CNA to RN

[sanantone]

Not intending to be argumentative, but getting experience as a CNA to see if you would like to become an NP or PA is about as helpful as getting experience as a security officer to see if you'd like to be a DA. There is absolutely no crossover in the two except that you interact with people. A better option -- and one that would provide some networking opportunities down the road -- would be to ask an NP or PA if you could shadow them for a few shifts to see exactly what they do.

I don't agree with that comparison at all. A security officer acts as a visible and physical deterrent. There is actually crossover between being a security officer and a law enforcement officer. A DA prosecutes cases. There is nothing physical about the job. CNAs have hands-on experience dealing with sick people. Are you going to tell me that nurses don't deal with sick people hands-on? The stress (and grossness) of dealing with sick people is something a lot of people can't handle. There is also physical stress from having to lift patients and be on your feet for long shifts.

What I'm getting is that Cookderosa is saying that working as a CNA can help someone figure out if they want to be in the medical field, not that it will help with an application or performance in a medical program. I've heard many nurses recommend working as a CNA before starting an RN program. As far as shadowing, I can only speak to this from a law enforcement standpoint. You can ride along with a police officer for a week, but you will just be watching. You won't directly feel the stress the police officer has to go through. You might also end up riding along during a relatively peaceful week. While being a security officer is a far step down from being a police officer, one who has worked in security for awhile knows what it's like to be cursed at, threatened, having to write long reports, and even sometimes being physically attacked. I know several security officers who have been assaulted and have had to shoot people. I know of security officers locally who have been murdered on the job. If I were hiring for a police officer position and had to choose between someone who was a security officer for a year and a person who shadowed a police officer for a week, I would choose the security officer given that the two candidates were equal. The security officer would have a more realistic expectation of the stressors of the job.

I've worked as a security officer and I've ridden along with a police officer. I've also worked for a law enforcement agency. If I were to go by my ride-along (shadow) of a police officer, I would think that the job isn't that bad.

If you work as something like a patient care technician or CNA in a hospital, I would think that would be better for networking than just watching someone for a few shifts. You would also be working right alongside nurses and PAs, not just watching them for a few shifts. Most security officers don't work alongside attorneys. Most security officers don't even work in a courthouse, law office, or any kind of legal setting. I had a student who wants to go to law school. I told her to do an internship as a paralegal or legal assistant.