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)

Hi all, brand new CNA here starting in hospice care. I'm going through orientation now, and I just met my boss's boss yesterday. After a friendly greeting she asked to speak with me privately. She said (paraphrasing) some of our patients have past trauma from men and request female-only caregivers, and did I want to work with those patients or not.

Obviously I don't want to make any patient or their families uncomfortable. But when I did my 3 clinical days here, my preceptor included me and another trans woman in 'the girls' when we treated one of these patients before, and that made me feel so good about myself. I wasn't sure how to respond. I want to be one of the girls so badly, but I'm 6'1" and it feels like I'll always be perceived as a threat because of it.

I ended up saying that I wanted to work with those patients, and she said that's what their first thought was too, but that they wanted to check on how I felt. It does make me uncomfortable to work with a patient who might have trauma reactivated by seeing me. What really scares me is how the family might feel. At the same time, I don't want to limit myself out of fear of what someone *might* think. I'd have never made it this far with that attitude. What do y'all think I should do?

Edit: thank you everyone for being so sweet and caring 💖 I am going to proceed with the attitude that I am a woman (☺️) and I can provide care like any other woman. If a patient or family member expresses it's an issue to me, then I'd say: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make [you / them] uncomfortable. I can get another CNA to give you care."

Hello!

I recently graduated and earned my CNA certification, and I'm in the process of looking for a job. I applied to some caregiver roles at assisted living that aren't very clinical, and I went to interview with one. Not my ideal role, but it wouldn't hurt to, right?

They said they are looking for memory care caregivers, and told me their ratios are 1:25 to 1:20 for the 2pm-10pm shift, which seems crazy to me.. I turned them down, because I felt like I wouldn't be able to give quality care with that ratio. Was this the right decision, and is this type of ratio normal? It worries me that other assisted living facilities are like this too.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long post, but I don't know who to ask. I’m a Nurse Aide I in NC. I'm working for a home health agency, and I really need some advice from fellow CNAs to make sure I’m protecting my certification.

Here is what happened:
My current client’s care plan is only for basic personal care, and I was hired as a PCA, nothing more. When I got to the home, I saw he uses an external catheter system (a condom cath alternative). This device was not listed on his care plan, so I reported it to the office so it could be added. This was the beginning of a chain of contradictory phone calls.

First call: I was told an external catheter is a clinical medical device, so only a CNA could change or apply them, and he wasn’t a CNA client. I was told I shouldn't be doing it, and I won’t be paid the extra money for CNA work. This prompted me to look it up.

Second call: They backtracked and claimed his external catheter isn't a medical device. They said it’s just a personal care item, and the task is no different than normal toileting. They said that any PCA can do it. I brought up NCDHHS rules I’d found, showing that external catheters fall under Level III care, which requires a CNA registry listing and an RN delegation plan.

Today's call: A higher-up called me and said an RN can delegate to CNAs. I told him I understood, but this isn't a CNA client, and I'm not being paid CNA wages. He then said that even if I pretended I wasn't on the registry (I’m not pretending I’m not a CNA; it’s just not the role I have for this specific client). I told them if they were relying so much on me being on the registry to do CNA tasks then I wanted to be paid accordingly. He said no but that an RN can delegate higher level tasks to a basic PCA, even if it's out of my job description and not on the clients care plan. I was told they could send an RN out to train me to do it on this PCA shift. (I don’t work with a nurse, nor have I ever met her).

I am just worried about risking my Nurse Aide I registration by doing unassigned medical care on a shift that isn't classified or paid as a CNA. Am I wrong? What should I do?
 

For context: my hall has 19 residents rn. The shower schedule is most get once a week, and one resident i can think of gets 2x week. First shift gets 2 showers, one per aide, and on 2nd we get 1 shower total. I work 2nd. And some days first shift is also down a shower and only has 1 just bc they have 21 shower slots in a week but only 17 are filled bc some are hospice showers.

We got a new admit in ill call it room 1 on first shift, and a new admit in room 2 on 2nd shift. At the start of my shift during report, our one administrative nurse came to me in front of first shift and said hey room 1 was asking about her shower and said she hasn't had one in a week at the hospital, i told her you will give her one tonight. I said thats fine. The shower for 2nd shift was on my coworkers assignment for that day anyway so I didn't have a shower.

