on top of that to get her vitals done.

No sweetie, the CNA's don't do ALL the heavy lifting. My team will tell you I am always available to help them lift, transfer, as does the nurse who works the other wing when I work..as do many, many, many other nurses who work in LTC.

Immediately calls..because we can't stomach it? Really?! Don't know how many nurses you've worked with during your "long" CNA career..but the vast majority of nurses not only can stomach it but have seen/smelled/cleaned up much much worse. But yes, in all honesty, if I am in the middle of a med pass..yes, I HAVE to call the CNA. I cannot stop my med pass to clean up a resident who's had some sort of accident. I am just not alloted enough time to do it. But hey, I'll be more than happy to do it..if you can help out when I'm behind with my med pass..which leads to me being late on charting..ohh thats right...you CAN"T. So it does happen that the nurses can't..not doesn't want to..clean an accident.

Also want to point out..I was a CNA from the age of 16 on..I have about 25 YEARS of experience as a CNA..its hard work..but i loved doing it. And quite a large number of nurses were CNA's. So yes, we CAN lift, we CAN stomach all the things that you see in LTC, and we CAN sympathize with the overworked CNA's we work with now..but you also have to step back and realize, you cannot criticize a nurse for not doing something because you feel she/he are lazy or can't stomach it..its because we have other responsibilites and we are responsible for ALL the residents AND the CNA's assigned to those people.

jessesgirl13 · Mar 3, 2010

I was going through the medical help wanted ads and the local Unemployment offices job listings and I saw 1 want add for medical assistants, but there were over 40 for cna's. Just cna's not lpn's or rn's. just cna's. So your basis of thinking seems very off. and I looked into being a ma. I would have cost me a couple of thousand just to take the class, where as my cna class was 700 and the state paid for it. they wouldn't pay for the ma class because it's not a needed or wanted service around here.

tiredstudentmom · Mar 3, 2010

I have been both. It could be these job choices that have led me on the path to RN (pre-nursing right now, won't be held down, oh no!). Being and MA is still tough work, and yeah, there are definitely perks to working in an office. The pay is better for MA's in most places, depending on where you are. I understand that in nursing, you still clean up a lot of poo...read some of the forums on here. One gal ASKED for the gross out poop stories and some are quite hysterical! I say give Medical Assisting a try. I learned administrative and clinical concepts both in school and on the job. Let me tell you though that school is NOTHING at all like what you find in real life. Very rewarding career choice and some offices only hire MA's instead of nurses. Not sure exactly why, but they are. If you really want to do it, go for it! I didn't regret my choice...I love (most!) of our patients and that's why I'm in this biz. Go for it!

rxgirl6903 · Mar 3, 2010

I think you are very wrong here. I am a certified Medical assistant, and I have had no prolems finding jobs, however, there is no room to move up. I decided to go back to school and get my RN, but in order to do so I had to take the CNA classes... even though I am a medical assistant. You have to go back and start over from the begining. CNA, LPN, RN. My medical assisting classes were uselss for purposes of moving forward w/my career. It did give me good work history/background, but the money I spent would have been better spent on becoming and LPN first.

Music in My Heart · Mar 3, 2010

The sad thing is, if CNA's would realize their power, they could really change things, sadly I believe most will stay in the dark.

Funny... I routinely hear/see nurses making the same comment.

heathert_kc · Mar 3, 2010

There are a couple reasons that people should do their CNA: first it is a requirement now a days for getting into nursing schools whether rn or lpn. This means a great potential of advancement (my wage just about doubled from CNA to LPN) that simply does not exist with medical assisting (my cousin spent nearly a year to become a medical assistant only to start all over again to get into nursing school/ plus I was actually making more as a CNA than she was).Though choosing it as a life long career isn't advisable because it is hard, and far less than glamerous work. Plus those dirty, back breaking tasks are all incompassed in total nursing care. When I worked in a hospital, med/surg it was the RN who assisted me with repositioning the pt. As a nurse working homehealth, if your patient needs assistance with toileting or bathing, you are the only one there, you do it. The position of nurse's assistant was created in order to assist nurses with less-medical tasks that lay people can do, so that they can focus on the more skilled tasks but at the end of the day it is the responsibility of the nurse to ensure all of these tasks are done. There is less opportunities in medical assisting, where as CNAs work in ltc, hospitals, homehealth, dialysis and occassionally out patient clinic settings.

