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Discussion

Young CNA

My name is Andrew, and I am planning on training to become a CNA during this upcoming Summer. I am still in High School, hence I am still 16 years old. I am thinking it would be a good idea to get certified while in High School, so then right when I graduate or even before I graduate I can start looking for work. Is it possible to work so young as a CNA (17)? I've also heard without prior work experience it might be difficult to get a job. Does volunteering count as experience? Does anyone know where it would be a good place for me to start volunteering? I am in the Palm Springs area. I am definitely motivated to continue my career as a nurse but I am just wondering about how my chances seem to be after I graduate. I'm looking to getting this path moving fast. Thank you. :)

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    • After working as a CNA, what is the next best career move? 16 members have participated

    1. 1. After working as a CNA, what is the next best career move?

      • LPN or LVN.
        12%
        2
      • RN
        87%
        14
      • New study such as Vet Tech.
        0%
        0

    Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

    Featured Replies

    in California, I think for all nursing facilities, u have to be at least 18 years old. I had to be at least 18 for all the places I applied to when I first got it. I'm not sure where palm springs is in California, but look up clinical care extender program. They have a great volunteer program all over southern California in hospitals! Great program for high schoolers and college!!!! Look into it :) I loved it and used it on my resume as experience when I just got my cna ...really good you're starting early!

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    • Author

    Yeah, I assumed you would have to be 18. Bummer, but there's more time for volunteer experience I guess! Clinical Care Extended Program. Got it! Thank you very much. This is awesome! I'm going to look into that program, and try to get as much experience as I can to help me come by a job quicker.

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    Congratulations on knowing what you want to do at such a young age. I would suggest volunteering, as well. Stick with it. Nursing is a wonderful profession!!!

    Best of luck to you.

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    in south dakota you only need to be 16!

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    yeah in Cali u have to be 18.. i graduated from my CNA program in june 2011, had no prior work experience, recently graduated high school, and just turned 18 and i had no trouble finding a job. so just volunteer until you turn 18, and then you can do a CNA program!

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    • Author

    Ah ok, I see. The school i'm attending once this school year ends allows me to be 16, but i'm assuming it's 18 to become licensed. That's alright! Just more time to gain more experience.

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    good way to look at it! u can always go to school before u turn 18, and time it so that u are 18 when you graduate

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    • Experts

    Since you seem to have the resources to go to school during the summer ... you might want to look into taking any classes or working on anything that would help you prepare for college. You might be able to get one of your prerequristes out of the way -- or at least become so prepared to take them that they will be a breeze for you once you get to college.

    You might also want to see if the faculty members at any of the local nursing schools would like a personal assistant. You could offer your services to do odd jobs for a small fee ... and in return, they may let you "tag along" on some nurse-related activities or let you help with some "nursey" projects. Sure, you might have to pick up dry-cleaning, babysit, or mow the lawn ... but it might get you a mentor and a little "leg up" on the nursing world. If some able-bodied young person would offer to help me do some serious house-cleaning this summer, I would be happy to teach them a little about nursing and write a letter of recommendation in exchange (as well as paying them for their time).

    As for your age ... A long time ago, we had a young man phlebotomist at our hospital. He was part of the team that came to our unit to draw the morning labwork on all our patients at around 6 am. He only worked that early morning shift because he was in school. He was the best at it and we all wanted him to be the one to stick our patients. One day, he announced that he would be leaving soon because he had gotten accepted into another school: we assumed he was graduating from college and heading off to grad school. We were shocked to learn that he was only 18 and heading off to college for the first time. He had been coming to draw our labs in the morning before heading off to high school since he was 16!

    Don't be afraid to be creative -- and good luck!

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    • Author

    I just got confirmation I can be 16 to receive my license. I checked out the Clinical Care Extender Program, seems very worthy but is unfortunately not around my area. I am just going to focus on volunteering. Does anyone think I should just walk into a nursing home or hospital, introduce myself, and ask about volunteer opurtunities?

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    Hey Andrew,

    I was 16 when I took a CNA course offered through my high school, we did our clinicals at a nursing home until we qualified for certification (December) and then after we were all certified we did clinicals in various specialties at a local community hospital until the end of the school year. Afterwards we were hired per diem to work at the hospital. I was 17, they were very strict in terms of making me go on break, no more than 12 hours of week, as to not violate child labor laws.

    What I'm trying to say it was one of the best things I could have ever done, currently I work in an ICU/ER and it has prepared me so much for nursing school. If you are lucky you will work with amazing nurses that are willing to teach and that knowledge is invaluable!

    In terms of volunteer work, most of the time they have the high school students act as couriers to deliver blood, or pick up specimens, etc.

    by the way I believe you can get certified before 18, finding a job is a whole different story.

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    Good luck on you career goals. When i graduated from high school i started a CNA course and landed a job in a hospital with zero experience. Volunteering would be a great boost for you to land a job. Im currently a PCT for Pre-Op and Recovery. Im learning allot of things that will help me when i start nursing school.

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    Try to get a job in home health. I was 16 when I was trained, 17 when I got my license (training went right through my brithday :p) and it was really difficult for me to find a job at 17 without having my high school diploma. Luckily a home health agency took a chance on me and I got over a year of experience before moving out of the area to go to school. If your high school will pay for it (some of them do through the local tech centers) go for your LPN during your last 2 years of school and then go for your RN. It's a lot easier to get into LPN-RN transiton programs than it is for basic RN programs. I wish I would have done the LPN program through my high school, it would have saved me a lot of heartache.

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