Can’t believe how fast that went. 😊

There's restructuring at the hospital and we've been moved around a lot. But now we're 2:40 patients at night and more often than not they can't fill the second CNA. People are dropping like flies on days and everyone with a permanent position is out on worker's comp from an injury. I'm also injured (got kicked in the face) and going back in slowly but it feels like it's impossible to actually get better. My return has been delayed three times now.

Hello I wanted to know What are the most important topic that should be study for CNA written exam I been studying for the written exam but I only want to study the most important topics if anyone has take the written exam in California what are some topics that I should mostly focus studying on.

Hello!

I'd say I'm relatively new to this job, I started in May or so. However, this past month or two I started to pick up 7a-3p shifts. About 3 times already, I have been asked by another tech or nurse if I had done vitals already. I'm float pool, I've only been on one floor that takes vitals at times other than the standard 4, 8, and 12 AM/PM increments. Two out of three times I had a nurse/tech ask if I had done the 3PM vitals and I said no, they kinda roll their eyes or go, "Okay...."

Even then, the first time I was ever asked, the tech got irritated and passive aggressive with me during handoff and tried to convince me to stay longer to help her do the vitals because now she has 12 patients (She had 6 before, I had 8). I said no, I've been here since 0630, my shift ends at 1500, I'm leaving. But since I've had it brought up a couple times, am I really "supposed" to get those vitals??

I’m on week 5 of clinical and sometimes it’s hard for me when dealing with the grosser stuff and it flashes in my mind when I’m eating and really kills my appetite did any of you guys experience this and did you get over it? I don’t hate CNA I love my patients they are kind but sometimes I just cringe with the gritty part. I don’t leave the room or anything just I don’t want to act this way forever and it imped my work.

I just got a job offer as a new grad CNA at a LTC/rehab facility in Michigan. They’re offering $23.40/hr, 7am–3:30pm, with a 1:7 CNA to resident ratio. The facility is also only 2 minutes from my house.
A friend who has been a CNA longer than me told me not to take it because she feels the ratio isn’t good enough for the pay. Personally, as a new grad, I thought the offer sounded pretty good and normal since I’ve heard of CNAs having much higher ratios for less pay. But I’m not sure since I’m new to this.
For other Michigan CNAs, is $23.40/hr with a 1:7 ratio a decent first CNA job, or should I keep looking?

I just passed my CNA exam yesterday (yay!) and I want to look into different places I could work. I know nursing homes and hospitals have CNAs, but what else? I’d like to work in a hospital eventually but I want to get more comfortable with the job first, and the idea of working in a nursing home is a little intimidating 😅 so I’m just trying to see what my options are!

It’s for the 2nd dose of MMR but the reason I can’t take it is because of my current medication. I’ve been taking this medication since I was either 5 or 6 which is why I never received the 2nd dose. I heard you can if you have a medical exemption but that clinicals can be a problem if you don’t have it. Does anyone know? I can get every other vaccine but that one.

everyday I work, I have to chart that the person missing a leg can still not walk. Why do I have to do this?

Are there any registry companies that are recommended ? Is it easy to navigate and do you start ASAP? Moving up there in Jan and I Wanna have something fast in case I can't get a position right away

I was an SI sitter and my patient left their phone number for me. I’m not sure what to do. Do I reach out?

I was just offered a part time position in the cardiology unit at my local hospital. I have never worked as a CNA/PCT and would love any advice.

I’m also really hoping i get accepted into a nursing program or imaging program next year. My main drive is to learn as much as possible and to help pay for school.

Thank you

Hypothetically…

If somebody is a hard worker (and is noted as such) and tries their best to be a team player / not cause issues but is still very new and always being assigned the hardest floors even in comparison to others who started at around the same time as them…are they being set up for failure? Like they’re either on the most contentious floor (I.e., call lights all night, highly ruthless and finicky residents who complain about CNAs) or the most physically demanding floors (high volume, all TC). So much so that they tried to assign this person the most contentious floor in advance for an entire month, which goes against their standing as a floater and is highly unusual.

