I work NOC shift so there is no help. I’m usually the one changing myself. The nurse was giving me a rundown on each patient’s care plan and she tells me there’s a couple of patients who do not want the bed raised. But that would feel uncomfortable for me and some patients are already heavy and too immobile for me to even move them without me straining my back. I clocked out today and got home, slept, and woke up with the biggest lower back pain. I am used to heavy lifting in the gym too and never get back pain after a workout session. I really don’t want to mess up my lower back. What do I do at this point? Basically suck it up because I’m in this profession already?

I work at an assisted living community. We have a married couple who live together, but our facility staff only provides care for the husband. The wife has private aides through an outside company. She’s apparently gone through several because she can be difficult, but there’s one aide who seems to be her favorite and is there pretty often.

This aide is seriously starting to get on my nerves.
I’ve read the husband’s care plan and I follow it. I actually tend to do a little extra for him when needed. But every time this private aide is there, she tries to tell us how to care for him even though he isn’t her client.

For example, I’ll bring him back from dining and before I can even do anything, she’ll say, “Make sure you change him because no one ever changes him.” That’s not true. He gets changed after meals and throughout the day as needed.

Another time he refused to go downstairs for dinner. We respected his choice and offered to have food brought to his room. She immediately said, “If you guys order him food, you need to sit in here and feed him because no one ever feeds him. Otherwise he won’t eat, so what’s the point?”

I explained that feeding him isn’t in his care plan because he’s capable of feeding himself and does so downstairs. But we will set it up and sit him at the table to do so as he’s done many times before and he does eat himself. She replied, “Well, I guess he just won’t eat then because I’m not feeding him. I’m not allowed to do stuff for him.”
Exactly… so why are you trying to direct his care?

She even hides the wipes in their room, the wipes their kids buy for them, because she says they’re “the wife’s wipes only.” One day I just went and got wipes elsewhere because I wasn’t about to search the room for wherever she hid them.

And these are just examples. There’s ALWAYS some comment about what we should be doing, what supposedly isn’t being done, or how we should care for him. It’s also the tone—she comes across very rude and condescending, like we’re incompetent.

At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe she was just concerned about him. But she does this with basically every aide who cares for him. Most staff just ignore her, do their job, and leave. People literally don’t want to work that floor partly because they don’t want to deal with her.

The sad thing is that the husband himself is so sweet and easy to care for. When this private aide isn’t there, taking care of him is a breeze.

I’m getting VERY close to finally saying something back, but I don’t want to lose my professionalism or create an issue at work.

For anyone who works in assisted living/LTC: how would you professionally shut this down and establish boundaries with an outside private aide?

I’ve reported her before to the DON directly face to face and nothing happened.

Just yesterday she shouted at my resident who has breathing problems to “be quiet” because she “couldn’t stand to listen to you wheeze anymore” and then he started crying and asking if she hated him. He has dementia. His behaviors only ever get bad when she’s here. He becomes combative and worked up and anxious because she’s always shouting at him that “YOURE FINE. BE QUIET” because he wheezes very loudly.

It’s very upsetting to me. This woman shouldn’t be a nurse, but what else can I do if it’s already been brought to the DON?

I work in a SNF and we are a true rehab, we get people in they do therapy for 2-4 weeks and we get them back home. We currently have a resident who is driving me nuts. She is fully capable yet she wants us to do everything for her. When we try telling her “this is rehab you’re here for therapy so you can do this at home by yourself” she gets snappy and asks for her nurse, she tells us that what she’s going through is different and way harder than anything anyone else is going through. Don’t get me wrong what she’s going through is hard, and i have a lot of compassion for it, what i don’t have for it is patience. She’s told us multiple times how she would do this for herself at home. Just because we’re here to assist you think you don’t have to do anything?? I’m so beyond frustrated with her.

As most of you know we have scheduled shower days, for her situation we let her do a rinse off each morning however we only change the sheets on her scheduled shower days. Which is just “completely unacceptable”. She’s been refusing to walk. and just saying she just thinks she should be sent out to the hospital and honestly yeah go. You don’t want to do therapy, please get out of here.

I have residents that have had total hip replacements, heart surgeries or major strokes that do more than she does. I just think it’s crazy how some people almost don’t want to get better, they just want pity.

I have pretty much the same group every time, I love my residents. I joke around with them and talk to them. Yeah I get annoyed and stressed but I like playing around and joking.

It’s weird having joy at work, I used to do shitty retail jobs and hate my life. After seeing so many people die in my life and healthcare , I just want to make their end of the stretch of their life good. Yeah they piss me off sometimes, but I enjoy seeing them tbh.

