Congratulations on taking an interest in medicine. If you are a lifelong learner, this is the field to go into, for there is no end to the level of detail. If you can afford to live on the wage, doing CNA work for a year before school is excellent preparation. Your first year of nursing school will be somewhat easier with CNA experience. It is fulfilling, but it is also very physical and we risk injuries (especially to our backs) even when using very good body mechanics. You must know also that you are going to have to develop a thick skin to deal with some of the abuse that comes from above, below and side-to-side. Do a Google search on "horizontal violence" and you will understand. You will run constantly, and you will never get it all done. Don't be surprised when you drive home, and feel guilty. Put a little 3x5 card by your bed that says "I did my best". You will develop great timing skills in this job. I had a checklist on a post-it note on the back of my badge, and checked things off as they got done. After a while, it will just occur to you what needs to happen, and when. Continue to keep a checklist. You can never be too compulsive. Get a Lippincott's pocket manual of nursing (or something similar) and start thinking like an RN immediately. Nursing homes are fine, but I would recommend getting into med-surg as soon as you can. Do that for a year and get into an ICU. You will learn so much more. This post is a bit long, so I will stop now. Please email me if you have further questions.
Good luck and peace always,
xtech64
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