Will You Make It Financially After CNA Training
Are you thinking of starting CNA training so you can be a nursing assistant? Well, before you make that step towards CNA training, it’s important that you know what you are getting yourself into. While being a CNA is a rewarding career, it may not be all that’s cracked up to be.
The CNA Training Leads to Low Salary: Worth the Reward?
While becoming a CNA may sound like something that will allow you to give back to those who are less fortunate than you, it can have its drawbacks.
If you’re looking for a career that pays after CNA training, this career is not it. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, most people working in the field after CNA training earn between $10.00 and $15.63 an hour. If you work 40 hours a week at $12.00 an hour, you would make approximately $480 a week. That is $1920 per month before taxes are taken out. If you take this monthly gross income and multiple it by 12, you have a salary of approximately $23,040. Again, this is before taxes.
According to the Federal Government, the poverty line for a family of 3 is $18,530 and a family of 4 is $22,350 gross yearly income. Monthly gross income for a family of 3 is $1,544 and a family of 4 is $1,863.
As you can see, working as a CNA pays you just above the poverty line, which could cause many financial difficulties.
The Repercussions of CNAs’ Wages
Think about all of the bills you currently have such as rent and car payment. Then think about other bills you’ll have to pay throughout the month such as gas, utilities and other miscellaneous bills. You might find that your income barely covers all of the costs.
To better explain this, take a look at this:
Rent | $700 |
Car Payment | $250 |
Utilities | $200 |
Gas | $150 |
Credit Card Bill | $100 |
Miscellaneous | $100 |
Monthly Income | n $1920 |
Total Bills | $1500 |
Money Left Over | n $460 |
This chart above is just an example of bills that people have to pay each month. As you can see, after paying the bills, your career after CNA training may have approximately $460 left over. This money will have to be used for food and other needed items. Most people spend over a $100 on food each week and so that would leave you with no money left over.
If you had a month in which you had a financial emergency, such as your car broke down and needed to be repaired, you can see that you wouldn’t have enough money to fix it. You’d likely have to pay with a credit card, which would then put you in debt and cause you to have to pay more to the credit card company to keep up on that financial responsibility.
Why CNA Training – Starting Out
While CNA training may not prepare you to have a lucrative career as a nursing assistant, it can be a stepping stone to another career that does pay. Nurses make significantly more money than CNAs and in your work you will meet many of them to assess whether you want to move up to this higher position. If you do decide that the field is for you, your CNA training is a beneficial start to a successful start to your nursing career.
CNA Training & Careers
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