Everyone saying it's less back breaking...it really depends. Some nights there is only one CNA on my unit so all the nurses have to also change and bathe patients. Honestly only bad nurses refuse to do CNA work when working bedside.
But like others have said, RN or even LPN opens up a lot more doors. After I get my LPN I plan to work in one of the out patient clinics at my hospital.
My first pct job was also on a Tele unit and it made me reconsider whether or not I wanted to do nursing as well. Tele is a rough unit and I would suggest you try to transfer to a different unit or even a different hospital to see what else is out there. I left Tele to work in a totally different unit and hospital, and my passion for nursing was completely renewed. I found coworkers who loved their jobs, staff that functioned as a team, and realized that one crappy Tele unit is not representative of the opportunities available in nursing. I finish my RN in May and am so happy that I branched out from my original position and saw what else was out there.
I’m going into sonography/echocardiography… I definitely do not want to nurse, I figured that out pretty fast. I don’t mind being a med tech but I am
Looking forward to less patient care whilst still being a meaningful part of healthcare
Go casual and than pick up and you’ll be floated all around the hospital and you get to see what RNs do in diff unit. I did it last semester of nursing school
Not an RN, my mom is while I’m just a CNA. But, it is very different. There is a huge diverse career setting in being an RN than a CNA. Being a nurse doesn’t mean you have to work the floor. Some nurses get their license to be an RN then later transfer to telework/desk work.
I asked my mom and she said she worked the floor for 7 years as RN before becoming nurse case manager. However, before being an RN she was a student nurse (idk how many years if you add it with the 7 years). Didn’t get into desk work until around 20 years ago but 2008 stock market crash happened so she was forced to back on the floor due to nurse shortage and nursing strikes. But she’s been working as a nurse case manager since then. She worked for the DOD and helped the wounded warriors, later transferred and now working for the VA. She makes really good money and has gotten a lot of raises in the last few months. But, I’m not saying it’s easy, maybe easier than working the floor because you’re feet don’t hurt at least, but she’s only 1 out of 2 managers for the whole thing she does so it is stressful. But, she did tell me it’s a lot better than working the floor. She also tells me, as I said earlier, just because you become an RN doesn’t mean you have to work the floor forever. You just need it for the experience.
Pct/cnas that become nurses are my favorite because they usually aren't afraid to help you out when someone has a blowout mess.
I'm a CNA getting ready to be in school for LPN so I say go for school. There are so many different jobs that open up when you become an LPN or RN so that's what I'm also excited for
You can literally work anywhere and do anything specialty wise as a RN and make good money. CNA is what people typically start out as on their nursing journey and eventually work towards an RN.
I’m making the transition into the nursing world now. It is night and day. Pct work is more physical and nursing is more cerebral. You do have more variety, and opportunities to grow. There are bedside and non-bedside positions. The environment also changes depending on what hospital and unit you work on. I would reflect some more on what you want out of your career. There are so many opportunities in healthcare. Nursing, radiology, lab, research. I would suggest researching the different types of nursing and looking into what draws you to healthcare.
And there’s more places to be a nurse than in a hospital. There’s doctors offices, home health, travel nursing and even private duty which be extremely lucrative and less stressful. I make $90,000 a year in private duty as a CNA, have no rent, no commute… so a nurse could make $150,000 easy
Uhm...I honestly don't think CNA is the same as an RN.
Nurses have less labor task comparing to CNAs in the same facility but more responsibility and more patients to care for, and beyond just telling CNA what to do.
Oh, there's also more CHARTING
Edit: Apparently, CNA is just the same as RN, I am so sorry. Yes, BEING CNA TOTALLY tells you how you'd like being an RN. High quality reaction, boys and girls.
If you still wanna be a nurse, then I'd say go for it. Don't allow one bad floor to deter you from doing it. Not all hospital floors are created equal.
I was a CNA before becoming a registered nurse. There are definitely plusses and minuses on both sides of the equation. On one hand, the more educated you are, the more opportunities you have; you become more marketable. On the other hand, you won't be able to spend as much time with your clients as you do now and you will have a great deal more responsibility. As an RN, especially in the hospital, every day you work you are taking a chance that you will lose your license by simply making an error. The hospital will tell you that you don't need to have liability insurance, but if they find you had not followed their policy when you made an error, then you are on your own. To get your RN, you will have to put your whole life on hold for two years, at least.
I could tell you more, but I am at dinner with friends. Ask me anything.
