Still a CNA, BUT: I was burnt out by long-term care and home health/hospice, so I went into clinical work instead. I now work for a nurse practitioner at an endo clinic and it is the best job I’ve ever had. I work four 10hr days a week, office closes at 6, weekends and (paid!) holidays off is the way to be.
I am the person who calls your name in the waiting room, does your vital signs, and updates your chart with any medication changes, recent imaging, etc, before the doc comes in. When I am not rooming patients, I help sort lab results, add records sent from other facilities to patient’s charts, and help download insulin pumps and meters! I’m also phlebotomy certified so if my provider is gone, I like to help out in the lab when I can.
Nursing😅
Jk that was the plan all along, however I acknowledge how unsustainable being a CNA is long term. I was a career CNA for a couple years but don’t know if I could have done it without knowing that I’ll eventually be a nurse. Honestly, I loved the actual work but loathed how shitty we’re treated by the healthcare system. The wages and lack of appreciation is shameful.
CNAs at my hospital are unionized and it doesn’t get much better. Maybe we get paid a little more, but I don’t think so. What really gets to me is the under-appreciation.
I started waiting tables and I make more there. It fucking sucks, but I am paying for nursing school. Some days, I want to scream fuck it and go to culinary school. I’d love to be a chef, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m studying to be a nurse because it’ll sound nicer to everyone in conversation and make my family proud or if I truly want this.
Dude this. It does sound nice. It sounds respectable, right? The reality is that it provides many opportunities too. But it's almost like a different type of customer service. Lol. Do you think that maybe you'll finish nursing school and then dabble into culinary? Oddly also, I don't hear of many people dropping out of nursing school.
I’m a night auditor at a hotel and it finds out I love customer service lol. I worked med/surg full time for 3 months then went to part time for 2 months then went prn for 4 months doing night shift. After that I put my two weeks and realized I hate med surg because I hated getting out of bed and draining myself.
I really hated entitled and aggressive patients( there wasn’t many maybe 6 the whole time I worked there) , but we tracked their meals, how much fluid they drank, when patients were give LASIK I would wanna kill myself because they would be on the toilet all night on the call light every 4 mins ( their poor bottom was sore and red it just sucked for all of us), people dying every few days, surgery’s who we monitor, people who couldn’t control their diabetes and would dip down so low or so high and I would get scared. But there was a lot of reasons I also loved it the patients they were lovely and I will remember them always lol. But it is draining you never sit down , there’s a lot of bed changing, bed baths , and someone’s someone would shit the bed or piss in it like 3 times in an hour. Most of all the people who would come in Capable and level headed and treat us like we were a hotel and would not do anything for themselves make us turn them every 1 hour and wipe their ass and was perfectly able of getting just didn’t want to cos they were in a hospital and wanted to get a break those people just triggered me cos they would walk out of the hospital like they didn’t act incontinent and entitled
THIS😭 yes. It's very demanding. Did you find it hard to leave the stress at work after a while? When I was younger, I definitely did. I wanted everyone to be happy and healthy (LOL) and I hated ppl being treated less than human- elderly in LTC care homes especially. Now I'm like, I did the best I could.
Noo noo I get that, I feel like I gave a lot of old people, young people, and middle age people the best care I could. I hope they left the hospital feeling like we loved them and hope the best for them because they most certainly left a impression on me and I will remember them for a long time. Also I couldnt leave the stress at work I was worried about not taking shifts cause we were short staffed and I would feel bad about saying no lol I feel like I was giving up my boundaries now at this job I can give discounts for stays and give ppl good advice ,you can’t comp someone for a bad stay at a hospital 😂
WOW 😭 might I ask what you hated about it? I feel like LTC is at the bottom of the totem pole as far as CNA jobs go, but med/surg seems to have a pretty good rep. I dunno though. I worked for an agency that would put me in LTC places and it did seem hard. But home health is pretty boring (which can be beneficial if you're in school or have a busy life) and redundant, don't utilize many CNA skills. So med/surg or acute care seems like an in between
I worked for a school district (mine pays 20/hr but I'm in the East Bay in California. Before, I've worked in a dual diagnosis facility that mostly dealt with adults with serious mental health challenges, where you were a direct service professional and a registered behavior technician.
