Worst part about being a cna

Nursing Students CNA/MA

Published

Attention all cnas tell me the worst part about your jobs

The low pay for the amount of work that we're doing. I'm still in school and getting ready to start nursing school. I'm struggling to pay my bills as is and the stress of this job does not help.

The low pay for the amount of work that we're doing. I'm still in school and getting ready to start nursing school. I'm struggling to pay my bills as is and the stress of this job does not help.

Amen I totally agree. What state do u live in?

Specializes in Geriatrics.

I'd say the chronic understaffing and heavy workload that often goes hand in hand with working in a nursing home. Don't get me wrong, I love to work hard and rising to the occasion, but I don't like feeling like I can't keep up with the workload, which is how I felt sometimes in the nursing home especially if we were short-handed that shift. The worst part was the guilt I felt for not being able to give my residents the care they needed and deserved. However, I'm now working in an environment that doesn't have these problems and love it.

Also, some of the really rude, nasty and hostile co-workers I've encountered since starting this line of work. I realize difficult co-workers are everywhere, but it seems somehow worse as a CNA. I suppose due to the fact that this is a high-stress line of work, and some people don't know how to handle stress, so they take it out on others. I just do my best to try and not let people get to me, and do my job. You're there to do a job and take care of people, after all, not make friends. But it can be hard at times, especially in LTC where the job is so dependent on teamwork.

Specializes in None.

I agree with above posters-low pay, extremely hard work due to understaffing. Thank God I will not be doing this all of my life. But it is wonderful experience for those going for nursing, and that is why I am a CNA.

I'd say the chronic understaffing and heavy workload that often goes hand in hand with working in a nursing home. Don't get me wrong, I love to work hard and rising to the occasion, but I don't like feeling like I can't keep up with the workload, which is how I felt sometimes in the nursing home especially if we were short-handed that shift. The worst part was the guilt I felt for not being able to give my residents the care they needed and deserved. However, I'm now working in an environment that doesn't have these problems and love it.

Also, some of the really rude, nasty and hostile co-workers I've encountered since starting this line of work. I realize difficult co-workers are everywhere, but it seems somehow worse as a CNA. I suppose due to the fact that this is a high-stress line of work, and some people don't know how to handle stress, so they take it out on others. I just do my best to try and not let people get to me, and do my job. You're there to do a job and take care of people, after all, not make friends. But it can be hard at times, especially in LTC where the job is so dependent on teamwork.

Amen I totally agree with you. I'm sorry about your dad. You are in my thoughts and prayers. My father died last summer at age65, he died peacefully in his sleep but he had a possible heart attack in his sleep accorDing to the med examiner, he had cardiac and respiratory issues but took his meds nebulizer treatments and watched his diet. He was continent alert oriented social and had a great long term memory. I'm still grieving his loss but moving on slowly I want to work for hospice home care or group homes so I can give my patients the 1:1care they deserve I'm sorry ur dad had cancer I lost a beloved dog to a brain tumor 3months after my dad passed I also lost a few close family friends to cancer anyway the hostile coworkers are the worst and their childish drama I haven't got a raise since 2009 and I bust my back at the job and it's my 6th year at the nursing home I work at. I looked else where for a job and became EKG certified but the economy isn't great at least I still have a job

Imo, there's this weird condescending attitude that some nurses give off to CNAs. It's as if some assume that we're all mentally handicapped, lazy, and with no future in site (despite the fact that some of us have more college education than some of the nurses that act in this manner). Anywho, I've finally gotten over it and have accepted the fact that some people behave in this condescending manner because they have their own unresolved personal conflicts. I now laugh at this behavior and continue to work hard in school and at work. Eventually, all of this hard work will pay off!

Specializes in Pediatrics, ICU.

Amen I totally agree. What state do u live in?

South Carolina

Specializes in Critical Care.

South Carolina

Hey hun...i used to work ltc and im here in tn (so hey neighbor! :) ) i agree with you...i live the patients but the atmosphere wasnt for me. The stress was too much and i went back and got training in phlebotomy so hospitals will favor my skills as a pct. My facolity had a rehab wing and thats where i exceeded...the ltc side were crazy spoiled and combative with the aids. I got min wage and i wanted the experience. It ended up being too much for me and left. Have you chdcked your local hospitals or rehab centers?

I think the wear and tear on your body, in particular your back, is the worst part of it. When I worked in LTC I felt like a human hoyer lift some days. All I did was get people in and out of wheelchairs, on and off the toilet, and in and out of bed who can barely stand and were almost completely dead weight.

Everything else about the job gets easier the longer you do it, but the lifting part always sucks and doesnt get any easier. Then on top of that you are expected to treat some of these people who are dead weight like they are delicate china that has to be treated with extreme care when moving them, which is easier said then done, which is why the people saying something about it are almost always the people who are NOT the ones doing the lifting, such as family.

All it takes is seeing a couple coworkers wind up crippled for life to sour you on this part of the job forever.

Lots of hard work and very little pay. Other than that, I love working with my residents.

I think the wear and tear on your body, in particular your back, is the worst part of it. When I worked in LTC I felt like a human hoyer lift some days. All I did was get people in and out of wheelchairs, on and off the toilet, and in and out of bed who can barely stand and were almost completely dead weight.

Everything else about the job gets easier the longer you do it, but the lifting part always sucks and doesnt get any easier. Then on top of that you are expected to treat some of these people who are dead weight like they are delicate china that has to be treated with extreme care when moving them, which is easier said then done, which is why the people saying something about it are almost always the people who are NOT the ones doing the lifting, such as family.

All it takes is seeing a couple coworkers wind up crippled for life to sour you on this part of the job forever.

This ^ and also the lack of discipline for CNAs who didn't do their job properly and terrorized other coworkers with schoolyard nastiness. Also, in the places I worked at there seemed to be way too many people working in activities. If you're going to overstaff activities, and understaff CNAs, please don't complain about the CNAs. You don't need 4 people to turn the TV on, or manage board game activities for the 30 of them that show up to activities. Just my two cents.

+ Add a Comment