Terrible Incident

It's sad when you're student. You pretty much can't do anything except watch. I was used to doing everything a CNA does at my job and going back to being a student was BORING!

I would just take my homework from my physiology evening class and work on that. It was worse for me because, I was also a medical assistant.

I was used to giving shots, drawing blood and changing dressings that I bhad to ask the profesor to just let me sit in my car during clinicals.

Don't worry time will fly and you'll be out of there and not be limited anymore. Hang in there!!

They let you sit in your car doing clinicals and still passed you? Our state requires a minimum number of clinical hours and they do have to actually be spent there.

The last two days. I fed the patients and waited in the car for lunch to start, and feed them again. We weren't allowed to do anything else.

Keep in mind, it was my second time taking a CNA class because I let my state certificate lapse. I just past my state skills exam last Saturday. Yay for me!!!

Sounds like a tough experience for you. In my CNA class we didn't have any proper CNAs with us in the room. Our instructor had more than a dozen of us. This is definitely not in the CNA scope of practice -- as someone said, it is wound care. That was in my Lippincott(sp?) textbook.

Just so you know, even with a proper nurse in the room you can get steered the wrong way. My mum was in hospital and the RN told the student CNA to discontinue her IV. Seriously! When the CNA said "we never learned that" the nurse said don't worry our CNAs do it. I stopped the CNA from doing it. What was funny is that this CNA was from the same school as me -- so I knew she shouldn't be doing it.

So even the nurse didn't know about scope of practice (at least not for student CNAs).

I don't understand why your clinicals are "watch and learn". We did that in class and on video. Once in the hospital it was hands on allllllll the way. What would be the point of clinical otherwise?

As a student, you are on the floor under the license of your instructor! Always remember that,. I mean NEVER forget it! Your instructor is ultimately responsible for every little thing you do. If you haven't learned it in class it's because it's NOT YOUR JOB! You should always check with your instructor or nurse before doing anything that seems a little off...this should never have happened.

Exactly

Ambulating a patient is in the book and part of your state skills exam,yet as a student you're not allowed to do it during clinicals...

"The last two days. I fed the patients and waited in the car for lunch to start, and feed them again. We weren't allowed to do anything else."

What was everyone else doing while you were in your car?? I find it hard to believe that all your class was allowed to do was feed patients. I went through a CNA class and we were always crazy busy taking care of linen changes, baths, helping with breakfast/lunch trays, and just talking to patients if there was absolutely nothing else.

Is your program based at a facility?

I took my first CNA class back in my senior year in high school. We were allowed to do everything we learned in the classroom in clinicals. Thet was the best CNA experience I ever had.

One day, I was even eble to walk outside with the RNs to get a patient out of a helicopter into the ER. I learned a lot in that hospital.

The class I recently took, we couldn't do anything else but feed the patients. We were all outside talking in the parking lot of the SNF. Boring!!!!!