Cna

[ulrik]

they are offereing CNA in my high school for free, would it be a good choice to persue it?


p.s. on a side note, i got a sheet from my english teacher on proper grammar. hopefully that helps with my problem.:wacko:

 

[JJR512]

Sure, why not? Anything that teaches you more aspects of patient care is probably a good thing. Plus, it can open up new jop opportunities. For example, most of the hospitals around Baltimore will higher someone with EMT-B + CNA as an ER Tech.

 

[KempoEMT]

what is CNA?

 

[TransportJockey]

what is CNA?

Certified Nursing Assistant is what I'm assuming

 

[KEVD18]

it wont help you in any way in the field. its a completely different mission.

cna's are responsible for assisting patients with the activities of daily life. hygiene, wardrobe, nutrition. these skill really havent got much of a place in ems.

thats not to say its a useless license to have. in the metro boston area, lost of emergency department technician positions require/prefer a cna's license. you could also work on one of the floors or in a nursing home. its also part of the nursing program, so if your plan is to ultimately carry on to rn, you'll have a leg up there. but it wont help you any on an ambulance, unless your patient has an accident.....

 

[VentMedic]

it wont help you in any way in the field. its a completely different mission.

cna's are responsible for assisting patients with the activities of daily life. hygiene, wardrobe, nutrition. these skill really havent got much of a place in ems.

thats not to say its a useless license to have. in the metro boston area, lost of emergency department technician positions require/prefer a cna's license. you could also work on one of the floors or in a nursing home. its also part of the nursing program, so if your plan is to ultimately carry on to rn, you'll have a leg up there. but it wont help you any on an ambulance, unless your patient has an accident.....

It definitely is worthwhile. Depending on the CNA education you get, vital signs will be part of your mastery. You will do hundreds of BPs, pulse rates and temperature of all type as well as pulse oximetry. The average CNA will see more patients during 1 shift than many working EMTs will see in one month. The hands on experience from working with may different types of patients with many different disease processes will give you an opportunity to observe changes from normal function. This will be helpful when you start doing assessments as an EMT.

As a CNA, you can also specialize into ED, OR, Psych, Neuro, Spinal Cord, Rehab and Ortho. You may also be asked to expand your duties to include EKG and phlebotomy depending on your place of employment. You will also be introduced to moving patients with many lines and tubes as well as surgical apparatus such as halos and fixators. Patients that are post op from spinal surgery There will also be licensed professionals of several types around that can answer questions if you want to learn a little more.

Learning such things as nutrition, hygiene and other personal needs will also make you more attentive when assessing patients in their environment. Many EMT-Ps and EMTs would never think to ask when the patient last ate or if a baby had many diaper changes over the past few hours.

The things that you will learn as a CNA are many of the things I tell EMT-Bs to observe when they are doing BLS transfers. Too many do not take advantage of learning about different disease processes and different assessments while these patients are in the back of the truck. It is also embarrassing when the CNA has to help the Paramedic in the ED do a manual BP. But, in all fairness, the CNA probably has much more experience in doing this.

The CNA certification is what you make of it. It can open doors for some great entry level jobs which may pay for you to extend your education.

 

[Ridryder911]

CNA = EMT in the nursing profession.

R/r 911

 

[reaper]

I agree with Vent, But be careful. FL has a lot of two week CNA classes put on by Nursing Homes. They just want warm bodies to cover shifts and don't teach you very well.
Working in a NH can be a great experience for any EMT or Medic. You will learn how to deal with the Geriatric pt and you will see some many disease processes. This is one part of EMS that is often overlooked and not taught in classes.

I worked as an EMT for a retirement village that had it's own EMS first response, for nights. This included NH's, assisted living, Apts, and regular homes. I am so glad that I had that job. I learned how to interact with older pt's and how to deal with different medical problems. We worked 12 hr shifts 8p-8a. You were the only responder. If needed you would call county 911, for transport. A lot of our calls were minor stuff and it kept the 911 service from being tied up on small stuff.
I think it was great experience for EMT's. You learn how to work a code by yourself, until help could arrive. We had a wide SOP, under MD at the village. You were trained by the MD for things that you would never be able to do on a transport service. The MD was very strict and his training was half of what you were taught, when going through medic school.

This is a great type of job to have, while in medic school. Slow nights were great for studying!!

 

[JJR512]

...but it wont help you any on an ambulance, unless your patient has an accident.....

