yes, I am a cna and for the most part i do enjoy caring for the residents esp the ones that you know could not care for themselves at all. What I hate is the way we get treated by management, seldom get raises, frequent call offs which make it hard on the rest of us, while 17 a piece is typical from what i hear, even people that have been doing this work for 12 years even 20 years have still found it difficult plus we've even had cases where we had all 34 to take care of. Will the nurses help, no way! Alot of nurses esp. lpn's act like they know it all and are above helping a resident they will track us down when we are feeding someone or answering 2 other call lights during tray pass at supper. this really rubs me the wrong way cause for the most part i have the same education level as these nurses yet they act like we're all just dumb aides that only know how to change diapers, get hit, yelled at, and work 16-20 hour shifts! I've put in alot of overtime, hurt my back, residents have fallen do to impatience of waiting for their one aide who is busy with 33 other residents! And for what? Many nurses won't even talk to us like we're even half way smart and won't pay attention when we say somethings not right with a resident. This happened to me one night. I came in the room and found a very frightened resident, almost 105 temp, tongue looked swollen, confused, spitting dentures out, shaking, face looked discolored, eyes pucky and red, told nurse he didn't believe me, i said no you really need to have a look at her and so he did and that poor lady was sent to the hospital within 30 minutes!!!! she had sepsis probably rt the dialysis treatment poss? some days i like work other times like yesterday, i forced myself to go kicking and screaming, well not really but boy was i upset. i tried to call off the don gets on the phone and basically cut the crap that i needed to be there. so i went. it's so hard to be good myself when i see other ones missing practically every other day, coming late, leaving early, wanting you to fill in for them cause they had plans or have kids! I had one aide following me around for about a month prior to christmas wanting me to take her place that day, well she called off anyhow! so how can i keep my cool even when it's a sh^**y situation at work? i suppose it could be worse too.
Yes LTC is just one disaster after another. I am just working on call nights at the LTC now. I use to work full time nights at the LTC but it was too much for me. I have been lucky. The CNA's are really good at this LTC. I would say 99% of them work their b#### off.
Specializes in Ultrasound guided peripheral IV's..
After reading the 3+ pages so far on this thread, I felt that I should let everyone know that this just isn't a problem in LTC, but in hospitals as well.
I threw in the towel on the Saturday I returned to work after suffering a lower back strain while helping a PT transfer a Rehab patient back to bed.
You know, I have sat here for the last 20 minutes trying to formulate my response to this thread, and my blood is just boiling remembering how I was treated as a CNA in this situation, and I just can't write it. You all would send me hate mail for it being so darn long!
Just let it be known, that this is a problem which is industry wide, it's not just a problem in Long Term Care, it is everywhere. It all revolves around the great bottom line, THE BUCK!
I am so sick and tired of hearing management spout off about "CUSTOMER SATISFACTION" I could spit nails, but that is another thread all unto it's self, and one which I am thinking about starting! What ever happened to employe satisfaction anyway?
Sorry guys, I am ranting now, just know that it is not you it is just the sad way things have become in the great old USofA.
I left LTC a long time ago (back in the 80's) and I ain't never going back. I loved it there and I loved the patient contact but even then you had these same old problems.
We had QMA's (Qualified Medication Aides) to help pass meds. One night I was way down the hall giving meds and my QMA was way at the other end giving meds. All of a sudden I heard this blood curdling screaming and crying and I ran down the hall checking rooms for the source only to find my QMA wrestling with a patient trying to force her to take some medicine. This old lady was in her 90's and had paper thin skin and now had a skin tear from her right wrist all the way to the elbow. I was horrified and beyond mad.
I immediately treated the tear, wrote the incident up, sent the QMA home and called my director of nurses who said yes, I had done the right thing and she would take care of it the next day.
