Are you happy at your workplace?

CoffeemateCNA · Sep 11, 2010

It really depends on the day. Some days I get off work and wonder why in the heck I was stupid enough to pick this field. But then there are those days that make all of the crap worth it, like when a resident refuses care by everyone in the building except for me, so that special arrangements have to be made to get me in there with him/her. We get so many new people, sometimes the residents are just having a terrible day and want somebody they actually KNOW and trust. That makes me :). So overall, yes, I am pretty happy.

I still do get mad by the empty promises that we get daily from management. I have been hearing these same things over and over, and I have stopped believing and stopped trusting anyone that has their own office.

I have been at my facility long enough that I have become somewhat of a "veteran" CNA (although it's not like I've been there for 20 years or anything). Just a few people have been there longer than me. Otherwise, I remember when most of the people were hired, and even trained several of them. It's nice when other CNAs, even nurses, come to me for help or questions about the residents. I have many stories to tell them about my residents. Some of them have only seen the residents in the last few months of their lives, bedbound, incontinent, unconscious. I like being able to say that I remember when so-and-so was on *** hall or when they used to live in RCF and relay funny stories and interesting facts from their past.

NiquiCNA · Sep 12, 2010

I work in a hospital.. absolutely love it. I work in assisted living PRN and I like that too.. but not as much as hospital, and it doesn't pay as much. As for the rest of the nursing homes I have worked in the past (4), due to incompetant and uncaring management and CNAs, I mostly dreaded going to work. CNAs get degraded for many reasons.. and many of them should never be CNAS.. but for 8$ an hour.. you can't expect too many quality individuals.

DreamyEyes · Sep 12, 2010

On most days no, but I love our residents.

oregonbeach · Sep 12, 2010

I think the most frustrating thing for me, is small things that could be fixed with almost no cost. For example, we are not allowed to have linen carts on our floor, or store linens in a patient's room. The theory is that all is planned: Mrs. X usually has a shower at 9am Friday, so we go to her room armed with appropriate showering and bed change linens. Of course carefully carrying 10lbs of fabric away from our bodies without touching our uniforms.

Reality is that there's a call light on and Mrs. Y made it to her toilet with a walker, but didn't get her clothes down in time so there's feces all over her, the floor, the side of the toilet. Seriously you think that I can turn on a light and get help? Or get a janitor? You really need both. No, I have to run only 20 feet if I'm lucky, but maybe up to 60 feet if I'm around the corner to get supplies.

This kind of garbage takes so much more time and away from patient care, but linen carts (even covered ones) are offensive to the visitors.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Sep 12, 2010

Not really. I'm usually really stressed out because of the nurse we have on our unit that picks on everybody all the time. When she's not there things are waaaaay better but I still feel like I put in so much extra effort for the residents and it goes unnoticed, or a suck up takes the credit for it, and after a while that really gets you down. For instance, if we finish early I will cut nails for almost the entire floor while everybody else stands around talking. Then 2 days later someone else will cut one person's nails for the first time in 6 weeks and they get a gold star for it. These gold stars are given to all the staff, and they affect your employee evaluation. Do I need a pat on the back for doing extra stuff? No, but don't give it to someone else!

Plus I'm tired of some of the other CNAs and their mind games. And tired of the call-offs and the short-staffing

JDZ344 · Sep 13, 2010

Not really. I am unhappy that our staffing numbers have been cut, and I can not handle my workload now. I HATE that I have to cut corners. I hate that management don't care about that.

yousoldtheworld · Sep 13, 2010

Well. Yes and no.

I love, love, LOVE my residents, and I love working with MRDD peds as opposed to geriatrics.

I do not like a lot of things about the way the facility is run - low pay, bad staffing, iffy management...but I like working with the kids so much that it is worth the bad stuff, too.

LaterAlligator · Sep 13, 2010

For the most part, yes.

At the facility I work at, I've already given my notice which of course makes it easier to let the little things roll off my back (passive aggressive notes by management in the shift report book, ridiculous oversight things like counting the # of washcloths we use in the soiled utility room to supposedly make sure we're doing pericare, etc.). I love my residents there, and really enjoy 90% of my coworkers. I like the faster pace and I always feel good whenever I make a good "catch" on something that needs to be fixed for a resident (skin issue, care plan update, etc.) and then it gets done and makes their life better. But I'll be leaving that one at the end of this month.

At the homecare agency, I'm very happy right now. The old staffing coordinator is gone, and the new one uses common sense :idea: and actually thinks about how best to utilize our time and plans our schedules to minimize unnecessary driving. I get to be pretty close to all of my regular clients but still have a new one every now and then to mix it up. The only thing I miss is the medical aspect, since in that role I can't do vitals or anything. And of course, no coworkers, so it's a bit lonelier if my client is very quiet or naps or whatever.

Millergirl0802 · Sep 13, 2010

Not really..I love my residents and working with them.I dispise most of my co-workers for many reasons.

DreamyEyes · Sep 13, 2010

I guess I should clarify my above post. I'm not happy most of the time because of management. You can't go to them about ANYTHING (even concerns with a resident) for fear of becoming looked at as a "tattle-tale". The aides who go above & beyond for the residents never get appreciation, but those who are friends with management and in the "clique" get rewarded, although some of them do not toilet residents enough, and in their free time sit around talking while the other aides are busting their butts. I have seen cliques everywhere in the workplace- that's not what bothers me. It's the fact that this clique stems from management, which is really unprofessional IMO.

However, I do love most my co-workers (both nurses and CNA's) and we really work together as a team. So I am lucky in that respect. And like I said before, I love our residents and that will never change.

DreamyEyes · Sep 13, 2010

Not really. I'm usually really stressed out because of the nurse we have on our unit that picks on everybody all the time. When she's not there things are waaaaay better but I still feel like I put in so much extra effort for the residents and it goes unnoticed, or a suck up takes the credit for it, and after a while that really gets you down. For instance, if we finish early I will cut nails for almost the entire floor while everybody else stands around talking. Then 2 days later someone else will cut one person's nails for the first time in 6 weeks and they get a gold star for it. These gold stars are given to all the staff, and they affect your employee evaluation. Do I need a pat on the back for doing extra stuff? No, but don't give it to someone else!
Plus I'm tired of some of the other CNAs and their mind games. And tired of the call-offs and the short-staffing

Wow, do we work at the same place?? I feel the same exact way you do. It really does make a huge difference when you work with a nurse who appreciates you. We have an AMAZING nurse at my work who appreciates us and makes sure to say thank you to us whenever she can. She also helps us change and turn patients, and answer call lights. She was an aide prior to becoming a nurse, which I think makes all the difference in the world. I always know that when I work with her, it's going to be a good night.