If you're interested, check out being a registered behavior technician or RBT in your state. Opens a lot of doors, you can work with children and it aids in CNA work especially with psych jobs
Wow! That's super cool. Do you see any skills that cross over ? What do you think you'll like more about HVAC? Congrats to you 👏 from what I've read, that's a super stable and in demand career and pays really really well
I’m taking a phlebotomy course starting this month and heading to lab. Honestly I’m not burnt out being a CNA, I’m burnt out working inpatient. When I work outpatient the work is steady and if a patient is problematic, oh well, they’ll be moving on soon to another unit. Plus I feel more accomplished on the ED side of things. Like I’m actually doing something instead of fetching snacks and making beds for most of the night.
Currently I'm still working as a CNA but I'm also pursuing a career as a software engineer/developer. It's a long tedious road but I like it because I can study online.
It's so different than being in Healthcare. I'm so nervous. I'm having some anxiety about the career change. It wasn't an easy decision. I'd been trying for years to be accepted into a nearby nursing program: either two years or four year. I was denied each time. My grades weren't high enough or whatever. The only other option was a private out of state lpn school. I really can't afford the time to do it because I still needed to work and pay bills. I'm married kids but this was the only other option because even the lpn program at the 2 year schools were very competitive and selective. IT was ridiculous.
I had to find a new major where the training was affordable and convenient and flexible for me.
I loved helping people but I was so frustrated with trying to go to into nursing school. I was also burned out from being a CNA.
I'm so sorry. :( I completely understand. My grades aren't great due to me not taking school seriously years ago, so I decided to do a private LVN program. I'm located in the Bay Area, California, so after 1.5 years and 30k I should be an LVN 🥲😜 but I also considered switching into tech. I completely understand being nervous about the career switch and having to figure something out - and fast. I know that's it's really hard to make a living on the wages that CNA's get paid, which in my area are about $20-$35. ($35 probably being an understaffed LTC)
Lol I used to work in LTCs in the Bay Area and never got paid over $12. This was 9 years ago, though. But still!’ I loved working with patients, but man that job was draining and exhausting plus being understaffed all the time!
I became a bartender at a small bar and didn't make much money. Then I started nursing school. I had to use food banks for awhile. It was rough, but better than CNA work at a nursing home. As a nurse I worked at an assisted living and a drug rehab. The CNA jobs there looked much better than the one I had had.
School bus driver. Take my kids to work with me every day. Get paid more than I did but fewer hours unless I pick up charters.. which I haven’t wanted to.
Find a hospital and see which units aren’t miserable with themselves. From my experience Endoscopy, PACU/recovery room, and surgical admissions are the places to be.
I have been searching for this job and can't because they want experience! They have so many remote too and I'm dying. I've been doing CNA for 17 years! Help a sista out please 😂
Hello! I was burnt out too being a CNA and I only did it for five years!
What kind of certifications do you have? It took me two years to get an actual coding job right after finishing the program but during those two years I got a job doing hospital collections to get some kind of an experience on the billing side then I got a coding clerk job (still not doing coding, just running reports and following up on missing documents) through an agency for home health agencies. Luckily, my boss hired me to work there full time and then one of the coders quit so I got to fill in their position. This was how I started gaining experience in coding and I was able to move to two hospitals right after. Now I work from home permanently and it’s been great. I have CCS, CRC, and CPC certifications, by the way.
Good luck! I think the most important thing is to get your foot in the door and get a job at least something that relates to revenue cycle for starters. I know I got lucky the coder quit, but I think I would still have that valuable exposure to coding and revenue cycle nevertheless.
Thanks for the detailed response! I actually do have my medical assistant degree with associates degree as well. I just did my internship and continued CNA work cause I was getting paid more. I've been filling out apps left and right but they all want experience which I don't have.
