CNA jobs!

bethin · Dec 2, 2006

Hi, all, I am starting my CNA class on Monday and I was just wondering what types of facilities you all work at!? Also, what are your duties and hours, and what you like/dislike about your job? I am not sure exactly what field I wanna go into so I was just wondering what all my options are. Thank you!

I work in med/surg and ICU. I got my hospital position with no hospital experience and only after having my certification for a few months. In the hospital I'm responsible for accuchecks, vitals, weights, bathing, feeding, answering call lights, getting UA's, hemetesting (testing to see if their is blood in stool), I&O's, and charting. In ICU I'm responsible for all of the above but it's more intense.

I've floated to OB and there I was responsible for watching the babies while the nurses were in delivery or busy. I fed babies, burped, checked o2 sats, heart rate, respirations, weigh diapers, etc.

I've been in codes and there an aide can't do much, but I can bag a pt, run and get things that the dr or nurse may need, do compressions, etc.

RNfromMN, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2006

When I got certified, I'd heard enough horror stories about nursing homes that I was bound and determined not to work in one. Just about the only other option I could find (I don't know why hospital didn't come to mind) was working with the developmentally disabled. 99% of my patients were wheel-chair bound, a good percentage were in vegetative states, most were tube fed and only a handful were verbal.

Hours: 2-10:30 p.m. & I worked a lot of doubles (2:00 p.m. - 6:30 a.m.) for overtime.

Duties: The most pts any of could have was 5. Once I got out of report, I had to get pulses and respirations on each of my pts. Only the LPN could assess blood pressure and temp, for whatever reason. Our policy was that the longest amount of time someone could be up in their chair was 2 hours & every pt has to be up in their chair 2x per shift, so I would leave my pts that had to be in their chair for dinner @ 5:00 in bed and get my tube-fed pts up in their chairs right away(3:00). Around 4:00, I'd get the pts that actually ate their dinner up in their chairs, then put my tube fed pts back down in bed. 5:00-6:30 was spent feeding my pts dinner. After dinner (6:30), time to put the pts that ate back in bed and get my tube fed pts up in their chairs for a 2nd time. After I got them up (7:30), I went back to get my pts that ate ready for their baths, gave them their baths and got them back in their chairs again for their 2nd time. Then (8:30) went back to my tube fed pts, gave them their baths and got them into bed for the night. Our policy was that all pts had to be in bed for the night no later than 9:00 - I generally ran late :) After their baths, time to get the tube pts into bed for the night. Other duties I had was making all my pts beds up, dumping bags of laundry and charting.

Likes: Loved, loved, LOVED my pts. Mentally retarded people are a blast. For the most part they are sweet as can be and hilarious. Every pt I worked with had some little quirk - one would just laugh and laugh when she heard the sound of drapes being pulled, one would have tempers & scream bloody murder until you started saying the Pledge of Allegiance, one would pretend to snore when you came into his room and told him it was time to turn him...and these were all pts that couldn't talk! One kid I took care of had elephantitus (sp?) and if he didn't want to be bothered would tell me, "They're calling you." I'd say, "Who's calling me?" He'd say, "They are." One 15 yr old kid would crawl around on the floor and yell, "I need a cigarette!" or chant, "I'm gonna break your car, I'm gonna break your car!" Okay, enough...I could go on FOREVER here.

Dislikes: Politics. We were union and some of those gals knew their way around the system like the back of their hand...call-in after call-in after call-in. And it was frustrating dealing with some of my pts family members. The ones that even came around to see their kids, that is. One little boy I just adored suffered a stroke during birth and I found in his chart that dad had full custody and mom had recently done some time on drug-related charges. Didn't take a genius to find out why this little boy had a stroke, and was therefore going to be developmentally and physically disabled for the rest of his life. Anyway, she came to visit him once and was just BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS, habitually scratching her arms, obviously high.

