It’s not a requirement but…..
Experience is highly recommended and something to seriously consider.
Before I started nursing school, one of the prerequisite requirements (to get into nursing school) was to complete a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA) course. (This isn’t the case for every nursing program though.)
It wasn’t required to go on and test to obtain a CNA license. Or to even work as a CNA in order to get into the nursing program, it was just about completing the course.
* (This is for the program I’m in specifically. Check with the program, college, or university near you for your specific requirements. They’re all different!)
When I was retaking some of my expired prerequisites to get into nursing school, I took a phlebotomy class at the same time that I was taking the CNA class.
In the back of my mind I was thinking, there is no way I am going to work as a CNA. I had the mindset that I was just taking the CNA class because it was necessary for nursing school…
I had heard plenty of horror stories about how hard (physically demanding) it was to work as a CNA. Not to mention with little pay.
So, my backup plan was to get my phlebotomy license. This was going to help me get some more hands-on, real-life, hospital experience – while finishing off prerequisites.
Then a few weeks into the CNA class came the required clinicals. And, this is where everything changed for me.
During clinicals we got to actually experience what it was like working as a CNA. We got to do our clinicals at a long-term care facility and also at a large hospital. And from doing those clinicals at the hospital, a conversation has stuck with me, to this day. A conversation that I had with a nurse who was working on a cardiac unit.
(During that time, I was just a nursing assistant in training. Trying to gather as much information and hands-on experience as possible. While, asking a million questions to anyone who was willing to listen and answer me.)
The conversation with the nurse was about working as a CNA versus a Phlebotomist before and during nursing school. I was telling the nurse how I was going to work as a phlebotomist, instead of a CNA. I would be finishing some more prerequisites, and then apply to nursing school.
Boy, did he change my mind, and seriously shift my perspective (I should probably thank him!).
This nurse went on to tell me about his story.
About how he started as a CNA before he went to nursing school. Once he got into nursing school, he continued to work as a CNA. He felt he had a leg up with tons of experience to show for it.
This nurse felt he could sit in his nursing lectures and apply it to things he saw while he was working. He went on to tell me about how he felt the information he was learning about in school made more sense to him because he had some background and general knowledge. Just from him being able to see the nurses work with their patients, and learning new things while working. More complex theories clicked easier for him. He felt more confident in the clinical settings, and he already had his basic nursing parameters memorized.
(No taking vigorous notes in school when it comes time to learn blood pressure values, how to take an apical pulse, what the normal temperature ranges are…)
So, the moral of the story… experience isn’t required to become a nurse, but it should be considered.
All because of taking the CNA class and talking to that one nurse… I decided to get licensed as a CNA.
And I got a job at the hospital working as a CNA (instead of a phlebotomist) while waiting to get into nursing school.
And, wow, perspective shift. Now, I seriously think every person who wants to be a nurse, or thinks they want to go to nursing school, should first HAVE to work as a CNA.
Working as a CNA is such a valuable experience. Everyday (in the hospital setting) is different, there is always something new to learn, and you are working very closely with the nurses. This allows you to see exactly what a nurse does, gain hand’s on experience, and most importantly learn bed-side manner, and direct patient care.
Now that I am almost done with nursing school, I feel so grateful I was able to work as a CNA first!
I feel more comfortable and confident, I am able to enter a patient’s room without fear. When a patient needs to get out of bed to use the bathroom… I know exactly what needs to be done.
Not only did working as a CNA teach me how do all of the basic patient care. I know what vital signs are abnormal (without having to even really think about it). I now know what general things to look out for, and what to report back to the nurse; all thanks to working as a CNA first.
This also allows for a greater understanding of what the nurse does on a daily basis. You can actually see what a nurses’ routine looks like. See how the nurse/CNA relationship functions and transitions. All of this is so important!
I’m not saying you HAVE to have experience before nursing school, in fact I thought the opposite before starting school. But now being in the trenches and going through nursing school, I understand and appreciate the value of experience, while being able to see the other side of things.
In the end, it’s up to you! Many of my classmates don’t have previous experience and are doing just fine, while passing their classes.
Personally, I can’t recommend getting hands on medical experience enough!
In the long run, it is worth it!
* Here are some tips and take-aways:
- Think about what you’re interested in, and go for it – EMT, CNA, MA, Phlebotomist, Scribe… Any hands on medical experience is better than none (but if you specifically want to be a nurse, then nursing assistant experience is best!)
- It can be difficult to get hired at a large hospital with no experience, so start at a long-term care facility, a smaller hospital, a medical office… Get some hands on experience, and then apply again at a larger hospital (if this is your goal).
- Experience helps grow confidence, knowledge, and understanding of other positions that work together. Team work makes the dream work – and nursing is all about team work!
- Working at a lower level (entry position) to begin a career can be used as a great stepping-stone, and allows for greater learning and growth.
- Think, if you start as a CNA before becoming an RN, then you can truly understand what it is a CNA does, you can understand what is appropriate to delegate, you understand the dynamics, the workload, the responsibilities, and how hard CNAs really work…
- It looks good on your resume, climbing the career ladder (shows progression and goal completion) also, to be able to supervise a position you once held, makes a better supervisor…
- Getting early hands on patient experience allows for better clinical experiences as a nursing student, because let me tell you, even though you are becoming a nurse, you still have to do CNA tasks when you are a nurse, cleaning up a patient isn’t just the job of a CNA, getting your patient a glass of water (yes, when you’re busy) isn’t below the nurse… Every aspect of a CNA’s job is also the nurses responsibility.
- Prior experience helps you get the nursing position you want when you graduate.
- If there are two nurses applying for the same position, one has prior experience as a CNA, the other does not. Who would you hire? Some experience is better than none, right?
- Experience helps you to decide if you will even like working in that field.