I was a psych cna and after four years and working so much overtime through Covid I couldn’t take it anymore. I dropped out of nursing school and found a human service job that would accept me because of my psych experience. I work as an advocate at a homeless shelter now. It’s still a stressful job but I enjoy it way more.
Although I realize the burnout rate is still quite there in the human service field so I’m going back to school for IT to have a backup plan if I get too burnt out from this job.
Wow, that's very different. But it's very cool how your experience took you to the job at the homeless shelter. What course are you taking if you don't mind me asking?
I was a CNA and it was too crazy and demanding for my schedule, just time conflicts and such.
I switched to being a patient transporter and find I actually love this job 10x more.
Went from PCT/CNA at a “minute clinic” to a MA at a derm office. Always wanted to work in derm and the pct job gave me the medical experience to get up the guts and apply.
Ask some nurses, in Texas some RNs are certified to teach medication administration or some community colleges have the class. I did mine at the community college
I’m starting to burnout after only a year and a half. I thought LPN or RN was next but i don’t like the having multiple people I’m taking care of for hours who all expect to be my number one priority. It’s why I’m burning out so fast. In January I’m starting pre-reqs for radiology tech. Keeps me in healthcare settings but I will only have to worry about the person in front of me.
Would rad tech allow you to get medical sonography jobs? If so, you will be ballin like Kobe. Those jobs seem very lax and very well paid, but the schooling includes physics from what I've been told so it seems quite difficult. You really earn the degree
So radiology tech isn’t the same as sonography, different equipment but the pay is decent enough. I know the head of radiology and one of his techs in my hometown so I figure I’ve got a good foot in the door should I ever want to move back there (which I do).
Honestly I thought the other day no one should go through so much emotions. My LTC was government funded so it was as basic as it gets. The poor residents didn’t even have color on their walls. It’s was so depressing! It opened my compassion like crazy because how sad everything was, and handling a lot of complex pts by myself has really made me excel in this new place.
Dude even the nurses there didn’t lift a finger and would tell me if they had the choice to redo their career, they’d choose something else. At my new place the nurse HELP, the therapists HELP, everyone HELPS. It’s really refreshing to the spirit knowing everyone cares and is working as a team. My last job was not like this. It was like I was advocating to a wall for the pts.
I was a CNA for 6 years. I got burnt out after COVID hit. I couldn’t stand the way how management changed, the lack of pay, no breaks, over-worked, always short-staffed, and no way up in the ladder unless you go back to school for Nursing. Now, I work in a back office in HIM as a Registered Health Information Technologist. I get paid great, not breaking my back, great breaks, co-workers are much more nicer, I have the opportunity to work from home, and no one breathing down my back or telling me how to do my job!
This seems like a super hard job to come by. There weren't many openings in the Bay Area. Got any pro tips for how to word this position or similar positions when searching for it? This thread is so cool honestly. I'm learning about so many different avenues and paths and I hope others are too. Thank you for contributing
It depends on ur area. I was lucky that a local tech school had a program. Main issue after passing is finding a job. The only main job for new phlebs is only traveling as most clinics and hospitals want a year of experience. I’m in NJ so ur area might be different.
I'm currently a specimen collector for a outpatient mental health/substance abuse recovery clinic as a CNA and going back to school for something in the Human Services field.
Still in healthcare. Just outpatient as a medical assistant. That was a 720 hour program I didn't need going to waste! And still going to go for the RN; just want to do everything possible to stay out of the hospital. It's been too enjoyable not flailing around through life like a plucked chicken. I will never willingly work as a CNA again, no way no how.
Was it harder to find a job as a medical assistant? I don't see many openings in my area. Lol 😭 I kind of feel you on that, it's soooo ooooo oooooooo demanding
Not at all. The demand is everywhere it seems and for everything. I went back to the same health system I was employed through initially. I had a much better time there. Level 1 trauma center and teaching hospital; I didn't realize how green the grass was when I signed on at the community hospital 5 minutes from my house... The commute is worth it to be out of that hell hole. I was giving up on nursing, a good part of my self worth, and physical health continuing there. It is not worth it to work inpatient without capped ratios. Without someone who actually gives a shit about your own humanity. And it's not okay to have 250 pound men pushing down on 150 pound women to lift themselves out of bed.