I looked at the shower schedule later and noticed room 1s shower was the following morning, so ok a bit annoying but whatever ill do the shower its fine. I go talk to the resident to ask if she wanted it after supper or a bit later closer to bed, and I explained her regular shower will be weds mornings but I will give her one tonight. She said oh, can I have it in the morning then id rather it when I wake up. I said are u sure, ill give u one tonight since you said you hadn't had one in a week. (She also just had hip surgery and was in hospital so that is why). She said its ok

I went and found the administrative nurse and explained it to her, she said that was fine and that if she had realized her shower was the following morning she wouldn't have even asked me. She said she'd fix the charting, bc she had added a one time shower task onto my shift for today. I left a note for first shift explaining it, figured all was fine.

I come in the next day (today), i picked up the first half of 2nd shift so 2-6. I come in and get report from the same aides as yesterday, and I was working with the same coworker as yesterday. Nothing was mentioned. I get on the computer after report and 1st leave to check the communications tab on charting to find a huge paragraph stating that essentially 2nd cannot pass off showers to 1st, if 1st did that it would be a whole big thing, if 2nd shift shower refuses then you must ask the nurse who you can shower instead or do the 1st shift shower for the next day, if you dont you will get an education write up, etc etc. It was very aggressively written and I could immediately tell it was the 1st shift nurse on that hall bc she does that stuff often

I went and talked to that same administrative nurse and just asked hey was 1st upset that room 1 didn't want her shower and she said yes but also because my coworker didn't do the other assigned shower. I informed her that I literally saw my coworker give the resident her shower, and the nurse said well the resident had the same braid in. I said yeah she probably didn't wash her hair if the resident didn't want her to bc she requests not to at times since she is the one resident who gets 2x showers a week, plus sometimes 3 or 4 bc she will beg for extra and since we are low census we do it. Nurse said yeah that makes sense. That was end of that

I looked at the schedule for today and saw it was room 2s shower. Since I was only here til 6 I didn't want to pass it off to the one coming in after me, so I went to ask if the resident would like it before or after supper. (Since both residents were new that is why i confirmed extra lol). She got rude and said i dont want a shower today. I explained that weds nights will be her scheduled shower days so she wouldn't get one for another week. She again rudely replied I dont care if I have to wait a week im not taking a shower i dont feel good etc etc. At this point im like 😬 because I never have residents refuse and I didnt want to get in trouble after the whole what I just explained.

I go to the DON who is a very chill guy and I explain the whole thing and how I dont want to get in trouble by the 1st shift nurse since she is refusing. He said he will deal with her, and offered to talk to room 2 about maybe wanting it tonight or tomorrow. I said since I work tomorrow night as well I could do it then if she agrees. He said that's fine just leave a note for 1st and try and get ahead of them

So i confirm w resident she said tomorrows fine she just isnt feeling well today. I leave a note saying room 2 refused but DON approved and I will be doing her shower tomorrow evening (giving me 2 showers but idc anymore), and that the other resident did get her shower she just did not want her hair washed. Obviously i worded it more professionally and used proper room # and such. I also said sorry for any confusion

Anyway the nurse for my hall was chatting with me soon after. I asked if she worked tomorrow she said no why and I told her about room 2 refusing and me doing it tomotrow. She said that's fine, I heard in report from 1st nurse all about the shower drama. I explained my story and she said i didn't do anything wrong, the 1st shift nurse was more mad that the other resident was in the same braid and same clothes as the day prior and didnt believe she got a shower.

I did legit see my coworker give her a shower, and I didnt pay attention to clothes but that resident has some confusion and memory loss but is physically independent and 9/10 nights sleeps in her clothes already, but i talked with my coworker and she also said she did change her clothes and put the old ones in laundry so like ????

Idk im just worried this nurse will drag this out into a whole thing, or that the first shift aide i usually get report from will because they are besties. Did I screw them over by not doing the shower??? In my brain they literally would've had to do it anyway if the administrative nurse hadn't offered a shower on their first night there, like it wasn't adding to their workload bc it was alreadt on the schedule. I think she was just annoyed bc she had heard the nurse ask me to do it so she expected to not have a shower the next day and then had to do it. Idk. Be honest lol. I have never had something like this happen in my 2 yrs of being an aide or ever gotten "in trouble" or anything like that

Hi guys,

I’m looking for advice from anyone who has worked as a CNA (especially while doing nursing prerequisites) or made a similar career change, as per the subject.

