I want to be a nurse but i am not sure

Question

ok ever since i was little i have ALWAYS wanted to be a nurse! its like a passion of mine.well i did a cna class in spring and i was like 37 weeks pregnant and dropped it... going to work 8 hours then school was too hard.. plus i didnt really like the whole cna deal.. it just wasnt my thing.. so then i thought maybe i dont want to be a nurse.. now im thinking i want to be a nurse again!after having the baby and seeing what the nurses do in OB i thought i would love to work in ob with newborns and also the mothers..or i could even work in a hospital but the nursing home just isnt my thing.. have any of you been unsure of if you want to be a nurse and then you went through with it and loved it? im also nervous about shots drawing blood doing catheters but im sure you get used to it..also im thinking of going for my lpn then for my rn because its hard to get into the program where im at and theres not many schools so not much choice.. if i go for my lpn ive read its easier to get into the program for the rn! what do you think? and what other occupations are in the hospital that are in demand that may be something i could look into?

Answer 1

If you didn't like the CNA program.... being a nurse isn't too different.  It's the same type of work, you're just expected to do more.

But if you're really still thinking of being an RN, depending on what state you live in, there are 2 year RN degrees you can obtain, which would only be a semester longer than getting your LPN.

Answer 2

Anyone who thinks being a RN is like being a CNA has never been an RN before. They are VERY different.

I was totally not interested in being a CNA or working in a nursing home. I knew from the very start that I wanted to be a L&D nurse. I didn't want to work with the elderly or chronically ill people, etc.

Being a nurse, you do some of the tasks that CNAs do - you won't be able to get out of cleaning up vomit or f***s or blood, etc. But that is only a very very small part of your job. Your job as a nurse is far more technical than that. It's about assessing your patients, prioritizing their needs, ensuring legal standards are met, and I'd say in a hospital setting probably half of your job is managing medications and doing documentation.

LPN programs are easier, but you won't have as good of a salary, nor the amount of job opportunities available to you. You will have a hard time getting a job in a hospital working with mothers and babies as most hospitals are trending to hiring only RNs.

In some places it's easier to get your LPN first, get to work for an employer that will pay tuition assistance and then complete a LPN to RN bridge program. It depends on what the school situation is like where you live.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Radiology techs are in great demand, so are Operating room techs.  You do the same work as an LPN or RN as you do as a CNA but with greater responsibility.  By far the greatest responsibility is the RN

Answer 4

You'll never no until you do it! Btw, to the other poster who said lpn/rn basically do the same work as a CNA???? What the?? No they don't!! They don't give meds, set up iv's, care plans, delegate others,etc.... But they do interact with patients much more than lpn's/rn's. And I was a cna and loved it, and it defenitely helped me in nursing schoo. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 5

If you have just had a baby in the spring, I would definitely wait until the child is a little older to commit to going to school.  It will be hard to juggle both unless you take one class at a time and gradually work your way towards your goal so that by the time your child starts school or preschool, you will be ready to enter the work force.

Answer 6

Sorry to break it to you, but being an RN or LPN is just the same thing as being a CNA only with MORE job duties.  If you did not like what you were doing in the CNA class then you will probably not like what you would be doing as a nurse or LPN.  When you are an LPN you do some of the same things as an RN, but there are some things that you can not do.  Therefore, being an RN is the greatest responsibility.  

When you are an RN you do the CNA duties in addition to starting IV's, giving medicines, doing assessments, doing care plans, giving fluids, monitoring for cardiac arythmias, turning the patient, making sure that the patient is comfortable and that their pain is controlled, and so much more.  

So, if you did not like the CNA class, my advice to you would be to look into something else, something that is not really medical.

Because if you did not like the grunt work of being a CNA, then you will not really like the work of doing anything else in the medical field.