I just got my first "real" CNA job, I have had my certification since last August, so it has been awhile and I have kind of forgotten a lot of stuff. I currently work as a Resident Assistant at an Independent Living facility. I love the facility,my co-workers and the residents. I honestly saw myself working there "forever" but the distance started to get to me since I have to travel two buses and it is pretty much an hour each way.

My new job is only a 10 minute train ride and it is full time and I love the hours I was offered. It was a hard decision but this new position had the most pros than cons.

I interviewed at a skilled nursing facility and got the job and I am really nervous since it is so different from what I am use to working in independent living. My job is really easy, I have so much down time but I have gotten so bored, I just feel like a babysitter(most of them still have cars and drive) I want to do actual CNA work.

So, my question..I know it sounds ridiculous, but...what am I expected to know? I still have my book and notes and I plan to go over them before my first day. I definitely need to practice doing vitals, but things like emptying a Foley bag? I have never done that, I am afraid I am expected to successfully know how to do stuff like that. I know I can ask for help and I'm not afraid to, I just don't want to be "that person" who needs help with everything.

Just be honest with your co workers. If you are unsure about something tell them that I have not had much practice with that and my class was so many months ago. could you please show me again how to do that.

Also I am sure for a few days or so you might also be shadowing another CNA and you will be able to pick up things then too. You will do fine...just don't be afraid to ask questions and maybe take notes too. They won't throw you to the wolves and if you show that you care and want to understand how things go I am sure your co workers will appreciate you asking questions then for you to pretend to know what you are doing and something go wrong.

Thanks, I have a 4 day orientation, so I assume I will just be following someone around those days. I am really nervous, though. I feel like Independent Living has kinda spoiled me!

Yes they can be worlds apart but I'm sure you will be ok . Keep us informed and hope you will like your new job

Today was day two of my orientation.

I felt so miserable the first day. It was way more fast paced than what I am use to, by lunch break my feet were killing me! I even changed my first foley bag (It wasn't as complicated as I thought) It wasn't that it was a hard day, but the patients on this floor needed a lot of assistance. I went home and almost cried and I was wondering why I chose this occupation for myself. My husband was like "ummm, you knew what you were getting into when you were still in school" and he is right, but the last time I did any real CNA work was almost a year ago in my June 2014 clinical, but as the day went along I slowly remembered a lot of stuff.

Today was my second day. I was on a different floor. It felt like a completely different place than yesterday. It was much slower pace and the patients were a bit more independent. I wasn't miserable once, so that was good

I work by myself starting Wednesday and I am really nervous. Hopefully it will go well. The nurses do vital signs on their own so that made me pretty relieved since I was really dreading that part, I will still try to practice relearning blood pressure though.

Blood pressure can be tricky and I feel that it can not be absolutely 100% perfect. As long as you are within a good range its OK. If you got 120/80 and someone else would have gotten 122/82 I dont belive the discrepancy between the Two is concerning.

The one thing I do is as I am concentrating on hearing that first beat watch that needle for the jump. Sometimes the needle jumps before I actually hear it.

I'm glad your second day went better then your first. Hopefully that means that it will all get better with some time. Not that you won't have bad days but hopefully the good days or at least the tolerable ones will out number the bad.

Sorry, this is long.

So, I am already on my third day alone.

The first day was horrible, it was on the floor that I did my first day orientation on..so I knew it would be bad. I went home really upset and hating my job (reading these boards that seems to be what usually happens the first day, but I survived!) The other floors aren't as bad, though.

Today two CNA's called off and it was just me and someone else for 25 patients. Then out of nowhere these CNA students come and the nurse tells me to give them easy patients to do and tell them what to do. I have no idea if this nurse is even aware that I am new and don't know what to do myself! They pretty much just helped pass trays and fed the patients who needed help. I had no real interaction with them at all.

I go to lunch and they are all in the dining room, I went in through a door that wasn't close to them, so they had no idea I was there...all of a sudden I hear this girl talking about me!! She told the other girls how she told me what to do and I listened because she "Takes control of situations" the real thing that happened was this certain patient is hard to get up, I haven't really learned how to be firm enough and if they want to sleep and not get dressed, I will let them, but I asked her about every 30 minutes and she said no, plus she doesn't eat breakfast anyways. So, this student comes up to me and says shouldn't ....... get up? I said she didn't want to and I went to ask her again and this time she was ready to be dressed. She also talked about how I left two breakfast trays in the rooms, it was just so busy, plus sometimes trays get left behind, it really wasn't the end of the world....

I know I shouldn't let this bother me but it really does. I was feeling so good about today and I thought I was doing a good job and this girl really ruined my mood. I really hope they will see once you are an actual CNA textbook situations are so different than real life. The nurse even thanked me after my shift for all my hard work today and even bought me and the other CNA Starbucks for working so hard, her opinion should mean more than that students to me. She really had something against me, she talked about me for at least 5 minutes, it was so odd. She even referred to me as "miss blondey" it was just so childish for her to talk about an employee at a place she is visiting so loudly that everyone else in the dining room could hear.

You will get it.. never mind about miss know-it-all. It sounds like you are settling in and before long you will be an old pro at it.

Your right that you bosses and nurses you work for should have more to say about your performance then some student... trust me her day is coming when all the walls will be falling around her and she is working short. We'll see then if trays will be her top priority.

Oh and you did exactly the right thing with the resident that did not want to get up. You did not have to bring her to eat breakfast because she didn't want anything. So no harm having her WANT to stay in bed longer. The student needed to know this was called RESIDENT'S RIGHTS.. you went in every 30 minutes to make sure she was able to get up when she wanted too. Maybe this student had missed that part of class. If you happen to be with her and these type of things happen again spin her back on her heals and educate her about the rights of the residents and that you don't tell these people what to do like they are children. If they refuse something you put it in report and leave it alone as long as it does not have anything to do with safety

Keep your head and spirits up. You are doing just fine..