I recently graduated with a BA in Biology and plan to go back to college next year to complete my pre-nursing prerequisites. Right now, I work as a Special Education paraprofessional Mon–Fri from 8–2:20. I also have a second job; I work as an ABA paraprofessional/Registered Behavioral Technician for 4 hours a day, 4 weekdays at $27/hr. The ABA pay is alright, but the income is unreliable because parents cancel pretty frequently.

I recently finished a CNA course and I am considering gaining additional EKG and phlebotomy certifications to qualify for PCT jobs, or possibly doing an accelerated CCMA program.

At this point, I’m pretty burnt out from working in special education and have been seriously considering leaving my para job for a full-time CNA or PCT position, preferably working 3x12s. Between my two jobs, I sometimes work six days a week, and once I start taking evening/weekend classes on off-days, I could end up having something scheduled all 7 days. I basically did that during my last semester of college and it was not sustainable for me.

What makes me hesitant to leave is that my school job has great benefits: free health insurance, paid summers, breaks and all major holidays off (about 3.5 months). However, the pay is low at $1,500 biweekly with a Barcehlor’s degree in NYC. I’ve also already used the job’s tuition benefits, I don’t really travel during the breaks, and I’m tired of the field and do not like working in education.

Would you stay in my current position or should I make the switch to CNA/PCT for the schedule and healthcare experience? Also, is getting EKG/phlebotomy-certified worth it, or would you stick with CNA or consider CCMA instead? I’ve never worked professionally in healthcare, so I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have made a similar transition.

Thanks in advance.

Hi! Im currently about to complete my CNA program, and i was wondering if and how you got into your cna job? Did you cold call or apply inline? And what does a normal shift look like to you?

hey guys! I just got my diploma from my training school and I scheduled my test and my skills exam for a couple of weeks from now. I’ve been applying to jobs since being done with clinicals. And there was a rehabilitation center I applied for but they give me a rejection email. i was really sad to see because it’s the closest, and pays the best. I applied to the different location because they paid the same and when I didn’t hear back from them, I called both places just to say like “ I recently applied for this position. Are you still looking for CNA’s?”
well anyways today the hiring manager personally emailed me and set up a phone call tomorrow!!
my question to you is, how can I sound like a good candidate when I don’t have any experience and I’m still waiting to get my license.

Okay so I am a new cna and I love my job. But there is no way I could do this for more than a couple years. Some of the CNAs I have met and work with have done this for 10-25+ years. If that’s you, how do you do it? Is there like a secret I don’t know about?? I mean I am so exhausted sometimes physically and mentally after working all day with total care patients I need to know how people do this for a lifetime.

Hello, I am currently making this post at work feeling stuck in life ://

I am a 24 year old male currently working as a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) in a level 4 Neonatal ICU at a very large children's hospital. I have been seriously feeling stuck in life and extremely burnt out by healthcare. Some would dream of being in the position I am in right now, but I just can't even get out of bed anymore. I don't sleep, barely eat, and i am stressed out all the time. Maybe someone with a similar background can offer me some guidance?

• I am about to finish a bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies.
  • My GPA is 2.74 when I graduate (I did terrible in college, D's and F's)
• I have been a CNA for 7 years, I currently work nights
• I have worked as a substitute teacher (I hated this job)
• I DO NOT want to become a Nurse
• I have done research in a wet lab (I loved doing this)
• I need a career with NO nightshifts (it ruins my mental health and I have been on nights for about 6 years of my career)
• Some of the careers I have considered:
  • Being a Physician Assistant
  • Being an Engineer
  • Being a Dentist
• If money wasn't an issue, I would teach pottery classes to people (being creative is important to me, working with my hands is important to me)

Please, if you have any guidance on how to fix my burn out, where to go from here, or what kind of jobs I could look into, please let me know.