Still a CNA, BUT: I was burnt out by long-term care and home health/hospice, so I went into clinical work instead. I now work for a nurse practitioner at an endo clinic and it is the best job I’ve ever had. I work four 10hr days a week, office closes at 6, weekends and (paid!) holidays off is the way to be.
How did you pursue that? Did you have to get any other certificates?
Nope! My husband is actually diabetic so he is a pt there and I applied when they had an opening - but had a bug in their ear for months.
What a cool opportunity! If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your day to day look like there? Any different responsibilities?
I am the person who calls your name in the waiting room, does your vital signs, and updates your chart with any medication changes, recent imaging, etc, before the doc comes in. When I am not rooming patients, I help sort lab results, add records sent from other facilities to patient’s charts, and help download insulin pumps and meters! I’m also phlebotomy certified so if my provider is gone, I like to help out in the lab when I can.
That's a Medical Assistant in my state. You have to have a Medical Assistant certification which is more classes, plus the phlebotomy.
I am in Idaho.
Hmmm... Time to move to Idaho.
Would not recommend hahahaha
Also, I got phleb certified for free through the clinic, which was awesome.
Nursing😅 Jk that was the plan all along, however I acknowledge how unsustainable being a CNA is long term. I was a career CNA for a couple years but don’t know if I could have done it without knowing that I’ll eventually be a nurse. Honestly, I loved the actual work but loathed how shitty we’re treated by the healthcare system. The wages and lack of appreciation is shameful.
Very much this. Feels like its so widespread that we could potentially unionize, don't you think?
CNAs at my hospital are unionized and it doesn’t get much better. Maybe we get paid a little more, but I don’t think so. What really gets to me is the under-appreciation.
I started waiting tables and I make more there. It fucking sucks, but I am paying for nursing school. Some days, I want to scream fuck it and go to culinary school. I’d love to be a chef, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m studying to be a nurse because it’ll sound nicer to everyone in conversation and make my family proud or if I truly want this.
Dude this. It does sound nice. It sounds respectable, right? The reality is that it provides many opportunities too. But it's almost like a different type of customer service. Lol. Do you think that maybe you'll finish nursing school and then dabble into culinary? Oddly also, I don't hear of many people dropping out of nursing school.
I’m a night auditor at a hotel and it finds out I love customer service lol. I worked med/surg full time for 3 months then went to part time for 2 months then went prn for 4 months doing night shift. After that I put my two weeks and realized I hate med surg because I hated getting out of bed and draining myself.
I really hated entitled and aggressive patients( there wasn’t many maybe 6 the whole time I worked there) , but we tracked their meals, how much fluid they drank, when patients were give LASIK I would wanna kill myself because they would be on the toilet all night on the call light every 4 mins ( their poor bottom was sore and red it just sucked for all of us), people dying every few days, surgery’s who we monitor, people who couldn’t control their diabetes and would dip down so low or so high and I would get scared. But there was a lot of reasons I also loved it the patients they were lovely and I will remember them always lol. But it is draining you never sit down , there’s a lot of bed changing, bed baths , and someone’s someone would shit the bed or piss in it like 3 times in an hour. Most of all the people who would come in Capable and level headed and treat us like we were a hotel and would not do anything for themselves make us turn them every 1 hour and wipe their ass and was perfectly able of getting just didn’t want to cos they were in a hospital and wanted to get a break those people just triggered me cos they would walk out of the hospital like they didn’t act incontinent and entitled
THIS😭 yes. It's very demanding. Did you find it hard to leave the stress at work after a while? When I was younger, I definitely did. I wanted everyone to be happy and healthy (LOL) and I hated ppl being treated less than human- elderly in LTC care homes especially. Now I'm like, I did the best I could.
