I never was a CNA or NA (you can do the job without a the CNA certificate, many hospitals will teach you on the job). I am currently a med/surg floor nurse and that probably is one of the hardest nursing jobs out there because we have to be prepared to care for almost every type of hospital patient. I did have a degree in Bioengineering and sold products to the hospital and did repairs which has helped me as a nurse but wasn't necessary. Being a Nursing Assistant makes it easier to get that first job and probably makes it a bit easier to organize yourself on that first job. Mostly, know that it is a very hard job...12 hour shifts are long shifts and the horror stories you hear people talk about are mostly true. We are pushed to our mental and physical max almost every shift. We are the best and the brightest and yet, I see senior nurses still having anxiety attacks when coming to work because we are often assigned more than we should (either too many patients or very heavy patients ... which means they require a lot of nursing care). There is still a problem with lateral violence which basically means bullying among the nurses toward each other. I think the younger doctors are starting to be trained to respect us more but there is still a lot of disrespect from many of the doctors. Patients can be dangerous too. Healthcare has one of the highest workplace violence statistics from patients & their families hurting the staff. Emergency room and psych are probably the most dangerous areas...but it can be on any floor. I love nursing and taking care of the patients but I also think about quitting almost every day. I am a tough cookie but refuse to get hardened and take shortcuts to get all my tasks done which means when I have too many patients (which is often), I dont take breaks...I take about 30 minutes to eat and that is it. The problem with too many patients is the fear that one patient might have a serious change of health status that gets missed while you are taking care of another patient. When you work several days in a row, most of us average about 5 hours of sleep between shifts because once you figure in staying late to finish paperwork, the drive home, getting something to eat, washing up, and the time it takes to get ready and back to work...you are left with about 5-6hours if you can fall asleep quickly. I don't recommend nursing unless it is a "calling". Do not expect to have much of a social life while you are in school if you do chose nursing. I was always writing big care plans over Thanksgiving breaks and they really didn't care when a classmate's mother was having heart surgery (she came to clinicals and just kept calling for updates). I had a classmate lose custody of her child because they wouldn't schedule her clinicals so that she could pick him up at the bus stop on her assigned days even though we had clinical schedules that would have accommodated that. Maybe your program could be better (I was in a very large program where they had to place about 500 student nurses each rotation). I do not recommend nursing to anyone. However, if someone really wants to be a nurse, I will bend over backward to help them. The best I can say is to do your homework and talk to real nurses. The upside to nursing is that there really are so many different types of nursing. I am debating about switching to in-hospital rehab, ICU, or surgical nursing. I have also looked at diabetes educator or school nurse for developmentally delayed students. And I love psych nursing but don't think I want to do it full-time because I like the medical side too much. And when picking a program, ask what percentage of their graduates pass the NCLEX on the first try because if you get through school and can't pass the NCLEX, your degree is worthless. And if anyone doubts the honesty of my answer, the real statistic is that 20% of new nurses leave the nursing field forever during the first year as a nurse. That is a sad statement but one I understand completely. My study buddy (magna cum laude grad) is among those from my class debating quitting it forever. PM me anytime with more specific questions.
Your right about that! I ran 4 years in high school and now I'm on my 3 season in college.