When I reported to work the next day at 3 pm, I was promptly called to the administrators office and CHASTISED because I made the QMA cry and I had been mean enough to send her home early knowing that she needed her money. When I tried to defend myself I was told that old people get skin tears all the time and I had no defense for my actions. They had obliviously not looked at the size or ugliness of this skin tear or concerned with the fact that this QMA was assaulting this patient and trying to force her to do something she oviously did not want to do. I left the administrators office and went directly to the director of nurses office where I turned in my notice. My only regret was that I was not there when this ladies family came in. I heard they were very very upset with the situation and her grandson, a brand new lawyer itching for a lawsuit, was pressing for something to be done about it. Thank God I charted it all well.
OMG!!!! A skin tear from her wrist all the way to her elbow!!! How awful !!! And they had the nerve to chastise you for making the QMA cry??? :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire
I ran down the hall checking rooms for the source only to find my QMA wrestling with a patient trying to force her to take some medicine. This old lady was in her 90's and had paper thin skin and now had a skin tear from her right wrist all the way to the elbow.
HELLO! Assault and Battery is a criminal offense! You absolute did the right thing. I am sure, in their more lucid and mindful moments, like perhaps in a court room, administration would have to conceed that your actions qualify as "making a difference" even if it wasn't to their liking.
You have to have skin about 1inch thick and be able to take a daily "beating" and keep on ticking and be willing to accept the fact that you could be discarded as an unfortunate casualty of war at any given moment. Hats off to all of you LTC workers!
I am the DON of a 109 bed facility. I am soon to resign this position. I have been in nursing for 25 years, in many roles, most of them supervisory but I can no longer take the stress of LTC management. I initially started at this facility in another role, but was encouraged to take the position of DON. I did not really want to, but I thought that it was a good career move, and that if I could at least get sone experience like this under my belt, then who knows where it might take me. I understood that it was not a 40 hour per week job, but I never anticipated the exact nature of this statement, nor what challenges would be faced. I am an excellent clinician, a good nurse and a kind person. I feel that I have had to do things that bother me, in the sense of personal relationships and and dealings with others. I have never done anything dishonest, or wrong. I have always tried to put my residents and staff first and meet their needs. I have put the needs of my job before my family and I can no longer do this. In my position, I felt as though it should be at my discretion as to when I would need to be in the building and when I would be able to be with my family, but I was mistaken. I have averaged 57+ hours in my building weekly and this does not include the time I am on call, which is 24-7. Anytime my building has called with a concern or a problem, I have been there. I was told that I could pick my son up from school on Mondays and Thursdays,(before I took the job) and then I was told that I would not be allowed to be out of the building for that time period, that I would have to make other arrangements. I was also taking music lessons with my son one night during the week (after work hours), but I had to stop because I could not get off work on time to practice or take him. I was told the facility needs came before the needs of my family. I cannot agree with this. I afford these courtesys to my staff, I allow them to be flexible with theri schedules to accomodate the needs of their families, and I was verbally repremanded for this. I have been told to write staff up, when I did not feel it was appropriate, when I felt that education was what was needed. When I voiced my opinion, I was told that it was not my decision. I am a responsible person, I take my job very seriously. When I assumed this position, I was given no oirentation, I was shown some log books and told to make sure they were kept up to date. I have done the best I could. Due to the time that I am not able to meet the commitments of the care of my son, my husband has lost work, as he has had to cancel appointments, or rearrange his schedule to accomodate my ever-changing one. I am not paid for the over-time I put in, therefore we have lost money due to the extended child care needs. I am also not saying that it is all about money, but I do have commitments. I do not want to sound like "poor pitiful me", but if I were paid for 1/2 of the overtime, then I would not be as stressed financially as I am. I am not ashamed of the job I have done. I did my best, but I can no longer continue to do this. It is a shame, as I do love my residents, and my staff and I feel I have done some good things. This is one of the reasons why we cannot keep good nurses in LTC, the burden is unbearable. Thanks for letting me vent.
And so I read many of the posts here, and wanted to say that I have so much good to say about the CNAs and aides with whom I worked in long-term care. These were good people who worked hard.
And then to hear that YOU were chastised??? :angryfire
Blackcat99
2,836 Posts
Yes LTC is just one disaster after another. I am just working on call nights at the LTC now. I use to work full time nights at the LTC but it was too much for me. I have been lucky. The CNA's are really good at this LTC. I would say 99% of them work their b#### off.