I want to work as a cna but im terrified of contagious diseases

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Ok i have a question and im new to this website, so i dont know how to post my own question or make a thread, i don't really understand how this works yet. So here it goes, i am 18 a cna and applied for a part time position at a nursing home. I had mild ocd about germs and things like checking if my house doors are locked before going to bed several obsessive times. Thing is after getting really sick(personal) my ocd got worse, and i've gotten really afraid about being around people who have fatal and/or life threatening illnesses and/or diseases such as hiv. Being that i am afraid of catching any illnesses or diseases that are incurable i am highly concerned about working at a nursing home. I do not discriminate people with hiv but you have to be extremely precautious if you're ever in charge of taking care of one, and that's a situation i would prefer not to be in (no offense).My question is do they accept hiv positive elderly residents in long term care facilities? Also do they accept them in regular personal care facilities or is that discrimination? or if they have hiv do they have to be hospitalized instead? Because i don't want to go into the hospital scene because it gets a lot more serious. I'm just afraid. This would be my first job if i do get the offer and the pay is really good. Besides if i don't work at least 8 hours by may of 2014 my certification will expire and i will have lost all the money and time i invested to get certified. My parents are also concerned. Im just kind of in a tough spot. :/ Help please your opinion will be greatly appreciated. Also when i was at the nursing homes last year doing my clinical hours and interacting with patients, i didn't have any problems i was never afraid of catching anything from them, it's just now I'm such an ocd train wreck. :( Help!

Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Psych, Addictions..

I think a pt with oozing wounds and in need of drsg changes is sufficient enough to warrant disclosure. It was my first day on the job. The other nurse knew that. I had a right to know. Some nurses aren't as stringent with universal precautions as I am. What if I hadn't been? My feelings are my right, and I was angry. I felt like his hiv status could have jeopardized my health. This was my 2nd hour on the job in ltc with like 25 residents ....so no, I didn't have an opportunity to go through all 25 kardex!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Psych, Addictions..

If his skin were intact, i could iunderstand not disclosing his dx. It wasn't necessarily the HIV that warranted special handling, it was the fact that he also had open, oozing wounds. If a pt has Hepatitis and oozing wounds, I would expect the same thing. They could leave their exudate all over the room and staff touch things inadvertently. If staff know, they can glove up before going in.

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If his skin were intact, i could iunderstand not disclosing his dx. It wasn't necessarily the HIV that warranted special handling, it was the fact that he also had open, oozing wounds. If a pt has Hepatitis and oozing wounds, I would expect the same thing. They could leave their exudate all over the room and staff touch things inadvertently. If staff know, they can glove up before going in.

I respectfully disagree.

I think that way of thinking is more in tune with the parinoia of the AIDS scare of the 1980s.

The fact that HIV falls completly under universal (aka standard) precautions says to me that no "special" warning is needed during report. I'm not saying that the information shouldn't be passed off in report, but it's not something you should necessarily expect them to emphasize any more than most other diagnoses.

HIV is spread through sexual intercourse and the sharing of needles. That's really about it. Your cances of contracting HIV from the "exudate all over the room" is zero.

Clearly, a contaminated needle stick would be a cause for concern. But, then, every contaminated needle stick is cause for concern. Should we say "You should be careful when recapping needles, but be really careful when recapping room 224's needle."? See the fallacy of your logic?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Psych, Addictions..

I don't see why you're opposing my right to MY FEELINGS. I felt wronged and still do. I do think bloody, hiv infected exudate is a biohazard and should be treated as such.

It is not 1980's hysteria. Walking in to a room of an hiv pt with fully intact skin totally gowned up IS. Throwing away their utensils IS. Putting on double gloves IS. Wanting to be notified of a pts relevent dx is NOT.

Agree to disagree. I have a right to feel this way.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Psych, Addictions..

And just so you are aware....HIV can live outside the body until it is dried up. Its a bloodborn virus. It can be spread through tiny cuts in our skin or cuticle or even the sclera of our eyes (think scratching your eye when it itches). Hepatitis can spread the same way. It only takes a small amount of moist blood and a small break in your skin to get infected. Although sex is the most common route, other ways exist.

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Specializes in Pedi.
If his skin were intact, i could iunderstand not disclosing his dx. It wasn't necessarily the HIV that warranted special handling, it was the fact that he also had open, oozing wounds. If a pt has Hepatitis and oozing wounds, I would expect the same thing. They could leave their exudate all over the room and staff touch things inadvertently. If staff know, they can glove up before going in.

There's no reason to glove up just to enter the room of someone who has HIV. What would you have done differently had you known this patient was HIV+?

When you're changing a bloody dressing, you practice universal precautions so it's irrelevant if the patient has a blood-borne illness or not. You practice as though all bodily fluids are potentially infected.

And HIV does not survive well outside of the body and, according to the CDC, the risk of contracting the virus by the means you postulate is essentially zero:

HIV Transmission | Questions and Answers | CDC HIV/AIDS

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

You know I thought of this thread at work recently...being a nurse since 2007, while at home, I can count on one hand the amount of times I encountered HIV+ patients. Since being in the states, every single shift, at least once of my patients is positive, sometimes 2 or 3 of them. And they usually aren't even older patients, those who might have been diagnosed for a long time. What in the world is up with that?! I mean, HIV has been out there for long enough now that we know to be careful, we know what risky behavior is and all that. How in the world are there still so many young people being diagnosed with HIV in this day and age, in first world, educated countries?!

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I have worked with patients who have been on all kinds of contact precautions including MRSA, C Diff., HIV, shingles, Hepatitis C, herpes, the viral cough (forgot the terminology for that, forgive me), TB, and I'm probably forgetting a few. Never have I brought home any of it. I've followed standard precautions, and used proper procedure for PPE as posted and advised by the nurses I've worked with. If someone's poop smells funny, and they have diarrhea (especially mucousy) I gown up just to be safe and the nurse is made aware of it if they didn't know already.

Not to scare the OP, but you never know who is sick around you in non-health care job surroundings either (like the bus or public areas). But, if getting sick is a concern for you and an obstacle that cannot be overcome, working with the sick may not be a good idea. Good luck!!

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I agree with others Just use standard precautions with all patients at all times. I have worked with many patients at Dr. Offices and there are some HIV or hepatitis C patients who will not be truthful to you or the doctor about having HIV , hepatitis C etc. I myself have tested several patients that chose not to tell me but during the course of visit but the testing revealed why they are there or symptoms they thought was related to something else. Thankfully I always apply standard precautions even when patient are being seen in high volume, so I feel safe in my caregiving of others and you will to.

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

As others have said I encourage you to seek help with your OCD/Anxiety. As others have said HIV is probably the LAST thing you could catch from a patient. Its extremely rare to contract HIV from a patient....you'd have to first have a HIV + patient and then likely would need a needle stick from said pt. A needle stick for a CNA is rare in and of itself..........so you get what I'm saying.

I was like that with scabies. I was petrified to catch them and it really had me worked up for a couple of weeks while the pt I was caring for had them.....(well I had the pt for a couple weeks, they had Scabies upon admission and we didn't know.....) I remember coming home and examining my skin in the mirror....would start seeing things and everything.

My point is I can't imagine having to live like that all the time, and I think its going to take a major toll on you if you don't get help or switch career paths.

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