Thanks, every time I passed her room I will ask if she is ready to get up(I don't know why she thought I purposely left her...it would look so much better on me if she were up and ready as soon as possible) Some CNA's I have worked with don't give them a choice, but I do and some are really good at convincing them to get up..I am not yet. I hate that it was past 11am and she was still sleeping but right now I still struggle dressing residents who are awake let alone still asleep

Before this incident happened I heard someone tell the nurse about how there is trays left in 2 rooms and a patient didn't eat. ....I didn't realize this person was trying to get me into trouble..this girl really had it out for me lol.

Hopefully I wont see her again...not that I even remember what she looks like.

Some people want to stay in bed late. I always give them a choice, too. I have had coworkers go behind me and force a person to get up, but at least I let them have a choice. I mean, there are some people who will just say no to everything you ask them to do and those people you generally have to get up, but then there are people who everyone knows to leave alone until lunchtime. You'll get the hang of it all, I promise. New jobs are hard. I have four years of experience and I'm about to start a new position and I'm a bit nervous, too! New job jitters affect so many people! CNA jobs are hard, too. So you're starting out in a new field, a hard field, in a new setting. Cut yourself some slack. There is a lot of drama in CNA jobs, too. People just like having something/someone to talk about and some people are really mean and like to pick on the new people. Nothing you do or don't do will change those kind of people. If they want to be bitter and mean, that's not going to get them far. It sounds like a cliché, but stay true to your kind self and don't get involved with them and you'll fall in with the right crowd at work. No, you aren't there to make friends, but having people you like and that like you back make the day go so much better.

Keep us updated.

Today was a really bad day!

I have been doing so good so far, I have been getting to know my patients, I now know most of their routines, except for one floor, the one I had a problem with in my previous post. Today was my first time back on that floor since my last post and I knew it wouldn't be easy. I was assigned 9 patients I have never had before, I was working so hard that before I noticed it was 12 already and I still was nowhere near done. The wife of one of my patients stared at me the entire time I changed her husband and it was really uncomfortable especially since I have never cared for this guy before. Every time I would glance over to her she was looking right at me!

Now the bad part of my day. I had one patient who did not want to get dressed or anything, every time I tried to she started screaming and crying, so the nurse told me to leave her in bed. Then her Grandaughter comes and says she wants her dressed and in her wheelchair, so I struggle with getting this crying woman dressed. Finally at 2pm I have time to take my first and only break(I work until three) when I get back upstairs one of the CNA's tell me the family is complaining about me, so I go into the room and this woman is yelling so loud about how she never wants to come here and have her moms room looking like this ever again, she has everything thrown off the bed and thrown across the room, she is yelling about how I had one of her drawers half open, complaining about how her moms dentures are still in the drawer(I actually tried to put them in, but she took them out and gave them back to me but I didn't want to tell the woman this and engage in her argument with me) The way she was acting you would think I was neglecting her mother or something, who wasn't even in the room during this time. I was planning on fixing the room and bed up when I had time. Lesson learned for next time. I will have to force this patient out of bed just so I wont get screamed at by her family.

I start to enjoy and be comfortable at my job and something like this happens and has me question everything again.

Yep that was a bad day..... just take courage though that it was your day today to be yelled at it will be another poor CNA or Nurse tomarrow. Its discouraging to work so hard and feel that everything you did that day was pointless because of one person who has a lack of knowledge about your day.

Get a hug from a loved one...take a deep breathe and walk into your work and say this day will be a good one and give someone a smile. Believe it or not giving someone a smile not only brightens and makes the person you are giving it to feel better.... but it can do a world of good for yourself. I've proven that to myself. I'm having a bad day and smiling does help even if inside I am crumbling.

I am starting to feel like this facility isn't for me. I am constantly texted and called about coming in on my days off and if I say no they get an attitude and ask why...it really bothers me, no one at any of my other jobs have ever asked me why, plus is it really any of their business? I have another job and most days I work as a CNA from 7am-3pm THEN I work my other job from 5pm-11pm..so I really appreciate any time I can get off and I now have to start avoiding their constant texts to me, you would think this person would get the hint after I didn't reply but she left two more messages.

Another thing happened that really bothered me. I was in the lunch room on my break and the DON saw me and said "Make sure you do your rounds before leaving" I just said ok. I really had no idea where that came from and as she was leaving her and another CNA smiled at each other and the CNA told her thank you... Then as I was leaving, this CNA came up to me and said "did you work yesterday?" (which obviously she is aware that I did) I said yes and she said you had my patients yesterday, one leaked through onto her sheets and there was dried pee all over it(bed ridden patient) and she had to change the sheets and another patient said he asked you to make his bed, but you didn't.

The first part I don't really understand. I left the previous day at 3pm....She didn't come back until 7am the next day, how does she know that happened when I was there? what about the 2nd and 3rd shift CNA? How is she for sure that was my fault? Maybe it was, I really don't know, but for her just to come up to me like that and accuse me?

The second part....that never happened, that patient never asked me to do it, obviously I would if I was asked. i kept telling her he never asked me to do that, but she kept on repeating it over and over.

I make my first noticeable mistake and she runs to the DON about it? Instead of discussing these issuses with me, the DON thinks it is appropriate to tell me this in front of everyone instead of in private, plus I had no idea what she was talking about until the CNA told me.

I really want to start looking for a new job, but I have only been here for a month and I don't wanna seem like a job hopper. I think CNA changing jobs often is pretty common, but I still hate the idea of doing it. I really love working on the floors with the rehab patients, I would love to find a facility that only has them.