One of the benefits of having CNA experience when you’re looking to advance your healthcare career is the hands-on ability to care for the sick.
It doesn’t matter whether your CNA experience has been in a long term care facility, an outpatient clinic, or work as a CNA in one of the hospitals in Bakersfield Ca. When you’re looking to advance beyond your current healthcare position, you have many options available to you. One of the most beneficial, as well as lucrative, is going from a CNA to an RN. In Kern County, there are several accredited schools. The Bakersfield College Nursing Program, for example, can be finished in a relatively short time. The Cal State University/Bakersfield Nursing program takes longer than getting your Associate’s Degree in Nursing, but you’ll be awarded a BSN, which can be beneficial if you’re looking to get into hospital management.
There are also several private colleges within driving distance of Bakersfield, and these often don’t require that you be on a waiting list.
Of course, these nursing programs can be costly, but with financial aid and nursing scholarships, it can still be financially feasible. If you’re thinking about going straight from a CNA to BSN, there’s a couple of things to keep in mind: The whole ADN vs BSN battle has been going on for decades. But it looks like more and more nursing positions (at least at the Bakersfield hospitals) specifically want BSN’s. From all of the stats I’ve read, hospitals who want to get Magnet Status need to have a high percentage of BSN’s. So going straight to the longer Cal State Bakersfield nursing program has tangible advantages.
Should I Get My LVN First?
In Kern County, it’s a popular choice for CNA’s who have an ultimate goal of getting their Registered Nurse license to go through an LVN program first. There’s a SIGNIFICANT pay gap between an LVN and an RN. All you have to do is Google “LVN Salary” and then Google “RN Salary in California”, and you’ll see what I mean. Part of the problem is, the scope of practice has been narrowed so much over the years, the LVN license isn’t worth what it used to be. But there’s LOTS of people who go through an LVN program, and then “Bridge” over to the RN program.
The main issue about this is the cost. The public LVN training programs in Kern County have long waiting lists, so it’s probably quicker to just go through one of Bakersfield’s RN programs. There’s another path CNA’s are taking these days, though. They’re going through a PRIVATE LVN program, which don’t necessarily have waiting lists, and THEN bridging over to either the RN program at Bakersfield College or Cal State Bakersfield’s Nursing Program. So, what’s the downside? THE COST!!! Private LVN programs in Kern County can run as high as 25k! So, you can get your RN a lot faster, but then you’ve got to deal with student debt. I still firmly believe, which I constantly say in almost all my posts, do whatever you have to do to get through school. Move back in with the parents, or relatives, or whatever it takes so that you don’t have to work full-time. Yes, it’ll probably be a miserable 3 years, but which situation would you rather be in 3 years from now? You’ve taken a huge leap in your career, or you’re still working as a CNA. And before you start complaining that you’re too old, you’ll find that the nursing schools out here are chock-full of peope in their 40’s, 50’s, and older!