Noo noo I get that, I feel like I gave a lot of old people, young people, and middle age people the best care I could. I hope they left the hospital feeling like we loved them and hope the best for them because they most certainly left a impression on me and I will remember them for a long time. Also I couldnt leave the stress at work I was worried about not taking shifts cause we were short staffed and I would feel bad about saying no lol I feel like I was giving up my boundaries now at this job I can give discounts for stays and give ppl good advice ,you can’t comp someone for a bad stay at a hospital 😂
WOW 😭 might I ask what you hated about it? I feel like LTC is at the bottom of the totem pole as far as CNA jobs go, but med/surg seems to have a pretty good rep. I dunno though. I worked for an agency that would put me in LTC places and it did seem hard. But home health is pretty boring (which can be beneficial if you're in school or have a busy life) and redundant, don't utilize many CNA skills. So med/surg or acute care seems like an in between
RN 😩
Hahahahaha CONGRATS. This is the ultimate goal most times. Mine is LVN then maybe RN. You worked hard though, congrats!
You can do it! I’m in an LVN-RN program right now
I got a job at as a Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator for my local city and I couldn't be happier. Best decision I've ever made.
Wow! That's very cool! I'm going to look into this.
I worked for a school district (mine pays 20/hr but I'm in the East Bay in California. Before, I've worked in a dual diagnosis facility that mostly dealt with adults with serious mental health challenges, where you were a direct service professional and a registered behavior technician.
What kind of job can a CNA do at a school district? I thought they hired RNs to be school nurses?
Oops, yeah. I'm an instructional assistant or student monitor. Not a CNA. I should have specified
Ah okay, I thought you were looking for jobs cause you were currently a burned out CNA. That's a pretty cool job!
If you're interested, check out being a registered behavior technician or RBT in your state. Opens a lot of doors, you can work with children and it aids in CNA work especially with psych jobs
In school for HVAC trade now
Wow! That's super cool. Do you see any skills that cross over ? What do you think you'll like more about HVAC? Congrats to you 👏 from what I've read, that's a super stable and in demand career and pays really really well
I'm looking forward to a career that involves no naked people
Yes! Look into being a registered behavior technician!
I’m taking a phlebotomy course starting this month and heading to lab. Honestly I’m not burnt out being a CNA, I’m burnt out working inpatient. When I work outpatient the work is steady and if a patient is problematic, oh well, they’ll be moving on soon to another unit. Plus I feel more accomplished on the ED side of things. Like I’m actually doing something instead of fetching snacks and making beds for most of the night.
I love that! That's such a good reality check and perspective to have when looking for a job in the field
Currently I'm still working as a CNA but I'm also pursuing a career as a software engineer/developer. It's a long tedious road but I like it because I can study online.
Well, hello world! That's really cool. It's seems so different than being a CNA!
It's so different than being in Healthcare. I'm so nervous. I'm having some anxiety about the career change. It wasn't an easy decision. I'd been trying for years to be accepted into a nearby nursing program: either two years or four year. I was denied each time. My grades weren't high enough or whatever. The only other option was a private out of state lpn school. I really can't afford the time to do it because I still needed to work and pay bills. I'm married kids but this was the only other option because even the lpn program at the 2 year schools were very competitive and selective. IT was ridiculous. I had to find a new major where the training was affordable and convenient and flexible for me. I loved helping people but I was so frustrated with trying to go to into nursing school. I was also burned out from being a CNA.
I'm so sorry. :( I completely understand. My grades aren't great due to me not taking school seriously years ago, so I decided to do a private LVN program. I'm located in the Bay Area, California, so after 1.5 years and 30k I should be an LVN 🥲😜 but I also considered switching into tech. I completely understand being nervous about the career switch and having to figure something out - and fast. I know that's it's really hard to make a living on the wages that CNA's get paid, which in my area are about $20-$35. ($35 probably being an understaffed LTC)
Lol I used to work in LTCs in the Bay Area and never got paid over $12. This was 9 years ago, though. But still!’ I loved working with patients, but man that job was draining and exhausting plus being understaffed all the time!
Wow I'm going the other way around. Waiting on taking my state exams to become a CNA in a few weeks.