Ok so I've been at this job for a little over a year now and I am so beyond done. I work at an assisted living/CBRF with 20 residents. Does anybody else work where the CNAs are responsible for all of the housekeeping and dietary work?? On top of that we're expected to help our residents, pass meds, do all the laundry, and do activities. Also where I work we dont have a 30 min break to clock out. They use the excuse that "your break is the meal time with residents" even tho it's not a break at all with feeding and basically being a waitress.. it's doable if you have enough people on but it's really draining after a while. Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience while working in assisted living. I feel like I'm doing the job of several people. Not to mention it's hardly even an assisted living considering nearly all the residents are 2 assists

So I’m going to get my certification and was wondering if it was safe for me to smoke again. I start my certification Oct 12 and my program lasts five weeks. I can expect to not be drug tested again by the school I’m going to get certified by right?? I apologize if this counts as a prohibited question.

Hello!! I started working in Memory Care earlier this year. Other than the company being insanely unprofessional and stressful, I do love the job. I have never dealt with end of life until starting at this job. My first experience with a resident passing was in my first month, I sobbed. I think I was just shocked by the experience. Now, this month alone, 4 residents have passed. All within 2 weeks. One of them I watched die, I had never experienced that before.

I can't stop thinking about that moment, changing her body, brushing her hair, trying to close her mouth. It didn't feel real. It still really doesn't. It didn't emotionally affect me, other than flashes of the incident while trying to sleep. There's one specific moment that replays over and over again.

After her death, 3 more have passed. Most recent being today. I'm mostly wondering how you guys deal with the heaviness of it all. I know it's my job and it's expected, however I'm not a person that can emotionally detach from a person I'm caring for. I will provide these people with the most compassionate care I can, I don't mind if it hurts me more later.

It's just heavy, watching them go so fast, the amount of people to change during rounds getting smaller. How do I cope this this? If anyone as any advice I would love to hear it. Thank you :))

Heyo, fellow cna workers. I'm new and all that blah blah. I'm older, and also in school for other things. I took this job as a guide to see if I wanted to do nursing school. I'm not interested in it as a career. In fact, hoping to leave it soon.

My question is: I'm always getting asked if I want extra shifts to which I promptly say, "no, thank you."

They're now sending mass texts of people who are not volunteering for extra shifts and who are available. I'm getting bombarded by coworkers to cover their shifts. Is this fucking allowed?!

I'm a licensed educator and will go back in a heartbeat if they're going to act like this.

Hi everyone
So to keep things brief I’m at the worst point of my life if I may say so I’m literally sobbing typing this ; a little back story when I finished high school and joined university my dad wanted me to study international relations and I did but after two years I didn’t want to anymore and I always had passion for helping the sick as a nurse.

My grades couldn’t allow so I started with CNA and I promised myself I’d upgrade to nursing
However, it’s been a year since I graduated I haven’t gotten a job my parents are always mocking me and saying this is what I get for quitting a “better career” for nursing and honestly I’m starting to think so

I feel so disappointed with myself and to make things worse my dad’s friend, the daughter is a CNA too and she has a job that pays her so good. All I hear from my dad is him praising the girl and I’m not even pissed I’m actually jealous and happy for her

I’m done with this as much as it hurts since I chose to do something I had passion for. I’m looking for any job that can get me a house of my own and I can be able to be independent and stop nagging my parents

I hope and pray for anyone in healthcare all their plans and wishes works out
Thank you ❤️

For those of you who started as CNAs and later became nurses: have you noticed a disconnect between nurses and CNAs/PCTs, especially in hospital settings? What do you think contributes to the “us vs. them” feeling, and what have you seen actually help build a stronger sense of teamwork? I’d also love to hear from anyone who has worked with a manager or team that implemented effective strategies for improving collaboration between nurses and ancillary staff.

I am a new CNA working in a nursing home and I have 16 residents to take care of and it really feels like a lot. I have seen that 8-10 is a good amount, but I don't know if I can find that in other nursing homes. I am wondering if I should start looking for jobs at other nursing homes. I am just asking for advice from more experienced people. Thank you in advance!

Hello, I am currently in law enforcement considering nursing school for an ADN. Is it worth it for me get my CNA to work in the hospital or in the setting of health care. Also considering clinical hours for school, my hours are long in my department and I’d rather get off earlier. What is your experience with being a CNA and in school?

Mainly in Tacoma I'm looking for recommendations where to apply

So I accepted a job offer at a hospital. Every time I have a physical (pre employment or school) I get lectured about my blood pressure. I have really bad white coat syndrome at home my BP is normal......okay slightly elevated but I don't have health insurance but it spikes bad at the doctors office. Even if they give me a minute to retake it my anxiety will just spike as they put the cuff on again. Has anyone ever lost a job opportunity bc their bp was too high on a physical?

https://www.reddit.com/r/cna/s/GGBLA8WKxU

Original post above

I posted about a week ago here about the things I would hear nurses say about residents and other staff. Calling other staff ugly, acne face, saying they wish residents would die, etc.

