I HATE Working as a CNA in a Nursing Home (RN student)

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I tried to find the appropriate place to put this and thought this section was right because I want advice from nurses who has been in my situation.

Have any of you RNs that worked as a CNA in a nursing home experienced belittling by the older CNAs/and SOME LPNs because of being an RN student.

Its almost as if every conversation they(LPNs) start with me, it ends up being why they had to clean up an RNs mess once upon a time. I even had one that said RNs are only better at documentation and charting and LPNs are better bedside. I'm honestly sick of it. I never told them I was in RN school. My supervisor did because I told her for obvious reasons.

Then there's the CNAs who project their feelings upon me for not going to school to further their education so now they're stuck at a dead end job.

I'm honestly thinking about quitting and finding a job in the hospital as a tech. I only have one year left.

Any words would be kindly appreciated.

p.s. I work 10-6 night shift and I'm prn. I have slowly dwindled my days down from working 3-4 days a week to one day a week.

Whether CNA or licensed nurse, I began to look at the job performance of those who were critical or made fun of my nursing student status. Amazingly, those who dished out the negativity were not the caregivers who were doing a good job. When I came to that realization, it became easier to dismiss their comments as not worth my time.

Specializes in Psychiatric RN & Retired Psychiatric CNA.
Whether CNA or licensed nurse, I began to look at the job performance of those who were critical or made fun of my nursing student status. Amazingly, those who dished out the negativity were not the caregivers who were doing a good job. When I came to that realization, it became easier to dismiss their comments as not worth my time.

Thank you! That's actually a really good way to look at it. There are nurses who are absolutely amazing and they are certainly not the nasty ones.

Something similar happened to me. But one of my cousin actually said it to me. She worked in a hospital. Suddenly, she turned her back on me bc I am a BSN student. "I feel like we do all the dirty work while the RNs get the pay."

Working in the Healthcare field, you'll get a lot of this. As a BSN-RN student you can learn how to open your eyes to what they mean. Most of the care partners already know your scope of practice and so explaining what your scope of practice won't make a change. Changing the subject is "bandaid nursing" not going to help either.

Nursing is patient centered, all HCP are there for the patient. Together lets learn how to respect each other. Prioritizing is critical. Patient first. Last but not least deal with the gossip and talk to manager if things doesnt change. Worse to worse, get a new job and continue with school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never give up for someone who is probably not happy with their pay and have made you the target.

Please become a RN and show the world what you have to offer!

Specializes in Psychiatric RN & Retired Psychiatric CNA.
Something similar happened to me. But one of my cousin actually said it to me. She worked in a hospital. Suddenly, she turned her back on me bc I am a BSN student. "I feel like we do all the dirty work while the RNs get the pay."

Working in the Healthcare field, you'll get a lot of this. As a BSN-RN student you can learn how to open your eyes to what they mean. Most of the care partners already know your scope of practice and so explaining what your scope of practice won't make a change. Changing the subject is "bandaid nursing" not going to help either.

Nursing is patient centered, all HCP are there for the patient. Together lets learn how to respect each other. Prioritizing is critical. Patient first. Last but not least deal with the gossip and talk to manager if things doesnt change. Worse to worse, get a new job and continue with school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never give up for someone who is probably not happy with their pay and have made you the target.

Please become a RN and show the world what you have to offer!

Thank you! There's nothing getting in between me and those two letters! Thanks for your kind words. :)

Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Quit (appropriately) after you have secured a new job at a hospital. The lowest direct hired job in a hospital, in my opinion, is a world better than most nursing home jobs. Further, now people will know you and when you graduate as RN you have an "in."

You'll find plenty of bullying and belittling in the medical field and sometimes it is worth simply walking away to find something better.

The best "revenge", if the salary is worth it, is to be able to invite them to your graduation/pinning ceremony in a year. Fake smiles are encouraged. :)

The attitude of jealousy is quite prevalent. Not everyone has had the opportunity to become an RN.

Some have had the chance but have not succeeded yet or have passed up the chance. You won't be able

to run from it, although maybe it will not always be so prominent.

When confronted with this jealousy, I generally have remarked about it - something like - Are you in school?

Are you planning to go to school? With your work experience, you'd probably not have too much trouble

becoming an RN, which seems like what you would like to do. What are do you think you'd prefer to work in?

Peds? OB? etc.

In other words, I try to give them some encouragement while also getting them off of my back. I can't help

it that they are not yet RN's, but some people have a very long row to hoe. They have had to forego school

so far because of having to care for sick family or poor advising and little help in obtaining financial aid, having

kids to care for and various other hardships. Maybe they need tutoring or transportation. Remind them that

every problem has a solution.

Try taking an interest in the situations of those who harass you. Inspire them if they are open to achieving

what they see as their dream. Help them get school counseling and financial aide information. You will

likely have made some new friends, perhaps friends who remain such for a long time.

Best wishes.

Specializes in Psychiatric RN & Retired Psychiatric CNA.

Update:

I have accepted a tech position at a hospital on the Geri-psych unit. It's is the best job I could ever have as an RN student. I would recommend any RN a student to forget about the nursing home and only apply to hospitals.

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