any nurses or those with experience?(need advice)

**silvermist** · 01-30-2004, 09:27 PM

Well I was wondering if there were any nurses out there that could give me advice. I'm thinking of taking a CNA course, the lowest level just about out there for nursing. I was wondering how many of you out there are nurses and if so what level (like lpn, rn?). How many years you've been doing it. When was your age when you first started the course and where. Like is it ever too late? How you like it. Experiences on the job. And so on. Any input would be great! I was thinking of taking an lpn course but don't want to devote 2 years if I don't end up liking it. I'm still a little ify on it all and just could use any advice like how hard the courses are and so on. Just anything would be great.

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**jonette5** · 01-30-2004, 11:19 PM

I don't know about where you live, but here where I am they have LPN courses that are only one year long. It is through the vocational school and not the college.

I am not a nurse and have NO desire to be one, My best friend is an RN though. She is 41 yrs old and is now taking her masters so she can become a nurse practioner. All her courses are on line.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Check out your vocational schools for sure though. They will have lots of info that will be helpful.

**FreeIs4Me** · 01-30-2004, 11:25 PM

Another option for you to test the field would be to become an EMT!

**cathych** · 01-31-2004, 07:38 AM

I have been a nurse since 1979. I am an lpn, & it only took one year to get my liscense. I work in a hospital, & I do all the same things the rns do, but I do not get their pay. We have an IV team that starts all IVs, & that that is about the only thing that lpns cannot do. If I were you, I would give serious consideration to becoming something other than a na. Believe me, you will do all the scutwork & nothing more. Nurses will use you to do the things that they do not want to do. And, the pay is also very low. And you usually get overloaded with amount of patients to take care of. Burnout rate in this job is very high, because you get no respect, low pay, & overworked. Really, I would aim for something higher. Nursing is a great profession if its what you really love, but you have to remember that we have a nursing shortage crisis in this country, & its because nurses get absolutely no respect for what they do. I am almost 50 years old now, & this has been my career for a long time, but I sometimes wonder if I had gone into something else would I have liked it more.

**Urban Cowgirl** · 01-31-2004, 09:12 AM

When I was in high school I worked as a cna my junior and senior year. At that time I loved my job. However as the government makes it harder for people to qualify for care the work gets harder. When I first started as a cna a hard day you would have 8 residents to care for and usually half of them could could do most things for themselves and a quarter of them could do some things for themselves and usually about 1 or 2 of them needed complete care!!! Well when the job was like that you had lots of time to do the extras like paint the ladies nails or just spend time with people that might get much company, or reading to someone sho could not read. Over time though the job has gotten much worse. I remember when I moved to California I got a job at this one place where they tried training me to do all these short cuts(like stuffing a towel inside an incontinent persons diaper so you would not have to change them as often), things that were clearly abuse and neglect. I have soo many horror stories I could tell. Well I am a very emotional person that really gets attached to people and forms bonds with people. I called the state ssooooo many times on nursing homes you would never believe it...... I worked form 7-3 and often times I would not leave until after 5 (was only getting paid until 3) just so I could finish everything and do some extras for my residents. I would go home and cry and cry over some of the things I saw happening. Ended up on antidepressants, it was awful. If you get to work at a place where your not overloaded with too many people to care for, then its a very rewarding job, I just don't think too many places like that exsist. Finally I left that line of work. Got a job as a bank teller ( not as rewarding as my first 2 years of being a cna) and made a lot more money, much easier work too.

I still go visit the residents I used to care for, when I go home to visit my family. If you do decide to become a cna, I highly reccommend a private run nursing home, I have found its much more personnal, and the management, I have found usually genuinely care for the residents and not just the bottom dollar.

Wanted to add by the time I left this line of work I was expected to care for 16-22 people in an 8 hour shift most of which needed "complete care". I cannot for the life of me figure out how I was supposed to give them all baths, dress them, feed them,& make their beds, not to mention dressing changes for people with sores, enemas to people who were constipated, oral care, shaving, grooming. Then add in ambulatory care, range of motion exercises and anything else that might be asked of you. Oh yeah and if you have a resident that dies your supposed to add in post-mortem care to everything else you have to do!!!! If anyone out there knows how I was supposed to do all of this in 8 hours please clue me in.

**Urban Cowgirl** · 01-31-2004, 09:13 AM

wanted to add that my experience was at a nursing home and not at a hospital.

**Lilpetie** · 01-31-2004, 10:08 AM

I have been an LPN since 1977. I have had my share of burnout and frustration but for the most part if you stick to the REAL reason you became a nurse it is worth it. You really have to like and want to help people or this isnt for you. I was a CNA while in high school and yes the pay stunk but it is getting better. You will be mostly responsible for feeding pts, making beds, bathing, turning lifting, grooming, passing trays, and doing your share of the paperwork, some places allow you to take the vital signs and some dont. It can be a very rewarding job if you like this type of thing. You are the one that works the closest with the pt's and get to know them very well
LPN's pay isnt that great but is getting better. Job market is fair depending on where you live. You are mostly responsible for passing meds, treatments, assessments of residents, calling Dr's, and tons of paperwork. Believe me tons of it (but I really like that part of my job, so most nurses really like me LOL). You will have to work weekends, holidays and such. In my area you usualy have to start out by working the graveyard shift but if you find a day job you are lucky. RN's the pay is better the are more getting into the field of managment, being DON's Floor supervisors and things like that. But there are still some RN's that work the floor. Job market is better
Most of my career has been in geriatrics (nursing homes). I have worked for some time in pysch and Detox and loved it but there isnt a job market where I live now for this. If you are working in the nursing home field and find someone that is a good Supervisor to work with you are lucky and some times you can be bumped up the chain to other areas like doing Medical records and managment (this was the job I had for 8 yrs and loved the most), but this happens slowly and rarely so it takes awhile to get that spot.
There are many different types of LPN's out there, you can work in some prison systems, child care, hospice, hospitals, home health care the list is great. But if I had to do it all over again I would have started out as I did with being a CNA then LPN then RN so that I could ahve been able to get the managment job alot easier, Most LPN programs are 10-12 months. RN's can be 2 yr grad or go for your BSN. A good place to start with the differnece is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, you can look this up on the net. Hope this helped.

**Lilpetie** · 01-31-2004, 10:17 AM

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos102.htm
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos165.htm
Here is the links to LPN and CNA

**silvermist** · 01-31-2004, 02:28 PM

Thanks for all the info everyone! I really appreciate your inputs!

I suppose I'll just try being a CNA at first. I know there are some personal home health aides out there going only one on one. I think that's what I might want. What are the pay rates that most of you started out with yearly and are now getting? Like raises over time? And hours you work weekly?

**cathych** · 02-02-2004, 08:48 AM

I started out making $5.15 an hour, & now I make $15.25 an hour. It took me 24 years for my pay to get that high. And yes, I work holidays, weekends, nights, & sometimes have 15 patients to care for. If you work in a nursing home, you will have many more patients that you do in a hospital because hospitals tend to hire more aides, they have more money.

Thread: any nurses or those with experience?(need advice)

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