Would you work at a facility as a nurse that you worked at as an aide?

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 28, 2016

I've done it. I worked in the hospital as a CNA and returned as an RN after working for a LTC for a couple of years. Many of my former nurses were still there, as were several of the same aides I'd worked alongside. Well, people can forgive almost anything other than a co-worker who's risen through the ranks, and they challenged me at every turn---they often disappeared when I needed post-op vitals, questioned my decisions, "accidentally" forgot to total I & O at the end of the shift.

But it only went on for a few months, and eventually I won their respect and cooperation. What you need to understand is that your role as the nurse is very different from that of a CNA, even within the same facility. You are responsible for overseeing their work, even as you learn your own job. There's also the possibility that your co-workers may have trouble accepting you as a fellow nurse. My son is a brand new LPN and he's working at a LTC where he used to be an aide, and he is having some of these problems. But they can be overcome; it just takes patience and actually being in the job for awhile.

That being said, don't hesitate to take a job where you used to work as a CNA. You have an advantage in knowing how the facility is laid out, where everything is, and how it is managed. Good luck!

ComeTogether, LPN · Sep 29, 2016

Just got my first nursing job at the facility I had my first CNA job at. I love it, and everyone is super happy for me. In addition, I know the aides jobs as well as the job I am now learning. This means I'm a valuable asset for the CNAs but also - they can't pull anything over on me, because I've literally "been there, done that".

I left this facility 5 years ago to work at a hospital where I learned so, so much as a CNA/secretary on an acute rehab unit. I'm trying to get full time on the subacute rehab unit at this facility, and I feel very comfortable there even being new, because I'm comfortable with rehab patients and I"m comfortable at the facility.

mtjoanna · Oct 6, 2016

I did that with mixed results. It was good with all the nurses and most of the CNAs but I did have some issues with a few of the aids. One of them specifically told me "I'd be just fine if you showed me some favoritism. Seriously." We worked it out eventually but there were some bruised feelings on both sides when I didn't show favoritism and occasionally had to call her out on poor performance.

kmwmom · Oct 20, 2016

I actually started the job I have been at for five years now as an LPN that worked as a CMA and then a CNA on the weekends. Never had any issues with the CNAs respecting me or anything like that after I became an RN and a charge nurse. even on the same shift I worked as a med aide and aide on.

allnurses Guide · Oct 22, 2016

I did this, though it was not an LTC facility, it was a hospital. Still...

I don't think it turned out well overall.

I mean, there are reasons to work in the same facility, and there

are reasons not to. For me, it was just plain weird, intimidating,

to work alongside these nurses that I had once worked under. Plus,

I had already seen what these nurses went through daily, and then

to be a new nurse and having to experience these same things

myself... I dunno.

Being a new nurse was already hard enough, then to throw in this

whole awkward thing of.. having been an aide there for four years,

and then suddenly this huge jump to RN. People expected more

of me than I felt like I was giving, I think.