Should I apply for a nursing assistant job while in nursing school?
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January 4th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Yes, absolutely. It will teach you the fundamentals and get you used to caring for patients. By the time you are finished with school you will have useful experience to put on your resume and already have basic nursing care down pat. I can’t tell you how many new grads I’ve seen flounder on the job because they were slowed down by taking too long to change soiled linen and such.
Most hospitals will train you on the job but you may not necessarily end up certified as a CNA. You may only end up with a hospital certification which isn’t the same as state certification. So make sure that you ask if it all matters to you. If you applied as a nursing student you’d most likely be a shoe-in. Hospital nursing assistants are sometimes referred to as “techs” and can usually perform more skills like phlebotomy, and obtain other lab specimens. Some perform simple dressing changes and even insert foleys. Depending on where you live is how much you’ll make. I’ve seen most earn from 10.00-15.00 an hour. I did it myself in nursing school back in the late 90s and only earned 7.00 something an hour.
Working in a nursing home can provide valuable experience but I would not recommend it. You won’t learn quite as much, but you’ll work harder. It is very labor intensive. So much so that you could probably cancel your gym membership. Pts are constantly being hoisted in and out of bed and you’ll ruin your back before you’re even done with nursing school. Definately go the hospital route. Not quite as much heavy lifting. Hope this helps.
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RN, BSN
January 4th, 2009 at 8:40 am
It may help you get in if you for it before you are in the program. Some require it; you would have to check with them. Once you are in the program you may have a lot of trouble trying to hold down a job, nursing is intense. It is very good experience for building up confidence and getting used to the yucky stuff, but if you are already in the program I think it may just be a waste of time.
You have to be certified to work in a long term care facility (nursing home), and it is preferred for other areas. I think that a certain amount of time in a nursing program may count, but I am not sure.
It does involve a lot of physical labor. I work in a nursing home and I am expected to be able to lift up to 50 pounds. You have mechanical lifts for some people, but you still need to assist people that are partially weight bearing and roll/ boost people in bed. You will have to do this as a nurse too, though not quite as much. It’s also kind of gross, your job is to wash, toilet, and feed people that can’t do it themselves. I have been peed on, and I had a friend get a mouthful or pureed food gets spit in her face. Again, you will need to do some of this in nursing school, not as much but you still need to be able to tolerate it. If there is any question of you being able to handle it, this is a good way to break yourself into it.
The pay is very good for the training, still not that much. Depending on where you are, you can expect to make around $10 an hour. You can look up your area here: http://data.bls.gov/oes/search.jsp?data_tool=OES
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