karrikon · Mar 3, 2010

This isn't a commercial but a warning.
Like most folks here, I decided to become a CNA to learn from the "ground up"," pay my dues", get in contact with healthcare professionals. It's the biggest mistake I've made in recent years.
Know why? CNA school doesnt really tell you what being a CNA is about. The private CNA school admission officers lie and gloss over the truth all the while collecting that exorbitant tuition. At a skilled nursing facility where 99% of you will start in, it's 80% changing diapers and making beds. It is a back-breaking, thankless, feces-collecting, low-paying scut job that you can master within months if not weeks or days. I should know. I have.
All those techniques of bedbathing, turning, grooming? Hah. Out the window. CNA school makes you think you have all the time in the world to attend to these patient needs. No way. You have an overloaded roster of patients and no time to talk, let alone groom them. You have your lead CNAs, your other residents and the nurses themselves yelling at you to attend to their needs. The first month, I was almost crippled for a week because my back was so aching and I had used proper body mechanics. These patients are so overweight, that turning them on the bed just to change their diaper is excruciating at times. CNA school didn't help with that problem among the other REAL situations that arise in LTC.
Being a CNA means you see the whiniest, neediest dark side of people. After I became one, I've heard one consistent caveat amongst nursing professionals, "You'll get burnt out and will start hating your patients." All true.
Another caveat? The nurses, whom you work with and are hoping to become one day, you eventually deeply resent. Why? CNAs do ALL the heavy lifting. If a resident vomits or ***** in his pants? Guess who the nurse immediately calls because she can't stomach it. You'll have three call lights to answer and the nurse is yelling at you on top of that to get her vitals done.
And for those hoping to get into a hospital? Good luck, because to basically get in you have to be a blood relative or really lucky. Especially if you have no experience. Those CNAs working at those hospitals are basically lifers doing the same thing over and over for years on end. Don't envy them too much.
Become a Medical assistant. You have more interaction with the doctors and nurses, higher variety of patients rather than just old people. No heavy lifting except for maybe transferring once in a long while. The pay is roughly the same, the schooling is longer though. Tuition is a little more but totally worth it. It also counts as healthcare experience which is key since my eventual goal is to get into physician assistant school. Barring that, then nursing school.
I came in like you all nursing hopefuls wanting to help people. It gets harder week by week to maintain that attitude but there are some bright spots like when one of my residents relatives pulled me aside to tell me that her mother loves me taking care of her. Yet, I can feel my attitude waning. I've been in for three months and it feels like years.
I'm doing you a favor here. Do yourself a favor and wave off becoming a CNA and be a MA. I wish I did. As for the tuition? There are public school options. I found one for $750, that teaches front and back office at local adult school here in California.
You have been warned.

I agree whole-heartedly. The nurses are very non-understanding of how hard we work. They keep you short-staffed and rarely ever give praise. I do it on the weekends and have for a year. It is a very thankless job, but I do love the clients. I am, however, starting to realize that I may have a slipped disk. It is back-breaking work. In many nursing schools, you don't have a chance inless you get your CNA. So, I think this is why people go this route. All the nursing schools in my area expect that you will have your CNA by the time you apply.

Mayaquice · Mar 3, 2010

This is a hard one because this is too general a subject. MA job availability differ by city. School's are all different, tuition is all different....it ALL depends on area. CNA is a pre req for the RN programs where I'm from so if I choose to do that I have to take a CNA course..period. I think it depends more on your long term goal. If MA is right for you-do it. If CNA is a baby step or where you want to stop-do it.

I'm sure most CNA's won't admit to not liking thier job to reflect thier choice was a good one. If they indeed feel that way. I really think this is different for eveyone. Although I must admit eveything in the original post is everything I worry about being a CNA! And everything I've heard from CNA's working at a LTC Hospital.

Maybe if you could find some sort of job shadowing or take a lower paying job in an LTC Hospital (activities, etc.)to see what they do daily. Interview a few, say it's for School & go with a bunch of questions. Just a thought.