I know I need to detach more but I like talking to them even though I’m thinking about managing all these patients. They hold a special place in my life and when they die I think about them but I have to keep pressing on and put my joy into someone else.

It’s something about it making a person who can’t do anything by themselves smile and enjoy your presence that makes me happy.

I know it’s just a job, but I love it.

Honestly I got my cna license to support myself and get out of a bad situation but now I just feel so connected to it. I can’t explain it, it brings me pain to see so much suffering, but I enjoy being around these people and helping them.

It’s weird, I was so reserved when I started but now I feel like authentic at work. I see my residents more than I see my family or boyfriend.

I never thought I’d be doing this work, but I’m glad I chose to instead of a person who doesn’t care.

Hi all, I was wondering for those of you who drive to those that you are caring for, how do you keep supplies clean and organized in your car?

I’m talking, big bulky packs of incontinence briefs, wipes, gloves, shampoo, lotion, nail kits, basins, work bag, and everything else you must bring out to your patients/clients.

Has anyone used this plastic style soft bag for briefs? Are these considered acceptable to keep the supplies clean on the way? What is your go-to?

A resident of mine is declining, and it hurts to see. I told her I would draw a picture of her late husband months ago, as she misses him a lot. I have already completed half of it, thinking when I resign in a few months to move away I can five it to her then as I wont be her CNA at that point. She has suddenly declined, and I feel its now or never. Thoughts?

My husband said I should finish the portrait and give it to her before anything happens. He said it's only worth sentimental value, not monetary. I don't know my facility's policy on this exact scenario. I would give it to her quietly, and she keeps to herself so it shouldn't be a big thing.

I would be scared to get hired somewhere and be expected to dive right in since I don't even know what I remember. I want to refamiliarize myself, and maybe intern or shadow a CNA to get comfortable with the routine.

I really never used my certification once after getting it. I only did clinicals.

Has anyone else done this or know what I should do?

I'd be willing to do free work. I really don't want to take the CNA class again. Again, my license is active because I renewed it and wasn't asked to prove my work history...

Thanks!

I just wanted to share some good news I got today since we rarely have anything exciting to say in this group lol. I work NOCs so my manager called me yesterday to do my annual review and I got exceeds expectations for literally every thing except for Relias completion (meets expectations) Im sooo freaking happy especially bc I work NOCs. It feels so nice to be recognized for my hard work despite hardly ever seeing my managers 😊 this is the first and only facility I've ever worked at as a CNA and I've been there for about 4 years now, this is my 1st review as a NOC aide bc I used to work AMs. Anyways just wanted to say how important it is to find the right facility. If you feel unappreciated there is a facility somewhere that will recognize you for your hard work!

Any one else have some happy news to share? Even if its not work related, or just something you're proud of yourself for :)

Title. I have an exam at college on the same day as my cna skills test (in north carolina if that’s relevant), but my skills test is at 8 am and my college exam is at 11:15 am. My college is an hour away from my test site, so I need to test either first or second to make it work. I scheduled my cna exam before I knew of my exam schedule, my teacher won’t let us make up the exam or even take it if we are late.

I recently put in my two weeks for my CNA job on a unit because the conditions have worsened significantly!

For the past couple of months, I’ve been a sitter for a patient. He has dementia and has been declining A LOT. He used to be alright, but now almost every shift there’s:

* Verbal aggression and screaming right in my face
* Physical aggression (smacking, slapping, biting)
* Inappropriate sexual comments

I can’t do it anymore. On top of that, whenever he is calm, I'm expected to carry out normal CNA duties (answering other call bells, providing hygiene care, etc.). I’m overworked and I've had enough.

My last shifts are coming up on a weekend, with the final day offering 1.5x pay (holiday). I’m considering calling out and just not showing up for these last two because of how awful it is.

The only thing holding me back is the 1.5x pay, but idk if that’s worth my sanity. School also starts right after, so I don’t want to be burned out and have it affect my classes or patient care.

**TL;DR:** I put in my two weeks for my awful cna job, but should I just call out for the final two shifts?

Has anyone else experienced this? I had my first two days of clinicals last weekend. It’s a state run facility and is an absolute nightmare. My entire body has felt itchy ever since Saturday. We only have clinicals on the weekends so I wasn’t there yesterday or today and I still feel itchy.

Last night I had two non dementia residents get out of bed, pee on the floor, and hit cnas. One we had to call the sheriffs to 5150. My facility is 48 rooms, two to a room, and 4 cnas. I typically work in the lower locked unit for the dementia residents. I’m going to talk to management tomorrow and need advice on what to say. In both cases the resident didn’t have prn meds and couldn’t get ahold of doctor. We don’t have soft restraints in the facility and had a bunch of baby cnas/lvns on the clock.

