If you are a CNA and work the night shift, is it possible to have tons of free time

[hhealthai]

Here is an example of someone who was a CNA and worked in a home health company as a overnight companion.

When I was a CNA I worked for a home health company, and some of the overnight companion jobs allowed TONS of free time.

One job was come in at 10pm, sit in a dimly lit room (with book + book light) and monitor an Alzheimer patient during the night (in case he tried to get up). Only a few times did he wake up confused, and I redirected him back to bed or called staff to help him (the facility was responsible for changing him, we just prevented falls). That lasted about a year.

Another was an elderly paraplegic - I would arrive at his house at 8pm, watch TV with him until 10pm, do a twenty minute routine to get him to bed (bathroom, transfer, etc), then I went to my room (I had a private bedroom/bathroom/shower etc) and monitor him via baby monitor during the night. I was allowed to sleep (just turning the radio up high incase he yelled for me),,,usually I brought my laptop and talked online to my wife each night, then sleep at around 2am, wake up at 7am, shower, wake him up and the next shift would arrive and begin cooking breakfast.

Another had me driving someone who was post stroke to the gym each day for rehab - he got me a temporary membership, but I preferred bringing books and studying.

It was a very nice gig while it lasted (I became a nurse), base pay was $10 but went up to $15 depending. I worked with that company for about a year and a half.

I don't think I'll ever get paid to sleep again though.....

Does working as overnight companion count as utilizing your CNA cert? Do you not have to renew the cert for not utilizing it?

Are there overnight CNA jobs where you do have tons of free time like this example?

[Jcgirl]

I am currently working 3rd shift at a LTC, if there is downtime, it doesn't last long between answering lights, either "my" or my co-workers. Between rounds, lights, books, there really isn't much down time.

[TurtleCat]

I'm a CNA at a geriatric group home that houses up to 6 residents and I work the night shift. When I first started, there was only 2 clients and we had a lot of downtime. I would actually spend some shifts reading almost the whole night, because there wasn't much else to do. It was really laidback. Since then, though, we've gotten in more clients, their needs have become more intensive, and we have a lot more housekeeping duties assigned to us, so things are a bit busier. I find I'm still almost always able to sit down and take my 30-minute break, though, something I wasn't always able to do in he nursing home. As far as sleeping goes, I don't know the official company policy but I tend to avoid sleeping because of the fact that I'm the only one there and if a client tried to get out of bed and fell when I was on duty, I wouldn't know if it I was asleep. That, and I just feel it looks bad to sleep on a job.

So group homes are an option if you're looking for a quieter, more laidback pace and atmoshere than a nursing home, but again, I have had some shifts that were fairly hectic so don't always expect to sit around all night. I think it can be challenging in a different way than the nursing home. You don't have the ridiculous staffing ratios that are typical to LTC, but you do have to learn how to balance doing housekeeping and laundry w/ giving quality patient care, and for the day shift, also cooking meals and doing activities. And I'm also actually kind of glad it's busier than when I first started. When I first started, it was slow to the point where I had A LOT of trouble keeping myself awake and alert at night; I'd resort to doing things like, pacing back and forth aimlessly or splashing my face with cold water just to try and stay up. Now I don't really have that problem because there's more to do.