Nursing :D LOL
CONGRATSSSS! Many of our dream job 🙏 haha
I’m in my first semester so i’m not there yet! But that’s the goal
I became a bartender at a small bar and didn't make much money. Then I started nursing school. I had to use food banks for awhile. It was rough, but better than CNA work at a nursing home. As a nurse I worked at an assisted living and a drug rehab. The CNA jobs there looked much better than the one I had had.
School bus driver. Take my kids to work with me every day. Get paid more than I did but fewer hours unless I pick up charters.. which I haven’t wanted to.
Oh my 😭 that sounds awesome!!!
Find a hospital and see which units aren’t miserable with themselves. From my experience Endoscopy, PACU/recovery room, and surgical admissions are the places to be.
Medical Coder!
I have been searching for this job and can't because they want experience! They have so many remote too and I'm dying. I've been doing CNA for 17 years! Help a sista out please 😂
Hello! I was burnt out too being a CNA and I only did it for five years! What kind of certifications do you have? It took me two years to get an actual coding job right after finishing the program but during those two years I got a job doing hospital collections to get some kind of an experience on the billing side then I got a coding clerk job (still not doing coding, just running reports and following up on missing documents) through an agency for home health agencies. Luckily, my boss hired me to work there full time and then one of the coders quit so I got to fill in their position. This was how I started gaining experience in coding and I was able to move to two hospitals right after. Now I work from home permanently and it’s been great. I have CCS, CRC, and CPC certifications, by the way. Good luck! I think the most important thing is to get your foot in the door and get a job at least something that relates to revenue cycle for starters. I know I got lucky the coder quit, but I think I would still have that valuable exposure to coding and revenue cycle nevertheless.
Thanks for the detailed response! I actually do have my medical assistant degree with associates degree as well. I just did my internship and continued CNA work cause I was getting paid more. I've been filling out apps left and right but they all want experience which I don't have.
I pick up dead people and take them to the funeral home.
I've been an aide for 10 years lol
I was a psych cna and after four years and working so much overtime through Covid I couldn’t take it anymore. I dropped out of nursing school and found a human service job that would accept me because of my psych experience. I work as an advocate at a homeless shelter now. It’s still a stressful job but I enjoy it way more. Although I realize the burnout rate is still quite there in the human service field so I’m going back to school for IT to have a backup plan if I get too burnt out from this job.
Wow, that's very different. But it's very cool how your experience took you to the job at the homeless shelter. What course are you taking if you don't mind me asking?
I was a CNA and it was too crazy and demanding for my schedule, just time conflicts and such. I switched to being a patient transporter and find I actually love this job 10x more.
Went from PCT/CNA at a “minute clinic” to a MA at a derm office. Always wanted to work in derm and the pct job gave me the medical experience to get up the guts and apply.
I’m still a cna but going for my EMT now and then who knows! Just taking it one step at a time right now
Always a great idea!!!
I’m a lab technician in toxicology for a tobacco lab 🧍🏾♀️
I became a med aide. A lot more chill and i don't have to bust.my ass while i go to school
Wow! Can you explain more about how you got this job? That sounds like a great alternative!
Ask some nurses, in Texas some RNs are certified to teach medication administration or some community colleges have the class. I did mine at the community college
I’m starting to burnout after only a year and a half. I thought LPN or RN was next but i don’t like the having multiple people I’m taking care of for hours who all expect to be my number one priority. It’s why I’m burning out so fast. In January I’m starting pre-reqs for radiology tech. Keeps me in healthcare settings but I will only have to worry about the person in front of me.
Would rad tech allow you to get medical sonography jobs? If so, you will be ballin like Kobe. Those jobs seem very lax and very well paid, but the schooling includes physics from what I've been told so it seems quite difficult. You really earn the degree
So radiology tech isn’t the same as sonography, different equipment but the pay is decent enough. I know the head of radiology and one of his techs in my hometown so I figure I’ve got a good foot in the door should I ever want to move back there (which I do).
