Depressed about job experiences as CNA

[Krissy NY]

Hi everyone. I always get great feedback here so I have decided to once again share my experience.

I am a new CNA (5 months now) and I became a CNA to dip my toe in the water of nursing. I also learned of the nice tuition reimbursement packages many facilities offer and wanted experience in human services.

I have worked at two facilities and resigned from both, not because I did not like the work or because I didn't love my residents, because I had a very hard time with the other CNA's and some of the LPN's.

Now, I am a very quiet shy person, I think some of the CNA's took my demeanor as "stupidity". I am not sure, I only know I was ordered around, teased (you should be blonde, where is your brain) for something as simple as not shutting a closet door I was taken over the coals..and if it wasn't to my face it was behind my back and repeated to me later. This happened at both places so I said "I quit".

*I have shared this with my boyfriend and he has said things like "you are very pretty and ofcourse woman are going to give you a hard time" or "well you are the new guy and you have to earn their respect"

No. I say as the new quiet shy person I was always going to be given all the hardest residents, all the showers, all the dirty work and I did it only to have them go to the RN and tell her I was "Lazy"....although it was obvious to them I was not.

I am ready to go to school for something else. I don't even have the self-confidence to go on another job interview for CNA. I am sick over the fact that these CNA's who are basically high school drop outs with major problems have intimidated me out of a job. I admit I am shy and soft spoken and I do have my dizzy moments like everyone does at times, but I have had people absolutely hate me and want me to get into trouble or lose my job over my little quirks, even physically hurt me. I am a good worker, my residents were clean as a whistle, turned correctly and safely and I care very much about them.

I am embarrassed for even mentioning the "pretty" thing...but when he (boyfriend) said that I remembered them making fun of me because I never took the elevator always the stairs and joking about my dieting and not having to wear makeup. I also don't smoke and apparently that made me a real "miss priss"

I refuse to go through this again. There were a few LPN's who had attitudes toward me...but they were miserable people. Maybe I made a big mistake getting into this field. Women DO NOT LIKE ME. Sure, the residents did and their families also...but if you can't get along with your co-workers it makes for a very unhappy week. I would even bring in bagels for them once in a while, chip in for more then my share for pizza so others could have some. Never again. I just can't figure out why I always get this treatment from women. I never ever had any problems with the male CNA's or male nurses. It is effecting my life in a negative way and depressing me. I guess that is what these individuals wanted, to hurt me. They succeeded...I am unemployed and depressed.

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

Don't let 'em get to you, K. They're probably jealous.

You sound real nice to me and competent. If you truly dig the field (lots of opportunities for a young person like you), search out a better place. Use your prior experiences as lessons learned about the workplace.

All the best to ya!

[mstewart]

You pick up your chin and keep on going with what you want to do! If you like the residents and you like the work, don't let anyone stand in your way. You sound like just the kind of person those residents needed. And i think your boyfriend was right. I think your co-workers were intimidated by you. Maybe by your looks, but most certainly by your level of care and not whining about things-oh and working hard.

Just like with any job-sometimes you don't "fit" in certain cultures and it makes going to work a nightmare. It happens everywhere-not just nursing. I find it happen with a number of different scenerios.

Don't give up!!

[shllby1]

Dont let them get to you, we need people like you who make sure the residents are clean and turned, i too have had my fair share of problems with other cna's i have been one now for about 10 yrs, but i love nursing and there isnt anyone that is gonna keep me from it, i am starting school this semester towards my RN and i hope you get back out there because we need more people like you in this field!!!! Good Luck:nurse: Michelle

[llg, PhD, RN]

You may to develop a thicker skin. Wherever you go and whatever type of work you choose, there will be other people in your work environment -- both male and female. You will probably not like all of them, and some of them won't like you. But that's just the way life is and you will have to learn to get along with them.

Perhaps the facilities you chose to work in were particularly bad in that the CNA's were, as you describe them, "high school dropouts." In some places, many of the CNA's are nursing students who, like yourself, are younger and using the CNA job as a stepping stone to a nursing career. You may find that you get along better with other CNA's who are more similar to you in age, background, etc. You might want to try working in such a place (such as an acute care hospital) before you give up on the entire nursing profession.

Also, you said that you had only been a CNA for 5 months and had already given up on 2 jobs. That means you didn't stay on either job for very long. Sometimes, you have to give a job several months before you "settle in" and become part of the group. New graduate nurses in ICU's usually take a good year to settle in. You may need to give co-workers a longer chance to get to know you and to accept you as one of their group.