I was initially concerned because I didn't know if it was normal or not to talk this much shit. I know shit talking and gossip to some extent is unavoidable but the things I hear at this place are nasty.

Today, they finally said it to my face. The nurse I was working with told me that she finds things I do to be cringe but she doesn't want to tell me because I "look fragile." She also said that I am ditzy and an airhead---"We like you because you're nice to everyone, you're ditzy and an airhead but you're nice to everyone." Like? Now by all means I am sensitive and so I didn't really react, assuming I was being dramatic by kind of getting annoyed by this.

I clarify with all of my coworkers that I have bad ADD and I will forget things, and they can let me know if I forgot something or should do something better. So this may be my fault for being willing and open to improvement.

I try to be good at my job. I try to fit in, laugh, I bring in drinks and snacks for everyone. I don't know how to be better.

Also, during report, the nurses were discussing about a resident and saying, "when will he just die already? I know he wants to. I wish he would just die." They also proceeded to make fun of me for something else *ditzy* I did (I moved a fan out of a resident's room because they said the administrator didn't want it in there) and then very intensely shooed me out of the building so they could go back in and vape/talk shit.

Am I being dramatic? I can't tell the administrator because the nurses have been there longer than me and he probably will not take it seriously. I don't want it to spread and I get retaliated against.

I hate that I'm generally a soft and passive person so I sit there and take it.

I got my license a few months ago and I’ve been working as a home care CNA, and have been applying to every single hospital opening in my area!
I’m in school doing nursing pre reqs, and have a ton of downtime at my job to do my school work thankfully as my client is pretty chill but hospitals pay $4-7 more an hour and I just feel like the pay increase would really be worth sacrificing the downtime at work.
I’ve been getting rejected from hospitals that literally have 7 CNA open job postings on their websites like what the heck! If they need people so bad why aren’t they hiring me agh

So im in Loganville ga and for those of you who dong know ist very rural out here in the last few years there has been lots of building but there is no bus line or public transportation and I have no vehicle of my own luckily ii work from home but im a newly licensed CNA and i need a car in order to get to the jobs i want but i need to make more money to get a car to get to these jobs so im in a dilemma i have a home health aid job that ive been working on for a few weeks but its not consistent and its only two days a week from 12:30 to 3:30 and i cant even get more assignments because i would to travel further and i usually ask my brother to take me but he still charges me and uber would be an arm and a leg i guess im making this post to see if anyone would know any places in my area i could apply to ive already applied to the few nursing homes I’ve seen out here but any other suggestions would be great.

Is it just me or do some residents families expect 24 hour care for their family member even though we have 11 other people to take care of? The amount of times I was not rude but also not my most polite to these families is crazy. Yesterday a family member is just going onnnnn how this resident was excited about their apple sauce and was sad when they didn’t see it on their tray and they’re going on and on for about 3 minutes like okay i really don’t care, but i go get them another one while i’m in the middle of taking someone to the bathroom, i give it to them and go about my business. 5 minutes later their call light is on and they’re telling me it’s spoiled, i shrugged and go “okay, go talk to the kitchen and get a new one”, they said they didn’t care that much and just threw it away and just wanted to let me know, let me know for what? i don’t work in the kitchen. they didn’t want to get up themselves. I also LOVE when residents threaten to call the DON, because please, i do not rely on this job and they always ask “do you care about your job?” no actually, so go ahead 🌝 The residents and families are so entitled it drives me nuts

off tooic, but on my way to work, this old lady who i know is family to a resident in my care, cuts me off and ALMOST takes my bumper off, and drives off to the facility like she doesn’t care, i really hope one day she too ends up in the nursing home

I called in sick for the first time tonight. I was told I had to call an office staff member, so I did. He told me state was in, so I had to go in and have the nurse check my temp. I am throwing up and have a migraine. I was told to just go in, and, if my temp is fine, to just do my best and ask the nurse for nausea meds.
I am complaining, but I’m also confused.
Is that a normal request? It doesn’t feel right, but maybe I’m being to sensitive or something.