Nursing Student Jobs: Real world work experience.
There are plenty of nursing student jobs in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. However, not all of them provide real world caregiver experience. As a CNA providing private in-home care, nursing students can gain valuable real world patient experience.
Why a nursing student should work as a CNA.
My name is Scott Strachan, I am an RN and administrator of Abby Services. We help seniors and their families find safe, effective caregivers to help them remain safe and independent in their homes.
While in Nursing School I worked as a CNA providing in-home care to seniors throughout Fort Myers & Cape Coral. The experience taught me things that are difficult to cover in traditional nursing school including:
- Interacting with patients.
- Appropriate bedside manner.
- How to provide compassionate support.
As a nursing student, working as a CNA has more benefits other than the experience gained. As an in-home caregiver, nursing students will have flexible work schedules that can accommodate frequently changing class and clinical schedules.
It’s also important to recognize that as an in-home caregiver, students can earn top pay while gaining real-world experience that can be included on their resumes.
How can a nursing student work as a CNA?
CNA stands for Certified Nursing Assistant. While there are formal classes and training available for those pursuing this as a career Nursing Students often already have the skills and training necessary to provide CNA-level care.
There is an option to “challenge” the CNA exam. With a student’s training challenging the exam is often the most cost-efficient way to enter this field. To work as a CNA and find nursing student jobs as a CNA, you must have passed the CNA exam and hold a CNA certificate.
Challenging the CNA exam: One way to find nursing student jobs.
In the state of Florida, being a CNA is a regulated profession. CNA licensure is overseen by the Florida Board Of Nursing. This link covers how to challenge and earn your Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) by examination.
Unfortunately, the board is not super clear on the steps especially the cost of challenging the exam. If you are reading this, you are probably busy and seeking nursing student jobs so we are here to help. Read on for details on the steps to take to earn your CNA as a nursing student.
Steps to challenge the CNA exam.
The Florida Board of Nursing covers the process to challenge the exam here. The cost is not clear because testing is outsourced to a service called Prometric.
You will need to submit an application to challenge the CNA exam to Prometric as well as fingerprints necessary to complete a level 2 background screening. This can all be completed online with Prometric here.
Details about the fingerprinting are available here and will be subject to an additional fee. (Costs can vary but are generally $70-$90.)
Prometric also has a printable CNA examination application. At the time this was written the cost to challenge the CNA exam was $155. This includes both the written portion and clinical portion of the exam.
Important resources if you are challenging the CNA exam.
Prometrics has some important information about challenging the CNA exam. You will want to closely review this to be sure you are properly prepared. If you are a nursing student seeking jobs as a CNA much of this content should have already been covered as part of your training but it is still important to review.
- Clinical Skills Checklist: This checklist covers what the evaluator may assess.
You are almost there!
Earning your CNA certificate is one component to working as a CNA. Depending on where you apply there may be additional requirements.
Abby Services is a state-licensed Nurse Registry. Abby Services follows all state requirements for CNAs to provide in-home care. We also have some requirements in place to protect the caregivers and clients we work with. The following is a list of required documents Abby Services collects for all caregivers.
You made it!
Once you have your CNA, you will have many opportunities to find nursing student jobs. With the documents required to register with Abby Services, you can have access to seniors throughout Fort Myers and Cape Coral seeking private care.
Do you have any other questions about nursing student jobs? We can help! just call 239-590-0861!