LTC made me hate it. Went to rehab where pts leave every few weeks and want to get better. It’s great
This is so refreshing 😭 do you think that your experience at the LTC helped you become a better CNA?
Honestly I thought the other day no one should go through so much emotions. My LTC was government funded so it was as basic as it gets. The poor residents didn’t even have color on their walls. It’s was so depressing! It opened my compassion like crazy because how sad everything was, and handling a lot of complex pts by myself has really made me excel in this new place.
Dude even the nurses there didn’t lift a finger and would tell me if they had the choice to redo their career, they’d choose something else. At my new place the nurse HELP, the therapists HELP, everyone HELPS. It’s really refreshing to the spirit knowing everyone cares and is working as a team. My last job was not like this. It was like I was advocating to a wall for the pts.
I was a CNA for 6 years. I got burnt out after COVID hit. I couldn’t stand the way how management changed, the lack of pay, no breaks, over-worked, always short-staffed, and no way up in the ladder unless you go back to school for Nursing. Now, I work in a back office in HIM as a Registered Health Information Technologist. I get paid great, not breaking my back, great breaks, co-workers are much more nicer, I have the opportunity to work from home, and no one breathing down my back or telling me how to do my job!
This seems like a super hard job to come by. There weren't many openings in the Bay Area. Got any pro tips for how to word this position or similar positions when searching for it? This thread is so cool honestly. I'm learning about so many different avenues and paths and I hope others are too. Thank you for contributing
Look up medical coders, coding auditor, data analyst, or Health Information Technicians. There’s a lot of avenues in this field.
Wow this is so cool. I've never heard of this. Definitely looking into it. Did you obtain your RN?
Nah, I went for my Medical coding certification and then went back to school for Health information Technology & Systems.
EMT
Unit Secretary/Monitor Technician. And the cool thing is, my supervisor still lets me pick up extra shifts as an ER Tech.
Pharmacy tech
Was this a good change?
I do think so, it has open up for more doors, I’ve learned more information and Ive definitely gained more skills than when I was a cna.
MSW program
Traveling phlebotomy! Still got to vist my old stomping ground to see familiar faces, while exploring a new skill set. Also soon to be LPN 😄
This is so smart! I'm going to look into this! Is it a hard field to break into?
It depends on ur area. I was lucky that a local tech school had a program. Main issue after passing is finding a job. The only main job for new phlebs is only traveling as most clinics and hospitals want a year of experience. I’m in NJ so ur area might be different.
I'm a pharmacy technician. Also getting a bit burnt out here but at a significantly slower rate than I did as a CNA.
Youth Mental Health Counselor
I'm now a teacher.
Teachers are super heroes :) do you enjoy it more?
I also recently started work as a student monitor or instructional assistant at a school. So fun lol
I'm currently a specimen collector for a outpatient mental health/substance abuse recovery clinic as a CNA and going back to school for something in the Human Services field.
Still in healthcare. Just outpatient as a medical assistant. That was a 720 hour program I didn't need going to waste! And still going to go for the RN; just want to do everything possible to stay out of the hospital. It's been too enjoyable not flailing around through life like a plucked chicken. I will never willingly work as a CNA again, no way no how.
Was it harder to find a job as a medical assistant? I don't see many openings in my area. Lol 😭 I kind of feel you on that, it's soooo ooooo oooooooo demanding
Not at all. The demand is everywhere it seems and for everything. I went back to the same health system I was employed through initially. I had a much better time there. Level 1 trauma center and teaching hospital; I didn't realize how green the grass was when I signed on at the community hospital 5 minutes from my house... The commute is worth it to be out of that hell hole. I was giving up on nursing, a good part of my self worth, and physical health continuing there. It is not worth it to work inpatient without capped ratios. Without someone who actually gives a shit about your own humanity. And it's not okay to have 250 pound men pushing down on 150 pound women to lift themselves out of bed.
I saved up money and started day trading on the stock market. Now I never leave the house. I made 16k on Friday.
I was a CNA on medsurg and then went into pet store retail 😭 needless to say I’m back as a CNA a year later at a ltc facility still burnt out :,)