CNA's that dont work with the elderly?

foreverLaur · Dec 2, 2009

hello there. I was just wondering how many of you are CNAs but do not work with the elderly. Instead you work with maybe infants, kids, young adults... If so what type of job is it?
Can you work in a daycare with a cna liscence? Is cargiver the same as cna? would like to know thanks!

The CNA class is geared solely towards long-term care. They do talk about a wide range of ages because you can get that in LTC, but that is the sole basis of the class. Make sure you take the BLS for Healthcare Providers class through the American Heart Association if you want to hold any sort of CNA role.

Hospital rules and LTC rules are pretty different. I work on a hospital on a melting pot floor. We are surgical/oncology primary, medical secondary, and trauma overflow. I pretty much see everything.

My hospital uses CNAs on the trauma floor and in the NICU. We are an adult hospital, so we don't have a lot of pediatric patients, but I know the Children's hospital does use CNAs on most all floors.

Misslady113 · Dec 3, 2009

I work in a nursing home that has a mixture of young and elderly. The age range is 29 and older. We had one resident that was 21. No children though.

topher-67 · Dec 3, 2009

Just like the previous post...I too work with a wide age difference. Youngest is 33 all the way to 105! A lot of nursing homes are a pretty good mix of ages, especially the ones that are Nursing home/Rehabilitation centers. It's a preconceived notion that all nursing homes only care for the elderly.

CNA's work in private homes, group homes, long term care, mental health and most hospitals. Usually in hospitals CNA's get more training and work as PCT's (Patient Care Tech).

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 3, 2009

There are also OB techs who are specially trained to work with moms and babies. That's about as far away from the geriatric population as it gets.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Dec 4, 2009

Where I work the residents are all old, which is fine with me because I love old people. Our rehab patients tend to be younger, but still quite a bit older than me.

I think with home health you get a wider range of clients. I used to do private care on a woman and she had home health aides come in once a day to help me bathe her and they had elderly, sick kids, and disabled/cancer/morbidly obese people of all ages.

Katie89 · Dec 6, 2009

I work in the birthing center, GYN and pediatrics. I work with literally all ages. Most nights (I work third shift) I'm in the newborn nursery, some nights I do GYN (mostly a middle-aged to older population) and some nights I do pediatrics (0-18 y/o.) On nights CNAs don't do much for the new moms; the nurse usually does it all in order to wake them as little as possible. Days and PMs do, though.

The only thing CNAs don't do where I work is labor (they have one-on-one nursing care before the baby is out), and the NICU doesn't have much need for us, though sometimes I float there if they are really busy.

If you have more specific questions just let me know.

CNA1991, CNA · Sep 18, 2011

I work with the elderly but I am also trying to transition into working in something different. Most hospitals that cater to children/infants require experience and some other certifications besides your CNA (The state I come from is california, and they are strict about things, your state might not be as strict). My plan is to get atleast 6 months experience and then get PALS, ACLS, and Acute CNA certification and apply to a specialized clinic for children or a pediatric home health agency. If you want to work at a certain place that is not for the elderly, it never hurts to call and ask what they are looking for. Also, in terms of working in a day care, you can't work in a day care with a CNA license alone, and it doesn't really count as CNA experience unless you work at a special needs day care. If you try for a special needs day care, you will also need your assistant teachers certificate (which, in my state is two ECD classes) and then you should be good to go. Good luck!:)

yousoldtheworld · Sep 18, 2011

I work at a children's home, which is a long term care facility for developmentally disabled kids and young adults. THe residents I take care of range in age from 4 to 50, most of them being teenagers and in their early 20s. I love love LOVE it.

Saysfaa · Sep 18, 2011

Nurse techs in the ER are CNAs. They work with all ages.

AJ_427 · Sep 19, 2011

I work at a facility for children and young adults. Our youngest one isn't even a year young and the oldest one is not even 60 yrs old. They are all disabled one way or another. I think it's much better than geriatric LTC facilitiesl

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 20, 2011

I used to work at a psychiatric hospital that catered to children and younger adults (under age 65) because it did not have a geri-psych unit for elderly psych patients. Therefore, the psych techs did not deal with elderly patients. The psych techs were CNAs who were hired and trained by the facility.