I know we did the best we could, there was nothing else but to follow him at a distance and keep residents away. I kept telling the lvn and cnas someone needed to call dr or cops since it was nearing 5 am when multiple confused residents get up and wander around the hallways. This res in the report has serious mental health conditions but no meds besides Tylenol.

I’m going to bring up the mngment that we have no options and not enough resources with res like this. We can’t keep them locked in their room because they have roommates and a bathroom the leads into the next room. Can’t keep them in bed because there’s no restraints. It took 3 male cops to get this guy handcuff, but they want a couple experienced cnas and mostly new ones to handle him?

Please excuse spelling/grammar/ format mistakes. I wrote the report @5 am with adrenaline rushing through me and this post just after waking up.

Hi 🥰I’m looking for a CNA job actually anywhere in Nairobi I also have experience Being a pharmacist and nurse from working in two private hospitals
I have the experiences and certificates if anyone is hiring I’d appreciate it

Well technically I’m not certified I’m just a nursing assistant. My workplace offers education assistance. I am seriously considering going for my RN. I love the medical field, and want to go further.
I did not do great in school honestly but I had a very rough and unstable home life. I’m now married with 2 kids and life is just crazy. I don’t expect it to be easy by any means. But realistically how hard is it doing nursing school working 3 12s and having kids? What is the best way to approach this? I am kinda alone in this and honestly don’t know what to do or how to start. I just know I want something more for myself and my family.

I’m a float pool CNA, in the 90 days that I’ve been at this job I have been assigned to work the floor once-for four hours only out of a twelve hour shift. Every other single night I’ve been assigned to a 1:1 patient watch. I was not hired as a sitter, it wasn’t disclosed at any point to me that I would only be sitting.
I will wait over an hour sometimes to be relieved to go pee after asking multiple people via epic chat, sometimes people aren’t signed in on epic to message and I literally don’t know anyone as float pool to escalate to sometimes when this happens. I almost peed my pants tonight.
Every single chair used for the sitters in each patient watch room is always broken, it won’t move up or down, or the arms are broken off, or the back is broken off, and all chairs outside are occupied if you’re given the chance to look for a different one.
My back and neck are in excruciating pain, I’m getting migraines after each shift, I’m scared I’ll get a UTI here soon. I can feel my body physically breaking down. I can’t get up and pace the room because parents sleep directly next to their child who is the patient and I don’t want to wake anyone.
I don’t think management would fix any of these issues, I’ve worked many CNA jobs and have encountered these problems before to no avail, just never this extreme. I never ever would have taken this job had I know it was just sitting.
If I quit I don’t think I’ll ever be a CNA again, I am so beyond burnt out, this current situation has been the cherry on top. I just dropped hundreds on applying to competitive nursing programs I won’t even get into after spending years doing pre-reqs, I’ve been a CNA my whole adult life and I don’t even want to go back to school or be a nurse now. I wish I had never become a CNA. This nursing situation has been the only path I’ve been interested in since I was little, I have no other aspirations or plans.
I literally just want to lay in bed curled in a ball after going through this and never move again, my body hurts so badly and I’m still extremely young, I feel so hopeless. Who knew how badly staring at a sleeping patient for 12 hours straight overnight for every shift in a shitty chair could be for your mental health.

Hi everyone! I’m getting ready to renew my CNA certificate, but I need some of the in-service hours I completed while working at a facility last year. The thing is, I quit without giving a two week notice, and now I’m nervous about reaching out to ask for those hours.

How do you guys think I should go about it? I’m a CNA in California. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I’m in Florida and just finished a training program. I’m using the study materials from my program but also would like to see if someone could tell me where I could find some free practice tests online for the written exam. Thank you everyone

Hey y’all! I took my exam yesterday and passed. I wanted to start looking for jobs, but many of them require me to input my certificate number. In your experience, how long did it take for CDPH to add you to the online database?

I’m a newer CNA at a facility, and I’m trying to figure out if I’m being unreasonable about something.
There are two coworkers I work with who are around my age and have been at the facility longer than me. They tend to spend a decent amount of time at the nurses’ station or in one of the little rooms talking, laughing, being on the phone, etc.

The issue is that when I’m working, I’ll answer call lights for their residents if I hear them and I’m available. I don’t care whose assignment it is because at the end of the day, it’s a resident who needs something.

But I’ve noticed that when one of my residents’ call lights goes off, they’ll sometimes be sitting nearby talking and won’t get up to answer it. Today I literally went on my break, came back, and there was a call light going off while they were nearby talking and on the phone. I ended up answering it.