That's my CNA experience synopsis. Sorry I let it run so long

Spring_Peeper · Dec 2, 2006

Hi mistiffy,

I work in a long-term care facility that also has some beds for restorative care (for instance, people who are just in there to heal a broken hip and get walking again).

Hours: day shift 7 AM- 3 PM. I work every other weekend and get one weekday off per week, never the same day. I actually like the varying schedule.

Duties: Get report from charge nurse. Then boost some people up in bed, transport some to the dining room, rouse others. Pass out breakfast trays and then feed those who need help. Meanwhile listen for call bells, as there are some who will need to be toileted right after they eat. Pick up trays and document what everyone ate. Bathe and dress the residents on my assignment (which changes every day because I "float" - some CNAs have the same assignment every day). Weigh and take vital signs if nurse asks me to. Make beds and tidy rooms. Transport people to activities if they want to go. All the while listen for call bells. Check in with other CNAs on my wing to see if they need help. We often have to work in teams to do transfers. It's good to help others if you have time, because what goes around comes around. Let the nurse know if I saw anything unusual going on with the residents. Then it's time to transport people to the dining room for lunch. After lunch we team up and make sure everyone is toileted, put people down for naps if they want, and transport others to activities if they want. We take around a hydration cart in the afternoon, offering drinks to anyone who is awake. Doing documentation takes a good twenty minutes usually, and sometimes the CNAs do it together. If I have independent residents I go around and ask them if they had a bowel movement yet today (at first I was embarassed to ask this, but they are all so used to being asked, it wasn't a big deal). Other tasks that might come up are documenting the belongings of a new resident, cleaning belongings out of a room after discharge, transporting a resident's belongings from one room to another, assisting the nurses with treatments, going to the basement to restock supplies, going through residents' toiletries to make sure every item has their name and room number on it, ambulating patients, calming wandering patients, locating residents' lost items, checking that batteries are charged, tidying common areas, delivering newspapers, comforting families who are visiting a dying resident, and just plain listening to residents that need to talk.

Things I like: I like all of it! I especially like ambulating residents, because I enjoy seeing them get stronger every day, and they get so cheerful and hopeful when they feel their strength coming back. I also especially enjoy making beds and tidying rooms. I enjoy seeing the look of comfort on a resident's face after they've had a chance to go to the bathroom and they are all clean and dry, or you just gave them a nice cup of coffee, or you simply gave them a big smile and a hello as you passed them in the hall. I enjoy being the first one to notice something important in a resident, like if a diabetic resident is getting shaky or someone is starting to get a rash. I really enjoy just getting to know the residents and chatting with them. That is the best!!

Things I dislike: I have been a CNA for 6 months now, and I'm not as fast or competent as the ones who have been at it for over 10 years, so I dislike that I am always the last one they pick to team up with when we do rounds. That will change with time, though!! I dislike being told I have to get someone up and dressed, even if the resident cries, "No, no, no, don't bother me!!!" just because the family insists upon it. I GREATLY dislike that speed is the top priority. There are some residents that are needy for company, and I am forced to tell them I can't talk right now, because my supervisors don't want me spending my time that way.

It's a very rewarding job. I hope you will be blessed to work with as many nice people on staff as I have been. That makes a big difference, too. Whatever you end up with, you can always add to the positive aspects for everyone by being kind and speedy. Good luck!

mistiffy · Dec 8, 2006

Hi all! Thank you for your replies, they were all ver interesting and you all sound like you're great cna's! :biere: (hehe, i just liked those smilies and wanted to use them!) I started my class this past monday and it's been great so far and I think it really helps that the instructor is wonderful as well! I am a little scared about clinicals though, there's going to be 2 days in a LTC facility and two days in a hospital, so hopefully I do OK!! I really would like to find a job in a local hospital when this is all over, so hopefully it will all work out! Oh, I was looking at CNA jobs around my area at the hospitals and there were a few that stood out to me: one was in the NICU one was in Pediatrics, one was in Oncology, and one was in Orthopedics. Does anyone have any experience working in any of these areas? And if so, please share!!!!:monkeydance: