first cna job was horrible

[smealtwinsmommy]

im new this forum and i just wanted to know if anyone else had an experience like me. i started at my first cna job last month in a nursing home it got so bad there with coworkers that i ended up quiting with not even a month in the place. my first day the put me with a girl who barely knew the place only been there 2 months by second day i was workin with the worst cna ever she reported me to the nurse for not properly helpin her boost someone up in the bed and that she hurt her back told them im not assertive and i leave people wet just straight up lies it came to a point were i realized the lpn and that cna were close and they started to target me following me around watching me do my job tellin other cnas not to help me and that was slow and bad and threating to write me up for someone not having there sheet one them. i went to the supervisor twice about my issues of their harrasment and nothin was done she simply said they have been here longer and know this job more than you do. i was so pushed to my limit i quit the other day. im hopin not all places are like this i dont wana give up on healthcare. any feed back would be nice :)

[Meiriceanach]

I have found that LTC is dog eat dog. Many years ago when I was a CNA I was constantly harrassed, used and abused and lied about. The nurses were extremely lazy, and the aids were mean. After about 4 months or so things did get better, you end up fitting in with the cliches. I stayed there for about 2 years before I went to a hospital LTC, and it was the same thing all over again. Used and abused, lied about and belittled by the nurses. I actually swore I would never become a nurse for that reason, but things changed when I went to the medsurg floor. It wasn't perfect, but it was a breath of fresh air.

[smealtwinsmommy]

i guess i broke under pressure but when im gettin yelled at by fellow cnas and the charge nurse for everything and anything even things that i had no control over was a bit crazy to me. hopefully i will find a job and know go in with some knowledge of how this places are run and what to expect. i walked in very naive and was told by a lpn that i was too nice to patients and baby them well i told her im not there to be mean to these people. its comforting to know that im not the only one whos had this experience but then and there quitin seemed my only option its funny when i said i was quitin they asked to me to stay lol they need me cause there short people but want to treat me like crap

[Everlasting904]

I have a very similiar situation like this at my job...some of the co-workers act just as nasty and WILL TRY TO GET U FIRED! ive been hanging in for 10months so far for the experience and the sweet residents we have and im currently in nursing school..I do truly believe that it isn't like this everywhere..might try home health when i finish school or maybe be a corrections nurse..I refuse to take the harassment now at work and that is the easiest way for them to get IGNORED! lol ..wish u nothing but goodluck

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Well... you're going to have drama everywhere. It's never easy to start out as a new CNA and people WILL give you a hard time for a little while. And throughout your entire career, no matter what it is, healthcare or not, not everyone is going to get along. That facility sounds ridiculous though. Every new CNA leaves people wet! It's because they're slow and that's to be expected. No one comes crashing out of the gate without making a few mistakes and the supervisor should have told those people to back off. Where I work I have seen girls gang up on someone. They were the ones to get in trouble. Even if the girl kind of sucked at her job, it's still not okay to bully someone, but that's the difference between where I work and where you worked. Obviously when someone is emotionally stressed out from being picked on, they're not going to be able to improve. I cannot imagine my DON telling someone, "Oh well they've been here longer" and not doing anything about it.

When you're new, you can expect to get the cold shoulder from people, and you can expect that some of your mistakes will get thrown in your face. So I wouldn't necessarily go crying to the supervisor every time someone looks at you wrong. But there's a difference between that and getting followed around and harassed.

Maybe if this happens again in your next job, you can ask yourself if you come off the wrong way or something. But so far it sounds like this facility was just really bad.

[katehensley, BSN, RN]

I agree with the other posts. There is drama EVERYWHERE. This sounds pretty bad but this sort of stuff is everywhere to a certain extent. You just have to stand up for yourself and take their criticism with a grain of salt. If you know that you are A. doing your job correctly B. not putting the patients well-being in danger. and C. learning from any mistakes you make, then I think you are doing great. At your next job dont be surprised if the enviornment is similar, but know that you've been through this before, and you can do it again. :)

Be strong and love your patients :) best advice I ever got. Thats the reason you're doing this. Dont let other people put you down.

[SoCalCrystal, CNA]

Three words......Home Health Care. You avoid all this. I love it. Great flexibility while in nursing school, pts start to think of you as part of the family, and no being at the bottom of the food chain.

On a secondnote.....dont take it personally. They are probably putting you through exactly what they were put through. A CNA is one of the hardest jobs out there and it takes a special, very resilient person to do it.