I’m not expecting everyone to drop everything for every call light. Obviously if someone is helping another resident, passing meds, doing a task, etc., that’s different. I’m talking about situations where people are clearly available but are choosing to sit and socialize while a call light is going off.
I’m not planning on reporting anyone right now because I’m new and I want to see whether this becomes a consistent pattern. But it’s starting to irritate me because I feel like teamwork should go both ways.

Am I expecting too much? How do you guys handle coworkers who consistently don’t help with call lights?

How do yall deal with a patient who is just so hateful and mean? All I do (well, pretty much everyone) is walk by the room and she’s cussing at us calling us names and throwing stuff at us. She has no where else to go. Our social worker has been trying to place her somewhere for months. She’s just a boarder patient in our ER right now. No one can give her meds, change her, check her sugars, etc. Even bringing her a lunch tray results in violence against us. Management has spoke to her, we’ve given her IM drugs to calm her. Nothing is working. They have been putting me over there daily and I feel horrible. Does anyone have any tips to make her realize we aren’t the enemy? I feel like I’m neglecting her by allowing her to sit in her filth. I’ve tried being stern, being kind, acting like it doesn’t bother me, etc. I document everything. She’s starting to get skin breakdown. We have to literally hold her down when she poops so it doesn’t get worse. She has a UTI from her purewick being covered in shit and refusing to be changed. I hate feeling like I’m being neglectful. I hate feeling like there’s something else I can do that I haven’t tried yet.

hil i'm a young (19) new cna who's been working at nursing and rehab facility. This is my my first cna job and i've been there for about 3-4 months. I have definitely made my fair share of mistakes in my first few weeks, but now i feel i'm building a better routine for my residents. Today i worked 7a-7p. Very slow shift bc it's a sunday and residents don't wanna do much i assume. I use the slowness to my advantage and take extra care of my assignment and finish my charting early. At 7 on the dot i'm walking out the door.
On my way to the door, however I noticed a call light from on of my residents. even though it time for me to go, i don't like to leave when some of my lights are on. I go into the room and resident tells me he wants his bed made but since it's alr seven he says he can wait for night shift. Me, wanting to go home because this was the longest shift of my life, take the bait. As I'm walking out the room one of the night shifters asked me if i walked on the hall we were on. I say yes and before i can get my next thought out she begins to berate me saying that i do dirty work, with another cna nodding and "mmmhhmmm" ing in agreement. i don't say much in response because the accusation was out of nowhere. this cna has said something to me in the past saying that i didn't change a resident and saying that she "doesn't like working under people like that" when i did change that resident, many times. But moving on. She tells me she wants to walk the hall. I'm not bothered by this because i did my job. She gets to the third resident until she realizes that everyone's dry. Then she gets to the room i just walked out of. she points out that his brief is wet, (true, i changed him and got him up in his wheelchair late in the day, usually when this happens at our facility, night shift puts the resident back into bed, doesn't excuse a wet brief, however) his pants around his ankles, (I didn't notice this when I first walked in, but later when I ended up being a little bitch and putting him into bed and changing him, he said that he took his pants off so they wouldn't get wet from the brief, he had a gown on as well) The mess on the floor, (sugar packets fell from his pockets when he was taking off his pants) and his unmade bed. She then says she could call the supervisor about this. Which is probably true because it looked really bad on my part. I don't explain any of the points I made in the parentheses to her because I don't feel the need to defend myself to old ass miserable women who gossip about other employees and residents like little girls for the first three hours of their shift (i've seen this with my own eyes) when i know i do my job. Now this is all fine and dandy until I start servicing the resident and he's so sweet and kind about the situation because he heard all of it. He says that she's a mean cna, and that I don't need to change him because i deserve to go home and rest. I still do be oh hell no i'm not gonna give her more ammunition, but at this point, I do start tearing up because I love what I do and being accused of being terrible is extremely hurtful for me. Then the contrast of the resident being so kind and understanding really took it home. I did also start my period at work so that adds to emotional stress. Finally, i clock out and cry on my drive home. This is just a rant pose to help me feel better about the situation. maybe l am a terrible cna and should go into a different profession, which this job has already made me consider because of how terrible it's been. I keep telling myself once I get my RN I can do a whole lot more than just bedside work, but it's hard because cna is like the baseline of nursing. Idk I would like to hear other opinions any part of this post. ciao.

Hello, i recently got my GED. I been wanting to get myself in the medical field, be a doctor to be specific. For now im eyeing up CNA, to get a better paying job and experience. I seen mixed statements on how the job is and stuff. I was wondering about opinions from current CNA's, is this worth to pursue or not? Should i try to get my classes through a nursing home and stuff, or just pay 2k in my local community college. Im in Long Island, suffolk. If anyone has any advice or anything, please feel free to drop a comment! If anyone is from Long Island, i could use a local recommendation!