CNA in LTC vs. a hospital setting

ChrisCNA · Jul 5, 2011

I would say loudness is the difference, you got nurses and doctors coming on and off phones and people conversing; which in a nursing home it tends to be more quieter since most of the times the residents are sleeping too.

lidleanjel · Jul 10, 2011

the difference is what you do when it comes to LTC and a hospital. I have worked both, but 3rd shift is my choice.

I currently work at the hospital. on 3rd not many people just the main floor staff. and you will see dr starting round usually after 630am. for 1st everyone and there brother are at the hospital. I get clausterphobic. and 2nd you have about half of the people then 1st shift but more family and friends of the patients. at LTC, kind of the same but only therapists (OT/PT) and extra coworkers

when it comes to the job...

hospital - vitals every 4hrs and sometimes more depending on the situation. i work surgical specialty (which is post and pre operations) so vitals could be every 15min if they coming out of surgery for a while. at night is is really satisfying the patients needs where IV beeping or need med (contacting nurse), taking to the bathroom or changing beds related to dirty. 3rd shift for the most part we do not bath patients unless needed because of accident. 1st and 2nd do the say but bath the patients and walk patients more often.

LTC- seems to be just more routine of 1st and 2nd will do bed baths daily or showers (our patients were always on a shower schedule of every other day was shower), getting people dressed and ready to eat at spefic meal time. on 3rd its every 2hr check and changes or toileting. then we did extra tasks such as cleaning wheelchairs or stocking extra areas.

I think you are just as busy at both times of places just different task. hospital has not true routine besides vitals at a specific time. Just my opinions

susanlwins · Jul 16, 2011

I work at a LTC and now also on the med/tele/neuro floor at hospital. The main difference to me is a)hospital you have a lot more support from nursing staff and management; b) hospital you will have a greater variety of levels of acuity, ie at the nursing home everyone is pretty sick overall, need a lot of care, and are not going to get much better, versus at the hospital you have people who are acutely sick but otherwise alert, and within an 8 hour shift can go from being bed-bound to only a standby assist. At LTC I had 12 people needing my help to get up, dressed, showered, and fed. In the hospital, I have 15 patients but roughly half of them are very acutely sick but can still get themselves to the bathroom & washed up and feed themselves - I just need to empty their foley and help them maneuver around in the room with their IV pump. I like the hospital a lot more already, because the nurses and CNAs are much more of a team, and if there is a problem with your coworkers, there is always someone up the chain of command to report a problem to who you can have assurance will actually deal with the situation and get it resolved. I feel fortunate to be working on a floor where that is the case. Make sure when you interview at a hospital or a LTC facility that you ask what the atmosphere is like with coworkers, not just generally but very specifically. Ask whether the nurses routinely help with call lights, peri care, etc. Ask if there is a good team atmosphere between nurses and cnas. They ask you about how you resolved problems in your last job - ask them too! How are disagreements resolved on the floor. Ask about their staff turnover ratio. If they are iffy about it and can't give you a number, chances are there is a very high turnover and they are just reluctant to say that. My floor, the staff retention ratio is about 93% yearly. If that is the case, you know people are staying because they are happy. Good luck!