CNA questions! HELP!

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I have some questions below:

1. I haven't gotten a job as a cna yet and I wanted to give it a try, but I have forgotten some of the skills and am worried that when I am hired I will not know what to do. Do you have anything to say on that or is there any way I could freshen up my skills? (I took the cna course last summer and am certified by the state.)

2. Do clinics such as Prevea, Bellin, or Aurora Baycare take cna's? If they do what rolls do they do?

3. Is there a facility that takes cnas for children or any other facility for cnas other than a hospital or long term care?

I am asking these questions because I want to work as a cna but I hate all the messy work that goes into being one. I was hoping there would be a cna role that would do different things. I was thinking about a hospital but I am afraid that I will mess up on lack of knowledge and I just don't care too much for the messy work that goes into doing that. I always thought that there were cna's that worked in clinics or hospitals that got trained to do different work and different roles.

I am working on getting my bachelors in RN and need some extra money so I thought of trying a cna role.

Thank you!!

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If you worked as a cna, it is different that the way you did it in clinicals. Whole different story. But if you did become a cna in a facility, that is a chance to learn it the right way(if you lost your skills) and the way it's done in facilities. Have you tried home health/hospice or sitting? That is a lot less work than a nursing home.

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I was thinking of sitting or home health, but I'm not sure. Thanks for the idea and reply!

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What do you mean by "I want to work as a cna but I hate all the messy work that goes into being one?" What specifically do you mean by messy work? I've worked in several different places as CNA: LTC, rehab, Hospital as a float tech and now the emergency department. In my experience while you do learn specific skills depending on what unit you work on, and the flow of the shift can be different there are fundamentals that never change. For example having to do ADL's, toileting, cleaning up patients (vomiting, incontinence), vitals, showering, feeding etc.

I'm a little concerned because you said that you want to become a nurse and I'm worried that you think that as a nurse you wont be expected to do any of the 'messy things' a CNA does. In a lot of places this is not the case as you might not always have a CNA on hand. The few exceptions might be working as a nurse at a medical clinic, urgent care facility or at a school.

I agree with Fibrobalst in that things are very different from the skills test you do. Don't worry though because you do get trained on your floor and you will have 4-5 shifts where you shadow a CNA and learn where everything is and specific skills for that unit. So I wouldn't worry too much about 'messing up'.

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Specializes in ICU Stepdown.

I agree with previous posters saying that you could be a sitter. Sitters don't have any to do any messy work! Good luck!

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I don't mind doing ADL's, I know I will be doing it sometimes when I am a nurse, but I don't want it to be a job that I do 20 times a day. Like you said the few exceptions would be urgent care or a medical facility which is what I 'm trying to find out if CNA's can work and be trained there for small jobs other than ADL's. Thank you for your input!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

Actually, some sitters do have to do the "messy work". Each job is different. Unless you work in a medical clinic or doctor's office or such job, you will be doing messy work. Also, please know that as a nurse you will still do messy work. I have been a CNA, an LPN and now RN and I have done the "messy work" for the past 24 years. It is part of most nursing jobs.

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You should rethink your career as being a RN because you will be doing a lot of beside care and everything else that comes along even if there's CNA's. You shouldn't worry about doing "messy work" your dealing with human beings young and old that need help and care. Being a healthcare provider is taking in the job you trained for no matter what disaster comes along.

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Thanks for your info nursejoy1. I just want to make it clear to everyone that I don't mind the work of a cna, I just don't want to do it for my whole job!! If anyone can answer my questions instead of keep telling me this that would be great!

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You could always try a hospice. Not everyone likes hospice. Either an inpatient hospice or home hospice. They seem to be the most quiet. In home hospice, you are sitting most of the time, turning every two hours. You have to clean up the patient (and probably have to do laundry) but you are working by yourself and don't have 12 other residents.

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I don't know anyone who likes the messy work of a CNA role. However, that is just a small portion of what a CNA actually does. Focusing on the things you don't want to do completely defeats the big picture. CNAs often have a better idea of what is going on with patients than the RNs do because we are with the patients more than the RNs.

As far as becoming a RN? The ones at my hospital do more messy work than I do as a CNA. They are the ones who dig out impacted patients, clean oozing, infected wounds, suction patients who are swimming in oral secretions, and deal with uncooperative and combative patients who have yanked out IVs and are bleeding all over the floor, placing Foley's, and doing lady partsl exams.

Just some food for thought.

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I don't know anyone who likes the messy work of a CNA role. However, that is just a small portion of what a CNA actually does.

Hope i'm using quote function right..

Haha i actually enjoy the messy work. Body fluids have never bothered me and I get to talk with the pt while showering and such... Im a weird person who would rather clean up code browns than make beds for example.. just a freak like that

And you are right, we do so much more as CNA than just the ADLs and messy things...

Also, in my hospital RNs are expected to provide basic care, for am shift they each end up with 1-2 showers, toileting and call bells + the messy nursing duties such as wounds, suction etc...

I've done a lot of sitter shifts (which leave nurses with no CNA and force them to do all the care with smaller pt ratios) and i do all the CNA duties for the pt i'm sitting with. Usually dementia+UTI confusion and delirium, it is not easy to keep them safe.

Have u come up with some ideas of where to work since you posted, OP?

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