Hi everyone, I'm new to the medical profession and new to this site. I have always known that I wanted to work in health care, my life just took me in other directions until now. I recently started working as a nurse's aide in a nursing home and I love it. I work overnights which seems to be pretty laid back. I would LOVE to further my career in nursing, but I have had absolutely no college courses to speak of. I would love some advice on what steps I should start taking to become maybe an LPN after my CNA certification and then possibly move into the nursing program. I would love to be a labor and delivery nurse (or so I think) lol What classes should I be looking into that I will need? How much monetary help towards gaining my nursing license can I look forward to from a nursing home or a hospital if I agree to work for them? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. :)

Dear RNgoodheart, thank you so much for your informational post. I have already accepted the fact that I will probably be 40 before I am a practicing RN, so I'm in for the long haul. I, like you will also probably only get to take a couple classes at a time because I have 3 small children at home, and I don't want to miss too much of their lives. I live in an area where there isn't a lot of job opportunities that pay well so nursing seems to be the way to go. My job as an NA has already been so rewarding ( and sad at times) that I know nursing is for me. I love doing what I can to help people and it has taught me patience that I was unsure I was capable of.

sinimin said:

mstdwn said:

Hi everyone, I'm new to the medical profession and new to this site. I have always known that I wanted to work in health care, my life just took me in other directions until now. I recently started working as a nurse's aide in a nursing home and I love it. I work overnights which seems to be pretty laid back. I would LOVE to further my career in nursing, but I have had absolutely no college courses to speak of. I would love some advice on what steps I should start taking to become maybe an LPN after my CNA certification and then possibly move into the nursing program. I would love to be a labor and delivery nurse (or so I think) lol What classes should I be looking into that I will need? How much monetary help towards gaining my nursing license can I look forward to from a nursing home or a hospital if I agree to work for them? Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. :)

Hi. I want to acquire some patient care under my belt but I do not have a certificate to be a nurse's assistant/aide. At most, I have one-month real life experience of caring for my mother. She had bad arthritis on her backside and was unable to do daily things. I cared for her before and after my work. I am about to begin prereq's for the RN Program. How did you land the job as a nurse's aid without the certification? I have not been successful in finding a CNA Program on the weekends (I work FT and I will attend prereq's during the evenings after work). I could volunteer at a nursing home without pay; however, I prefer to earn some money to help pay for some upfront school expenses (books, parking, etc). My employer will reimburse me AFTER I have taken classes and earned nothing lower than a 'C' grade.