CNA Help.....

[AricaE8707]

I am attending school to become a CNA and will graduate in 3 more weeks. I was just wondering what else a CNA can do besides work in a nursing home. I hear that basically all CNA's do is the dirty work like clean and stuff is that it? Could i be a receptionist at a hospital or somthing else? Thanks

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

Our CNA's do the vital signs, assist patients to bathroom, help the nurse with repositioning patients, remove foley caths (can not insert them though), change trash in rooms, perform bladder scans. They also keep track of Intake/Output so the nurse can calculate them. You can also train to be a PCA and do blood draws and fingersticks for glucose. Your facility should train you from CNA to PCA, usually just takes about a week or two. And yeah, unfortunately in alot of facilities the CNAs get the "dirty work" because alot of nurses refuse to do any of it. They delegate whatever they can. But then alot of nurses appreciate you because they truly could not do their job without you. You are providing personal one-on-one care to these patients and the patients truly do appreciate you. The CNA and nurse should work together as a team. You can work in nursing homes or hospitals, home health. Not sure where else you can work. Check around or ask your instructor. Good luck. You will do fine.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Post moved to the CNA Forum for continued discussion.

[kmarie724]

I'm a CNA in a nursing home. For the most part, my job is assisting residents with ADLs (toileting, bathing, dressing, eating, etc.) We also help residents who are able walk in the hallway with a walker daily. We have some charting to do, but not nearly as much as the nurses. Other than taking out the garbage in resident rooms, we aren't expected to do any cleaning. I wouldn't say that the CNAs do all the "dirty work". The nurses do plently of less than pleasent duties as well (eg: give supporitories, manually remove impacted feces, change dressings on infected wounds). You could be a CNA in a hospital rather than a nursing home, but I don't know how different the work expectations would be. I imagine that you would still help with toileting, bathing, etc.

[valifay]

The job duties of a CNA are pretty universal no matter where you work. For your first job I would recommend a nursing home because you will be able to develop your skills more profeciently there. You will actually be using everything you learned and possibly learning an easier/quicker way to complete tasks without sacraficing quality of care. I think every CNA should work for atleast a year in LTC for this reason. Assited living and most hospitals don't utilize alot of the skills you learn in class that you might need later...JMO though...

[bamwife06]

I Sm New To This Nursing Thing But What Is A Ltc?

[valifay]

LTC = Long term care

[AuntieRN]

I agree...LTC is the place to start if you really want to hone your skills. Being a CNA in the hospital setting is a little bit different (or at least that is what I have found), at our hospital the CNAs do vitals, empty f/c, incontinent care, toilet pts, turn pts, bath pts and feed them. However, I would say probably a majority of pts in the hospital can do most of these things themselves where in a LTC facility most residents need help with just about everything. Again this had been my own personal experience. Good luck to you in which ever venture you choose.

[Psychboi85]

Getting my CNA certification was the best thing that I ever did. I, however, have never worked in a nursing home a day in my life though. I work at a hospital as a PCT (Patient Care Technician) which is the same thing as a CNA. I prefer a hospital setting over a nursing home, mainly because there are different work areas you can go to. I work in the Adult Psychiatric Unit and our job is very different from the PCTs who work in Oncology. I've also worked as a Unit Secretary (Health Unit Coordinator, Unit Clerk) which I was trained to do on my unit specifically. I have to do dirty work too - that's just part of the job. It's better to think of it in terms of doing the work for the patient and assisting the Nurse to care for the patient. When you think of your job in terms of helping, it makes your job more meaningful. Trust me, I've often felt that I was a Nurse/Patient slave but when the day is over, it's empowering to think of all that patients i helped.

[Megsd, BSN, RN]

Another thing you can consider is seeing if you can become a home health aide. The duties are usually similar to in long term care (baths, changing depends, dressing) but can also range into companionship, housekeeping and other duties. I found it to be less stressful than a nursing home because I only took care of one patient at a time. I really enjoyed it.

[Scrubz]

I work at a hospital as a CNA right now and my job duties have pretty much been sumed up from the last few posts.

It's true that CNA's do a lot of the "dirty" work, but it's not like the "dirty" work isn't important too. I'm in nursing school right now and I'm glad I will have worked as a CNA before I start my nursing career. For one thing I'm getting used to the hospital environment. I don't get to do a lot, but I get to see quite a bit. Plus I get to interact with patients and people all the time so my people skills are constantly getting better, and that's what I'm most happy about pulling out of my time spent as a CNA.

Plus I get to help people, which is the most important thing of all. When people thank me for doing something it always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside!

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I'm a new NA, at my first position in a hospital. I looked into nursing homes as well, but in the end, the hospital was the best offer for me. The hospital did not require me to become certified or rotate shifts (although I do) as the nursing home did, plus I'm paid $2.00 per hour more than nursing home work. I do ADL's, vitals, blood sugar, I and O's, empty the foley and other drains, collect specimens for the lab, shave prep, make beds, and post-mortem care.