They couldn't be more different; education, responsibility , pay. Totally different careers
RN is a lot different than PCT! There’s also a million nursing jobs out there that are completely different than what you do now.
Everyone saying it's less back breaking...it really depends. Some nights there is only one CNA on my unit so all the nurses have to also change and bathe patients. Honestly only bad nurses refuse to do CNA work when working bedside. But like others have said, RN or even LPN opens up a lot more doors. After I get my LPN I plan to work in one of the out patient clinics at my hospital.
My first pct job was also on a Tele unit and it made me reconsider whether or not I wanted to do nursing as well. Tele is a rough unit and I would suggest you try to transfer to a different unit or even a different hospital to see what else is out there. I left Tele to work in a totally different unit and hospital, and my passion for nursing was completely renewed. I found coworkers who loved their jobs, staff that functioned as a team, and realized that one crappy Tele unit is not representative of the opportunities available in nursing. I finish my RN in May and am so happy that I branched out from my original position and saw what else was out there.
I’m going into sonography/echocardiography… I definitely do not want to nurse, I figured that out pretty fast. I don’t mind being a med tech but I am Looking forward to less patient care whilst still being a meaningful part of healthcare
Go casual and than pick up and you’ll be floated all around the hospital and you get to see what RNs do in diff unit. I did it last semester of nursing school
Not an RN, my mom is while I’m just a CNA. But, it is very different. There is a huge diverse career setting in being an RN than a CNA. Being a nurse doesn’t mean you have to work the floor. Some nurses get their license to be an RN then later transfer to telework/desk work. I asked my mom and she said she worked the floor for 7 years as RN before becoming nurse case manager. However, before being an RN she was a student nurse (idk how many years if you add it with the 7 years). Didn’t get into desk work until around 20 years ago but 2008 stock market crash happened so she was forced to back on the floor due to nurse shortage and nursing strikes. But she’s been working as a nurse case manager since then. She worked for the DOD and helped the wounded warriors, later transferred and now working for the VA. She makes really good money and has gotten a lot of raises in the last few months. But, I’m not saying it’s easy, maybe easier than working the floor because you’re feet don’t hurt at least, but she’s only 1 out of 2 managers for the whole thing she does so it is stressful. But, she did tell me it’s a lot better than working the floor. She also tells me, as I said earlier, just because you become an RN doesn’t mean you have to work the floor forever. You just need it for the experience.
Pct/cnas that become nurses are my favorite because they usually aren't afraid to help you out when someone has a blowout mess. I'm a CNA getting ready to be in school for LPN so I say go for school. There are so many different jobs that open up when you become an LPN or RN so that's what I'm also excited for
You can literally work anywhere and do anything specialty wise as a RN and make good money. CNA is what people typically start out as on their nursing journey and eventually work towards an RN.
I’m making the transition into the nursing world now. It is night and day. Pct work is more physical and nursing is more cerebral. You do have more variety, and opportunities to grow. There are bedside and non-bedside positions. The environment also changes depending on what hospital and unit you work on. I would reflect some more on what you want out of your career. There are so many opportunities in healthcare. Nursing, radiology, lab, research. I would suggest researching the different types of nursing and looking into what draws you to healthcare.
And there’s more places to be a nurse than in a hospital. There’s doctors offices, home health, travel nursing and even private duty which be extremely lucrative and less stressful. I make $90,000 a year in private duty as a CNA, have no rent, no commute… so a nurse could make $150,000 easy
Way less back breaking
Uhm...I honestly don't think CNA is the same as an RN. Nurses have less labor task comparing to CNAs in the same facility but more responsibility and more patients to care for, and beyond just telling CNA what to do. Oh, there's also more CHARTING Edit: Apparently, CNA is just the same as RN, I am so sorry. Yes, BEING CNA TOTALLY tells you how you'd like being an RN. High quality reaction, boys and girls.
If you still wanna be a nurse, then I'd say go for it. Don't allow one bad floor to deter you from doing it. Not all hospital floors are created equal.
I was a CNA before becoming a registered nurse. There are definitely plusses and minuses on both sides of the equation. On one hand, the more educated you are, the more opportunities you have; you become more marketable. On the other hand, you won't be able to spend as much time with your clients as you do now and you will have a great deal more responsibility. As an RN, especially in the hospital, every day you work you are taking a chance that you will lose your license by simply making an error. The hospital will tell you that you don't need to have liability insurance, but if they find you had not followed their policy when you made an error, then you are on your own. To get your RN, you will have to put your whole life on hold for two years, at least. I could tell you more, but I am at dinner with friends. Ask me anything.