What is it like to be a CNA?

You have to be very strong to do the job. You will deal with things from blood and feces to death and violence. I've worked in LTC and now I work at a hospital in pediatrics. I love my job... even the messy parts of it. If you couldn't do something for yourself wouldn't you want a compassionate person helping you? It's that simple. It's embarrasing for someone to mess themselves or not be able to get up to go to the bathroom by themselves.... basic day to day task's that we take for granted. I'm not starting my pre-reqs to get my RN license and I definitely know what I will NOT do as a nurse. My first priority is to be compassionate for all patients no matter what is going on with them.

I work in LTC, so there's a routine, but you still have to be fast. Everyone has a care plan that needs to be followed. There's a lot of toileting- walking people to the bathroom, checking for incontinence, changing briefs and pads, emptying urinals and foley bags and and commodes and putting people on bedpans. You'll be thinking about poop all the time too because a lot of the residents are obsessed with their bowels, and people are getting milk of magnesia all the time. There's a lot of paperwork but not half of what the nurses get. Where I work on some floors you can barely keep up with the call bells and on others you can barely keep up with your work at all.

You deal with all kinds of people. You need a lot of patience, and you learn to stay calm, flexible, and know how to talk demented people into letting you provide care. There are demanding, snotty rehab patients; sweet confused little old ladies with potty mouths (with demanding, snotty families); alert residents who press the call bell every 10 minutes and nothing you do for them is ever right; confused people who are absolutely convinced they're somewhere else/going home/whatever; residents who kick, punch, scream and bite when you try to do anything but let them lay in their own excrement for hours; people who fight with their roommates all the time; residents who are always stealing stuff out of people's rooms or trying to escape, or standing up all the time when they're supposed to have assistance; residents who always have chocolates to share with you, who give you nicknames and big smiles and tell you they love you; ones who are so laid back and nice that they don't ask for anything; ones who are depressed and finally confess to you that they feel useless, they hate being old, and they can't wait to die; residents who used to be an absolute riot, and then they had a stroke and can't move or eat and you feel so bad for them; people with advanced dementia that can't do anything but lay there in bed and stare, etc. etc. And of course people die all the time. When you get an admission sometimes you think "this person is going to be a nightmare" but they turn out to be really cute and funny and you love them.

Then there are your coworkers. Some of them will really irritate you, some will be great to work with, some slack off a lot. There's a lot of cliques and politics. Half the time it's worse than high school.

Dont let all this talk, fool ya now, ever nurse has something they just cant take. I have been doing this now for about 4 to 5 years, and I have seen nurses longer and more experience than me, (that is both CNA, RN, and LPN) everyone has something that just makes them gag. For me, I can clean pop, but I have pt, on this stuff called go light- Now dont belive the name because they are doing anything but going lightly, the are going though

But, when you are in the room with these pt's and you see them first hand, your heart just kicks in to help and the next thing you know you are taking things you never thought you could take, and you are just doing it. Give it a shot try more than once, you will see it is the best thing in the world when you know that you have overcome that wall and you are moving on.

This is true in any industry, NOT just healthcare. People are people, no matter where they work.

This is true all jobs are like that, but I will say, that sometimes people get this preception of nurses that they are all helpful, and caring, and well that is not exactly the way it is. You will work with more females than ever, and you must develop a tough skin to be able to deal with some of them, just learn to take it with a grain of salt, I try to make sure I dont include myself in the gossip I do my 12 and I out.

I am in my last year of nursing school and have worked really hard toward becoming an RN. I began this adventure 7 years ago taking part time pre reqs and raising a family. I have 3 boys and a great supportive husband.

Nursing school is hard work, time consuming and very stressful and especially difficult with a family.

I just got my CNA certificate and first job at a LTC in NJ with a starting rate of 11.25 (gasp!) per hour. I will be working every weekend 7-3 (ugh!), but I have to admit that Im really looking forward to gaining experience and know how. I really believe that this experience will help me become a great nurse.
I wanted to thank everyone who posted here for their comments which were pretty encouraging....

I was thinking about after completeing 8 shifts of 'orientation' ....asking to go 'per diem' so that I can focus on nursing school and be able to spend some quality time with my family while hopefully continue to work at the facility.
Im just not sure how to go about it.
Im assuming the per diem hourly rate is higher.
I just hope the environment is supportive and flexible, I guess Im about to find out!
Any advise would be appreciated!

What's a CNA?

I first went to school for 8 months to become a "Nursing Orderly" back in the 80's and later I went to an accredited school for 6 months to become a PTCA in the 90's. ("Nurse Assistant") It's not the certified kind of "Nursing Assistant" like a "CNA" is today... But rather it was just a plain old "Nurse Assistant"... That's what I used to do .... I was an actual "nurse in training" if you will.

Not sure what the differences are between a "Nurse Assistant" and a CNA are exactly but it seem as a "Nurse Assistant" I was able to assist doctors and nurses with may certain invasive procedures. For example, I put casts on and removed casts from patients. (Like a cast technician) I applied skin traction under the direction of a physician. I am also familiar with setting up all sorts of mechanical orthopedic traction equipment for patients. I can also setup circle beds etc for burn patients.. I can also provide ambulatory care in an ER setting. I am completely familiar with cervical traction, MAST pasts and other "ambulance" type of equipment application. I was also trained to recognize various cardiac arrhythmias on a heart monitor. PVC's, Tachycardia, Ventricular fibrillation etc.. I used to insert catheters and run urine samples on patients etc. There were times when I was able to inject patients with certain sedation type medications. (When I was an Orderly taking care of Psych patients.)

I was also trained to assist doctors with suturing patients, (Sometimes they would let me actually suture the patients myself!) I was trained to remove eyes from expired patients for donation to the eye bank etc..

Seems the education is much shorter these days... ???

Again, what's the difference between a CNA and what I was trained to do?