Duties of an overnight certified nursing assistant

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · May 25, 2013

That will vary greatly based on your facility. One thing I can tell you is that a lot of patients don't sleep at night, so you will probably stay very busy :) COngratulations, BTW.

avaloncar, BSN, RN · May 25, 2013

Congrats! As the previous poster said, it really depends on the facility. But you may still have to do bed baths if not in the middle of the night but it may be before the day shift comes on. You will still have to check on the patients (rounding), turn the patients every 2 hours and assist patients with what they need, because even though the night is for sleeping, it doesn't seem to happen in the hospital lol. But once you start your orientation, they will give you the run down of what is required. They usually start you on days even though you will be working nights.

Good luck!

calivianya, BSN, RN · May 25, 2013

It's pretty much the exact same as a day job. You have all of the same tasks to do. The biggest difference between day shift and night shift is the amount of times patients call out for help... it's usually less frequent during the night because at least some of the patients are sleeping. Night shift is basically more pay for less work. You can't beat that. :)

funtimes · May 25, 2013

calivianya said:
It's pretty much the exact same as a day job. You have all of the same tasks to do. The biggest difference between day shift and night shift is the amount of times patients call out for help... it's usually less frequent during the night because at least some of the patients are sleeping. Night shift is basically more pay for less work. You can't beat that. ?

I found day and night shift to be VERY different in LTC. Not as different in a hospital. In LTC on days you are getting people up, showering and bathing them, dressing them, feeding them, getting them to activities, and dealing with families and management, so its just a lot more work.

Night shift was usually a lot slower aside from having to continually do wet checks and repositioning. You no sooner got done with your rounds and it was time to start over again some nights.

Then at nights you have the sundowners who want to roam the halls all night or go to the bathroom every hour.

One thing I never had to do when I worked nights was give people showers. That sounds horrible to me, rousing people out of bed at 5 or 6 in the morning to give them a shower? geez.

Usually the only time I gave someone a shower is if they had somewhere to be first thing in the morning or they were an incontinent mess in the morning and were in the bathroom anyway and it was a shower day for them.

marsy82 · May 26, 2013

I agree with funtimes! There are also no meal services during night shift either which is a bonus, so you basically wait for Mrs Pee's a lot to call her bell every 20mins, reposition people and do wet checks. It's actually quite boring and the time drags, i'd much rather be kept busy but it is nice to have a break :)

downsouthlaff, LPN · May 26, 2013

I can tell you this.... Despite what you hear if your working in a Nursing Home LTC Night shift is alot harder in my opinion. At least during the day residents are up and about and do not have to be rounded on Q2.

But at night every Incontinent resident is In bed and must be rounded on Q2. But wait it gets worse. During the day there are 2 CNAs per hall at night there is 1 CNA per 2 halls. And if you run into lax situation with a couple of residents and you have to do bed strips your on your own. It's very stressful and very hard to work nights. My first CNA job I was a night aide at a Skilled Nursing LTC facility. After 3 months I resigned and took a day job 6-2 at another LTC Skilled Nursing Facility. I've been there a year.'day shift is alot ALOT easier and better IMO

mbraga92 · May 26, 2013

At our local hospital, we do hourly rounds on every patient. We get around 9 patients each. For those who are incontinent or bedridden, every 2 hours we change and reposition them. We do QC for the glumeters (CNAs do blood sugars), ADLs for every patient, wash one complete patient, pass ice water, and perform vital signs and necessary weights on every patient. Sometimes i love 11-7, sometimes i hate it lol.

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · May 26, 2013

It isn't duties per se that are giving you a pay bump. Incentives like pay increases for a certain shift are in my experience nothing more than that--incentive to work an unpopular shift (nights, weekends).

Congrats!

NurseBre94, ASN · May 27, 2013

Thank you all for your replies. It really helps me getting other people's perspective on things! :) BTW I work at a LTC facility with over 130 residents.

megank5183 · May 27, 2013

so much better at night!!! day shift is typically hell....i was a cna all during nursing school and it was the hardest job i have ever had. main duties are answering call bells...you might have to give some residents bathS closer to the end of shift. Also, you might have to do some cleaning or administrative stuff. Do whatever you can to avoid leaving day shift things to do that you could have done. Day shift is TOUGH work, so I would get really angry when night shift would leave me things that they could have done instead of hanging around. GL!!

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · May 27, 2013

Make rounds on your patients, keep their bodies clean, clean them up if they're dirty or wet, keep their beds clean and dry, position them so they don't have pain or get contractures. Don't let them fall. Give them something to drink every so often. Do vital signs, check blood sugars, draw blood and collect urine specimens. Notify the nurse of any problems or anything unusual.

Be kind and gentle, be vigilant, don't hide, help answer the door and the phone, get plenty of sleep before you go to work each night.

Do you have kids? Good babysitting arrangements? Reliable transportation?