Does it get better???

[NM nurse to be]

I need to vent a bit. Day three of my first CNA job ever was today. My brain is tired but I have yet to discover what people always talk about being so physically exhausting. I think this is the one place doing horse work all these years is actually going to help something because I'm used to a LOT of physical labor every day.

But the rest... man I just suck. The majority of the other CNA's, well most of the staff really, speak primarily spanish to each other. Which is great except they forget I don't understand any of it. They all do speak English very fluently, just don't unless they have to, it seems. And I have to ask for every thing, passing trays at lunch, I don't know the residents yet and I think the girls were getting irritated at me asking all the time. I transferred one guy to bed after breakfast, turns out he was supposed to stay up. His wife is a retired RN and VERY particular. And I got the what-for from her for a bunch of things I did wrong. And they were wrong, so that was earned and she was nice about it. Later she found out I had horses and she always has too, so that helps and we talked a bit. But still, I don't know anything.

I walked a lady to the dining room and the administrator talked to us in the hall and asked me where her gait belt was. Well no one's used one with her that I've seen or it that was policy for walking residents in the halls, thanks girl who is training me I really hate looking dumb in front of important folks. But he does know it's new to me and he won't have to correct me for that twice.

I stopped to actually talk to residents a few times and the girl I was working with went on somewhere else. I changed a few residents and that went well enough. I hate being the new kid. At lunch today, I brought my notes for my test on thursday. The other girls sat with me last week but speak spanish, so I just sat there. I like the work well enough and I know I'll catch on eventually. But right now, it sucks. I like going to my job and having at least a clue. I have to ask a lot of what apparently are dumb questions and the nurses barely answer politely.

Of course, I didn't think I'd do well at school and that's going great. So I'm guessing this will be ok eventually too. Right now I'm really frustrated and just feel dumb Please tell me it will not always be this way!

[rancelumsden]

EVERYONE went through this.

For me, it wasn't days --- I wasn't really comfortable for almost 6 months (I became a CNA at age 54, male, never had kids, never a caregiver). Then, things just clicked. It's like the continual postings about clinicals and skills tests. You will do those 'skills' every day as part of your job. But when you first practiced them, you either couldn't do them or were really slow. I thought I'd never get the occupied bed thing -- I was 'tentative' (the instructor wrote that term on my evaluation) about moving residents/patients around. After a few months, I just made sure they had no specific injury, checked where their tubes were hooked (etc.), then rolled patients around like moving pallets in a warehouse!

I don't know of anyone who hit a comfort level for some time. You learn techniques in school, then hit the real world and other CNA's, who also took the class, look at you as if they never heard of such a thing. Gait belts was one of them --- few CNA's use them. They're a great tool --- one of the best CNA's I worked with kept it around her waist at all times and used it constantly. Other CNA's didn't even have the belt and said how long it took to hook it up --- yeah, 10 seconds to make sure it was properly set, with practice.

The co-worker thing is mixed. People have very mixed experiences with that. I was lucky --- I worked with people who were helpful and would show me how they did things and give me some instruction.

Bottom line --- wait this out for 6 months. You will know "what's what" and if you decide that the environmnent is not for you, then look for a change. Try to get what you can --- different ways to do things, routines, methods, etc. Learn from other CNA's, but DON'T assume that because they are experienced, they're always right.

The gait belt is one of the largest examples of CNA's being wrong, IMHO. You like them, use them. You're safe, the resident is safe, that's what it is about...

Families --- can't really be PITA. There have been a lot of postings about how bad families can be to deal with. That's an unfortunate part of the business. The daughter will think you're great, the son will think you're incompetent. And of course, you'll have taken care of a particular person really well and their incontinence kicks in 5 minutes before the family comes over and you have a chance to clean them up.............

[NM nurse to be]

I'm sure everyone went through this. Learning curves suck on this end of them! I just came here for a little encouragement is all.

More on gait belts. I was in all day company orientation yesterday. We had to sign off on everything, including the gait belt policy. It is part of the uniform, at all times. And (technically according to policy you signed) supposed to be used at all times. No one does but I feel more comfortable with one, so that's what I'll do. Interesting what the 'old hat' CNA's do, compared to what they say they're doing.

It's tough but I'm not giving up. I just wondered how other folks dealt with all the newness, that's all.

[LindseyKale]

I'm almost done with my CNA class, and I'm taking it at a nursing home, because they're going to hire us after the class and after the exam we'll go on as CNA's. Anywho, it was actually the day that we covered gait belts, I saw a CNA walking like 3 steps behind her resident who was wearing a belt. She wasn't even close enough to grab his belt if he were to fall! Since then, everytime I see her walking a resident, I look to see if she's holding onto their belt, and of course, she is not! Wouldn't she be responsible if the resident fell and hurt themself?

[rancelumsden]

"....Wouldn't she be responsible if the resident fell and hurt themself?...".