Even if that were the only reason, that's still a great reason. I mean, what (working) EMT-whatever hasn't ever had a patient who had to pee, poop, or barf in the back of the ambulance?

 

[VentMedic]

FL has a lot of two week CNA classes put on by Nursing Homes. They just want warm bodies to cover shifts and don't teach you very well.

2 weeks of training?

Warm bodies to cover shifts?

Where have I heard that before?

Combine CNA and EMT you will have at least 4 weeks of training.

 

[reaper]

2 weeks of training?

Warm bodies to cover shifts?

Where have I heard that before?

Combine CNA and EMT you will have at least 4 weeks of training.

Thn you could have a SUPER EMT!!

 

[Jon]

Ulrik,

If you are thinking about working in a hospital setting - it is a good cert to have... as some have already said, the skill set isn't totally seperate from the EMT skill set - lifting/moving/transferring as well as vital signs.

I don't think it will help you get a job in the prehospital enviroment, but I don't think it would hurt, and if it is free, why not?

 

[VentMedic]

Ulrik,

the skill set isn't totally seperate from the EMT skill set - lifting/moving/transferring as well as vital signs.

Those are the same and with more hands on experience for the CNA. You would also be very surprised to know how much lifting, moving and transferring a CNA does with many different types of patients attached to many different types of equipment. They are responsible for moving patients from many different postions to many other positions. I would also match just about any of our CNAs with any EMT or Paramedic when it comes to taking vitals. Once you are accustomed to doing 50 - 80 sets of vitals per shift on every imaginable type of patient, you get rather good at it. Our CNAs are also part of the code team to assist with equipment, compressions and transferring. All are CPR trained and know what a BVM is. They are also pretty decent with people skills when compared to some of the EMTs and Paramedics that come to pick up the patients. Infection control another part of their education that is not emphasized in EMT training to any great extent. When you are taking care of 20 - 30 patients on any given shift, one has to be very conscious of these things.

Extrication, scene safety and a few other very emergency specific skills do differ.

 

[fortsmithman]

My mother took a CNA course in the early 70's but her course was 2 yrs in length it was 1970-72 when she took it. so CNA training must of went downhill since the early 70's. Here in the NWT we don't have CNA"S anymore they became LPN's.

 

[daedalus]

2 weeks of training?

Warm bodies to cover shifts?

Where have I heard that before?

Combine CNA and EMT you will have at least 4 weeks of training.

I had a good laugh! Imagine that.....

Anyways.. You can have an alphabet soup of CNA, EMT, EKG, Medical assistant, or whatever suits you. The sum of all of these is equal to any one of them, and gets you no closer to an advanced medical education. Cool, you can wipe an butt, splint a finger, take an EKG you cant read, and keep charting in a doctors office. But can you describe the krebs cycle or DNA transcription? You took all these cert classes but never learned your basic sciences for advanced medical education.

 

[daimere]

Many EMT-Ps and EMTs would never think to ask when the patient last ate or if a baby had many diaper changes over the past few hours.

I don't know about those EMTs but we are taught to ask the last oral intake and when.

 

[JJR512]

I don't know about those EMTs but we are taught to ask the last oral intake and when.

Maybe those EMTs were only taught to get a SAMPE history while we were taught to get a SAMPLE history?

...
Anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or comments of any kind on the American Red Cross's CNA course?

 

[daedalus]

The time you save from not taking a American Red Cross CNA course could be used earning overtime at work or taking a chemistry class at a college/university. Your already an EMT. What do you think you will gain from taking a CNA class?

 

[JJR512]

The time you save from not taking a American Red Cross CNA course could be used earning overtime at work or taking a chemistry class at a college/university. Your already an EMT. What do you think you will gain from taking a CNA class?

Oh my god, I can't believe you just asked me that. What do I think I will gain from it? How about better patient care skills? How about all the things that VentMedic mentioned earlier? How about the ER Tech job that I mentioned earlier?

How about because I'm leaning very heavily towards going into critical care nursing, rather than attempting to become a flight paramedic like I originally planned?

 

[daedalus]

Yes, I did just ask you that. Critical care nursing is a profession, a profession that requires in-depth knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and pathophysiology. You already learned how to take a blood pressure and you should know how to move patients. Why waste time in a CNA class? You should be in college. Ventmedic and rid/ryder will tell you themselves if they had a buck for everyone taking an EMT class or a CNA class who said they want to be a MD or RN, they would be rich. Your nursing program will put you through a quick CNA class anyways.