I want to become a registered nurse...do I have to be a nurse assistant first? I don't even want to be a CNA

The CNA is the one that does all the nasty (no offence to CNA's) things right?

It depends on the school - many require you to hold a CNA license (you don't have to work as a CNA though) in order to be able to give patient care in hospitals during your clinical experiences. Not all schools require this - but quite a few, so make sure you find out from the school you're looking into.

But if you think as a RN you'll never have to do any of the "nasty" work, you're in for a rude awakening. CNAs are not the only ones who do these kinds of tasks - you will definitely encounter your fair share of poop, vomit, and other wonderful bodily fluids and functions in your career as an RN. Some jobs are inherently more "messy" than others - you can find a job where you have limited patient care with a patient population that is independent and you don't have to do as much in the activities of daily living department (which inlcudes feeding, bathing, toileting, etc.)

Nobody LIKES having to do those things, but you get used to it, and it's part of your job. RNs are not above doing this work and cannot rely on assistive personnel to do it for them just because they don't want to. So if you can't suck it up and just deal with it, you might want to think about a career doing something other than nursing.

Good luck.

No you don't have to be a CNA first. You can go straight to nursing school and get your degree. You will learn everything in nursing school that you need to know. Best of luck!

No, I am am RN and have a 2 year degree. I was a CNA and an LVN first, but I could've gone directly to RN if I wanted to. I just felt I needed the "in the trenches time" to really decide if nursing was for me. Happily, I know it is.

No you don't need to be a CNA first... but, I hate to break it to you, you'll still have to do plenty of "nasty stuff" as an RN.

You don't have to be a CNA first. Just go to nursing school and complete the requirements for RN.

Some schools require you get your CNA first. And if you think CNA's do nasty jobs, how will you act as a RN if you have to clean up something?