The belt is probably used for transfer. You do not generally use the belt for ambulating. If they are that unsteady, they need a walker of some type. Of course, this can vary, but the belt was designed as a transfer tool. Many residents can walk, but can't get themselves up and down easily.

[jennileigh8182]

About gait belts:

I'm doing my clinicals to complete my CNA class right now, and we were taught that gaitbelts ARE for ambulation. If that person starts to fall, you don't want to grab their clothes or limbs to stop them...you want to have one hand on that gaitbelt the ENTIRE time they're walking. They're more important for transfers, yes, but they are DEFINITELY to be used for ambulating!

Also...in Michigan, you almost certainly WILL NOT get workers comp if you hurt yourself assisting a resident and weren't using a gaitbelt. That is a stipulation here - the first thing they ask about the injury is if you were using the proper equipment. If not, bye-bye workers comp.

I will argee, though, that I have spent two nights in clinicals and have never seen one of the staff CNAs use their gait belt. Some of them have them handy, but never use them. Our instructors told us specifically not to watch how the staff CNAs work, even though some of them are their former students, because they get lazy and so much of what they do is wrong. I saw one my first night assisting a resident to toilet without washing his hands or gloving!

[Atheos]

Also...in Michigan, you almost certainly WILL NOT get workers comp if you hurt yourself assisting a resident and weren't using a gaitbelt.

It is like that everywhere. If the facility has a policy about anything and you contravene policy and get hurt you can kiss Workers Comp good bye.

Also, at least in all the state I have been in, The BON never requires or even addresses gait belts. What they do say is that everyone MUST follow facility policy. So if something bad happens they will want to know why you didn't follow policy.

It's safer and easier just to leave the belt on. Cover your rear always!!!

[Miwila]

I have a young friend about to enter a CNA program who reads this board and it causes her disquiet when she reads threads by new CNA's that seem to have the same theme...rude CNA's and nurses, combined with a 6-month period of "settling in". To her it seems like a very unpleasant work situation. In my personal experience, it did take me months to get adjusted but most of my co-workers were cool people...I don't know that I ever experienced rudeness from another CNA or a nurse because I was the new guy trying to settle in (the personality conflicts came later). Maybe it was because I worked the 7pm-7am shift which is relatively laid back compared to mornings. Without family members and head honchos breathing down our necks perhaps that made everyone less edgy. Whatever the case, I work with a crew that has always been like family.

I can understand why CNA's in LTC might be rude and unprofessional - look at the pay - and I don't excuse it, but low paid workers in any field have a habit of not being as enthused as they should be. On the other hand, I can't figure out for the life of me why nurses would be rude to new CNA's who are settling in because they ask too many questions. Are you kidding me?? Don't they want the CNA to do a good job? Don't they realize CNA's are their support and that a CNA with a good attitude is someone to be valued? I know many nurses in LTC are LPN's who would much rather be working in a hospital but since so many hospitals are no longer hiring LPN's they find themselves stuck in LTC and are thus resentful about this. That to me is the only explanation as to why these nurses are so discourteous to newbie CNA's.

[NM nurse to be]

Thanks for that, Miwila. I dont' understand the mentality of beating up the new kid either. But from reading on other forums here, it does seem to be a common theme I forget where I was reading but the thread 'Why do we eat our young (nurses)' or something like that really stood out to me when I found these boards. And it really worried me too, that there are so many of these threads. But naively maybe, I figured it would be easier somehow or I wouldn't see that. Wrongo!

Everyone starts somewhere. In any business really, it doesn't make sense to train poorly or belittle people. That won't make anyone productive at all. I worked my first evening shift on the LTC floor (as opposed to rehab, where I've been) and the LPN on that shift was great to work with. Friendly, answered questions and talked to residents.

That was a nice shift, I got to talk to some residents more that day too. I was helping one 96yo woman, she is very sweet and she was the first one to remember my name when I started. She made my night that night because as I was finishing covering her up, she took my hand and said 'I really like you, B, I'm glad you're here'

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Come back to this thread in a month and re-read what you wrote.

I felt really panicked and stressed and out of place when I first started too. Someone told me to write it all down and save it, then go back to it in a month and see if things have changed. So I did. I'm really glad I followed that advice, because I could actually see how much things had changed for the better. It was also comforting to know that I had a whole month to improve before I had to be accountable to myself.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

It takes a LOONNNG time. I probably wasn't really comfortable with being a CNA until about a year had passed. I was confused sometimes about moving someone, and didn't know the standards for different cases.

Going to NS didn't help....as I developed a view of "school" vs. the real world. But, I remember the day that I had 19 patients by myself, and I felt ok with it. (not happy, but confident everyone would get cared for.)

Give it time. always do whatever makes YOU comfortable. Never compromise pt safety for sake of time. Good luck with it.

It does get easier. And if you ever go to get a nursing license, always remember to never forget where you came from.