28 year old male thinking about Nursing as a profession

alabamacrimson · Mar 15, 2009

My place of employment offers tuition assistance/reimbursement and a lot of my fellow nursing assistants are taking advantage of this while they are in school (However, you must remain with the hospital for a year) and still being able to make ends meet. Being a nursing assistant is hard work and the pay isn't that high, but you can gain valuable exerperience, esp if your working with awesome nurses who know you're in nursing school and will show you things and give you good advice. There are junior/senior nursing students (BSN/ADN) on my unit all the time and it's no coincidence that the ones who know what they are doing have experience as nursing assistants, medical assistants, etc.I have a co-worker who's a junior BSN and told me she gets more clinical experience being a nursing assistant than that what she gets from a clinicals. And from what I've been seeing, being a nursing assistant DOES get your foot in the door. Two nurses on my floor used to be NA's- on the same floor! If you think being a NA is too much, you can always work casual, part-time, or just do volunteer work.

Great, thanks for your insight. I have to ask, what level of training is needed to work as an NA? What kind of training do I need?

mochabean · Mar 15, 2009

Great, thanks for your insight. I have to ask, what level of training is needed to work as an NA? What kind of training do I need?

When I started looking for NA positions the job descriptions said at least a high school diploma is required(this one hospital bs-ed me and said I was "too educated" to be a NA despite what my resume objective said!). Some facilities will want you to already be ceritified and/or have experience. The medical system I work for offers free training for those who don't have experience, so I don't ever have to worry about being certified since I was trained there. The local community college where I live offers 2 wk NA classes for around $700 and I believe they'll help with certification and job-placement. My supervisor is flexible with schedules and plus I have full-benefits. It varies place to place, but this has been my experience.

Prettyladie · Mar 15, 2009

700.00 is extremely high for a medical assistant class. around here they are only 400-500. but i guess in different places im sure they vary for some reason. i know nursing homes will train you for free and allow you to test for certification but you have to work for them. but no necessary training is needing before to become a CNA. just go sign up basically.

patwil73 · Mar 15, 2009

When i got my ADN in Longview, WA - after the 1st quarter we were certified as PCT's so we could get a job and say we had experience. After the 4th quarter you could sit for your LPN boards and get a higher paying job, then after 7 quarters you got to sit for the RN boards. All one program, but allowed those who wanted to work in the field the opportunity.

Check with some of the local programs and see if they offer something similar.

Hope this helps

Pat

hiddenheart · Mar 15, 2009

Male nurses are great, in most cases, to work with. My daughter and I both did an LPN program, she wants to continue on but I do not (partly becasue of my age). She chose the LPN program first to see if this was really the career for her, she felt if she didn't really like it after she finished she was only out one year and $10,000 vs wasting 4-5 years and a many $$$ to find out it wasn't the career for her. She also realized that most facilities would help pay for her education when she starts back, they will even work with her schedule in order for her to go back.

Probably with your religious training, you could be an asset, most pastors and clergy that I have met are very compassionate with the patients especially when it come to death and dying. Good luck, I hope you find the right path for you, it is not aways easy, but it is worth it in the end.

Prettyladie · Mar 15, 2009

what are quarters? we have semesters.

tutored · Mar 15, 2009

Please forgive my ignorance, but how do I do that? What level of training and education do I have to have under my belt before I can do that?

Oh, STOP!!!!:wink2::hgu:with the "I'm Ignorant!" You're not ignorant, and that's not at all an ignorant question - I should know, because I asked that one myself before. The PCT positon is a lay position - used to be called "nurse's aide"....hospitals hire and train you, usually for around three months including following, and the training is always paid. Somehospitals, like mine, train the PCTs to draw blood, too, which would be a HUGE benefit to you as a soon-to-be nurse. You learn to to EKGs, too...don't poo-poo the position thinking it's just bed baths - PCTs are a valuable part of the team (at least, on my floor, in the trauma unit). You apply for the position, like a regular job, and be sure to mention you're a nursing student.:)

tutored · Mar 15, 2009

Go to PA school.
Nursing has long become a dumping ground for anything and everything which is not physician specific.
It has become less and less of what we were told it would be and will not change unless ratios are instituted in every hospital.
If you like to study diseases and helping people, PA school will serve your soul as well as nursing, with equal salary, and without all the garbage.
(Here comes the hate mail)

So why are you here? Why continue to talk to us, and why contribute to this forum? Or is it because you want to dissuade, discourage, and make sure as many nurses as possible are unhappy as you?

To the original poster, I love my job very much, and the nurses I work with love our job, too...Don't let depressed burnouts get you down. This is a wonderful profession, and there's room to go onto your own autonomy - The Nurse Practicioner, which in my state has far more autonomy than the PA. Don't let people get you down!! This is supposed to be a SUPPORT forum, by the way.

patwil73 · Mar 16, 2009

what are quarters? we have semesters.

Shorter than semesters - there are 4 in the year (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer). Most schools that use them have programs based on attending the first 3 with summer off.

So 7 quarters equated to 2 years plus 1 quarter. I started in the winter and ended in the winter (Winter, spring, fall, winter, spring, fall, winter).

Pat

Prettyladie · Mar 16, 2009

well we have spring and fall of course, but when does winter start??

RNMariposa · Mar 16, 2009

I agree with the above however you might not like the job once you actually start it. If you are a tech first that will give you an idea of what working on a floor is like also it would save you the trouble of going to school if it isn't what you liked doing. Another reason to become a tech is that because of the hospital experience a hospital might hire you sooner after you have graduated as an RN.

patwil73 · Mar 17, 2009

well we have spring and fall of course, but when does winter start??

Fall - Late Sept to early Dec

Winter - Jan to March, maybe early April (been a long time)

Spring - April to mid June

I think each equate to like 10 weeks or so.

Pat