Good luck,

llg

llg

[alk3rainbow]

I remember when I was doing my cna clinicals...we'd get a fifteen minute break and a 30 minute lunch break and we were only there for 6 hours so I would never eat on either. I'm unemployed so I don't exactly like wasting my money on pop and candy bars anyways, but my classmates would always give me such a hard time about it. They'd do it in a playful manner, but it was rude. Females are rude. Females are also jealous. You do need to try and stick a job out for awhile though...quitting two jobs in such a short period of time is going to make it hard for you to be hired anywhere else.

[J Lynn]

Krissy, you should look into working in a hospital or a doctor's office. I know of one dr's office that is paying for an employee (she's not a nurse, cna, or MA), to get her RN at a local university. She never even considered nusing until now. So If you can get in with a good group of doctors (usually the newer ones are best), then they will want to keep you around and treat you with respect.

[jen13jo]

Krissy- My heart goes out to you I know what your talking about. You just need to keep at it and sooner or later they will get whats coming to them! NO- seriously, you cant let people like that upset you. I experienced that for a long time at my work, I am a float in a hospital so im never consistently in the same spot. the nurses were so :angryfire rude it almost made me laugh out loud. I work hard , get my work done, unlike the ones cracking jokes on everyone who are sitting on their butts! They are the ones who are losing -being angry and jealous is not how I want to spend my day! You will look better in the long run, I swear! Don't let them get to you! JenRN

[jaimealmostRN]

You know what, I wouldn't last long in LTC either. It's just not my thing. Why don't you FORGET being a CNA in LTC, and go interview at hospitals in your area. NURSING IS FAR MORE THAN LTC, you can work in L&D, a med-surg floor, pediatrics (which I think you'd like), etc. Go to a hospital and interview for a PCT/CCT/Nurse Aide position. Or go back to school and get a Medical Assistant cert. (doesn't take too long I think) and work in a doctors office. When interviewing be creative wtih you LTC expirence (never say they were rude/stupid/mean/bad, you wont get the job). Say something like, "I enjoyed the medical aspect of it, but I think my place is in an environment that helps children/laboring mothers/post surg pts./outpatients."

[Sundowner]

Krissy,

Don't let these bad experiences get in your way. My advice to you, if you love ltc, stick with it, God knows ltc needs loving careing hands. I say that instead of considering your self the interviewee...you be the interviewer. Get yourself a couple of prospective homes you could consider working at and forget that you are being interviewed....go and check the place out...you can get a sense of a facility fairly quickly by hanging out at the nurses station for about ten minutes. You can get a very good feel for environment if you tour the facility with your eyes on whats going on, rather than being nervous over the whole interview thing. Think of it as this facility needs to sell themselves to me rather than the opposite.

There are places out there where *****ery isn't common practice, where the goal is the care and the staff are all on the same page and fighting the same fight.

God knows that working with women can be a nightmare. Ya have to remember though...being cute has its price....ya gotta let it roll off your back, smile to yourself and thank your god that you are who you are, inside and out. I highly suspect you are as beautiful on the inside as you are outwardly, which is a double whammy for the miserable masses. If you were a pritty witch...then you would be just a witch..ya know what I mean?

If worse comes to worse...try and grow a ugly mole on your face...one with a big hair comming out of it....lol.

[ham22]

sounds to me like the other girls are just jealous of you. i had this problem in high school and actually ended up dropping out (at 15 years old) because it became too much to bear.i wish that i wouldn't have let their jealousy bother me to that exteme, but here i am years later, an lpn with a happy life and every time i think of how those girls picked on me and called me stupid or a "dumb blonde" i just get such a laugh out of it because i ended up doing better for myself than any of them did. i guess their teasing fueled my fire and maybe you should let it fuel yours as well. girls are just nasty to each other sometimes. especially if you are pretty and in shape. you and i have alot in common. i also never took the elevator at work-i thought it was faster to take the stairs anyway. i also got teased about not eating much-i never had the time to eat. i don't smoke, and i don't have many female friends. (it is hard to trust other females after years of teasing from them.) anyway. do not let these jealous girls rob you of your dream. if you want to be a nurse go for it! if someone picks on you just suck it up and think to yourself " you know someday i might be their boss!" good luck to you!:balloons:

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I'm sorry you're going through this. You sound like an awesome CNA.

Good advice above. Don't give them any power over you. Don't let them walk all over you. Also, I think you are projecting your own lack of self-esteem on them and presuming they have all these negative thoughts and jealousies.

Good luck in whatever you do. Life is too short to be so miserable wherever you go. :)