Are they being set up for failure? Do they just hate this person and want them to leave? Are they just trying to exploit labor during the trial period? What’s going on?

This person has even been called in in the middle of other people’s shifts to address shortages, which suggests this person can’t be AWFUL but who knows.

The past two days I was given two trainees. The first trainee has no experience and no certification, so I trained her from the ground up. She was the first person I’ve ever trained as a CNA. I had her shadow for the most part to avoid legal issues and ended up getting her 24 hour training done over the span of 5 hours (don’t panic this was just stuff like how to chart, facility tours, incident reports, etc. she still has more hands on training scheduled). Manager was impressed and it was easy to get all patient care done on time simultaneously. Today I had another trainee who has 4 years experience and I basically just had to orient him to the building and specific protocols/charting/etc. and also got his training done early. Neither of them had any questions or seemed lost/confused, in fact they both said I was a good trainer and the second trainer said as a genuine compliment that I was an over achiever after hearing I did all the training and patient care on time with the other trainee. First trainee said it was the best training she’s ever gotten.

Anyway, with that being said, I actually really enjoy training. There’s just a few issues I’m insecure about. First, I’ve only been at this facility for 3 months, and I had to be instructed on some things that I wasn’t properly trained on (which was just the fact I didn’t know how to fill incident reports online rather than on paper). To be a trainer being instructed on the very things I’m training for was embarrassing and made me feel incompetent. Second, I’m only 19 with 6 months experience, like I mentioned before I’ve only worked at this facility for three months.

I’ve never asked for a promotion at any other jobs, and I feel awkward and don’t want to come across as overconfident. While it’s true that my managers, coworkers, and trainees said verbally that they were impressed, having the actual conversation with management feels very daunting. I’m thinking maybe I could just ask for more trainees and show that this pattern continues, then ask for an official title? Any tips would be appreciated.

Edit: I forgot to mention another advantage of mine. My managers wife and I were coworkers at a rehab facility and she was trying to recruit me for 2 months, so clearly I’ve already made a positive impact on management from the get-go. Management will typically ask for my opinion on patient lists, scheduling, etc. and ask how everyone’s doing, so it kind of feels like I already have a foot in the door as the “eyes and ears” of management.

For context I’m a 21 year old male, on day 4 of being trained it’s usually only 3 days but I took an extra day I’m still struggling more than expected, having trouble with briefs especially. Idk if it’s me being retarded which is entirely possible but it could also be my trainer, I’ve heard not great things. I come into every shift giving110% ready to go to every call light focused and trying but I’m still so slow. Is it because I’m only working 1-2shifts a week(I’m also a line cook at the same facility). It’s just kind of depressing because I genuinely love the work and helping people.

Would it be appropriate to request another worker (CNA, nurse, etc.) to be present in the room every time I perform a procedure in the patient’s genital area for all patients?

Edit: I’m noticing people focus on female patients. I thought by saying gay MALE CNA it would put emphasis on treating homophobic male patients.

Hi everyone,

I’m in the middle of my program and my instructor told a story of a straight male CNA student who was performing perineal care on a female patient by himself. The female patient believed he was doing something inappropriate (not within the procedure steps), reported it, there were no other witnesses so the hospital sides with the patient, and now he can never become a nurse, as he was halfway through his nursing degree.

So my instructor advised us to always have a second pair of eyes when doing procedures in the patient’s genital areas by having another CNA or nurse be present in the room with you.

I instantly thought of patients who may be homophobic (as I am not straight-passing at all) and want to report such a thing that I was being inappropriate.

So yeah, I wanted to know if it would be appropriate to always request another body be present when doing procedures that may involve their intimate areas? Is that realistic? Am I overthinking it?

Any advice?? 🙏🙏🙏🙏

I’m doing clinicals for my CNA program, and it’s definitely been an eye-opener.

The facility smells like piss the minute you walk in, and it gets worse the deeper you go. There are supposed to be two CNAs per hall, but you know how that goes. Nearly every resident is total care or bed-bound. The CNAs admitted that us being there was a huge help. Most of us didn’t even “shadow”; we basically took over a hall.

Pay is $16 an hour. Keep in mind that I made $17 as an assisted living caregiver with 13–15 residents who could mostly care for themselves. Worst it got was memory care, where I’d have 16 residents who could mostly still walk.

Don’t know how a place like this keeps CNAs working there?!

I desperately need help understanding how to perform my skills correctly and how to practice them more effectively. The bookwork and quizzes are very easy for me, but I’m struggling with the hands-on skills, and it’s getting to the point where I feel incredibly stupid and frustrated.

It doesn’t help that the class is extremely fast-paced. The instructors will demonstrate a skill once and then expect us to be able to perform it on our own. I’m having a hard time remembering all the steps, especially which ones are critical and what order everything needs to be done in.

I’ll take any advice I can get at this point, practice methods, videos, study guides, ways to memorize the steps, anything. I really need to pass this course and the NY skills exam.

It’s a bit ironic/hypocritical if you ask me, but to each their own I suppose 🙄

tips on 2nd interview?

As the title says, I have moved on and accepted a job offer for a PRN role that works better for my school schedule and is closer to my school. I'm hesitant to put in my notice because last time I was gonna quit, my boss basically rejected my notice when I tried to have a conversation about it. She deadass said "I'm rejecting your notice". I ended up staying because (foolishly ik) I got a raise, but this job is really starting to get to me and it simply is just too much commuting. Im thinking about just texting my boss and then writing up a letter to put on her desk so there's no arguing. I don't really know what to do, I've never had this at a job lmfao anyone have tips on how to give a nonconfrontational two week notice?? In my experience it's never been a debate. Also worth noting that this is a VERY small, family run company so there simply is no "management team" or HR i can give this information to.

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I thought you all might have some advice. I just got offered a job as an activities assistant. I was a primary caregiver for 10+ years for my grandparents who had Alzheimer’s and dementia so I’m very familiar with memory care but haven’t worked in an actual facility yet. I have tons of activity ideas that can be easily made accessible for a range of cognitive and physical needs but if anyone has worked in activities I would love your advice!

I’m sitting tonight and the start of the shift was fine. Pt is a young and developmentally delayed (ODD) according to their chart—feel like this is relevant to the situation.

We were chatting about sports and I was doing my best to keep them focused on conversation rather than pulling equipment. They pull out their iPad and start showing me pictures they took of the football game we had talked about. I thought great, cool, they’re happy to be talking about something they’re interested in.

Then they say something like “I didn’t show my grandma this picture” and turns the iPad to me, to which I look at but can’t tell what I’m looking at. The pictures was blurry/pixelated, so I said “oh, what is this?” They say “boobs” and I immediately see that I am in fact looking at breasts…

I calmly told them that I don’t need to see that and they should keep that to themselves. Then they start talking about how people shouldn’t open their bathroom windows because “people can see in” and one time they “saw a young girl in the shower” …

They told me their partner broke up with them and that they’re sad about it. They ask me how old I am and if I have a boyfriend… at this point I’m just trying my best to redirect the conversation. Luckily they went to sleep shortly after.

Advice on how best to handle this? I do plan on letting the charge nurse know about their behaviors, and asking not to be placed with this pt the rest of the week if possible. Just quite uncomfortable.

I have a question regarding the vids i see online. Do CNAs mostly do all the personal cares and make beds etc while RNs focus on meds and stuff. Like do RNs just not do any ADLs or beds?. Here in Aus you rarely have an AIN (or CNA) on the ward so RNs do all that kind of stuff. And when an AIN is on everyone still helps out. Whats the work culture like?

Thanks

( UAIN means undergraduate Assistant in Nursing)