Mc Donalds pays more for CNA with 8 yrs exp

chocolate_eyes585 · Feb 15, 2005

Some areas pay horribly. Others not so bad. I last made $6.50/hr as an NA (took hospital course) in 1984-87 while going to school for my RN. It was in a hospital in Baltimore. The work was hard, but not awful like it is in a nursing home. I can't believe people are still working for basically the same wages I did almost 20 years ago. I think we are somewhat underpaid as RN's, but that CNA' and LPN's are grossly underpaid. I am not sure what my current employer pays CNA's, but I do know WALmart pays more because many leave to work there. How pitiful is that? No wonder we can't get quality people in many LTC facilities. I know many elderly have to have a large amount of assets to get into some of these facilities that are paying their caregivers a dismal wage. Hmmm? Wonder who's making all the money.

Ok im currently working as a sales rep at EXRESS yea love fashion, but my real passion is nursing so i was gonna stop and be a CNA while i am going through nursing school, some say even though the work sucks its rewarding, can hear some honest good stuff about being a CNA, I wanna hear your real horrible stories to, then maybe i can really make a educated guess on whether or not i should stay in fashion through nursing school or a CNA, Lets hear some stories!!!! :yeah:

CA CoCoRN, RN · Feb 17, 2005

Ok im currently working as a sales rep at EXRESS yea love fashion, but my real passion is nursing so i was gonna stop and be a CNA while i am going through nursing school, some say even though the work sucks its rewarding, can hear some honest good stuff about being a CNA, I wanna hear your real horrible stories to, then maybe i can really make a educated guess on whether or not i should stay in fashion through nursing school or a CNA, Lets hear some stories!!!!

If I may opine: I worked while I went to Nursing school. I had a pretty good job as an accounting administrator in a/p & a/r...they were flexible with my hours, and even though my ultimate profession would have little to do with what I was then doing, they were very supportive. Therefore I stayed where I was for as long as I could. I would recommend that you do the same, if conditions at your current job are pretty 'OK'. You will learn all that you need to know regarding the basics of patient care in the first portion of nursing school, so that "extra experience" is not really necessary. Basic patient care is mostly what your role is about as a student nurse, until you are further toward the end. So you should have sufficient time to get comfortable relating to pts, etc.

If you just want to say that you were a CNA first...then go for it...but it's not required (most places I know of...at least in CA).

I worked as an uncertified/unlicensed "tech" during the very end of my college because I had to quit my full time gig (kid probs). Many hospitals will allow you to work as a "tech" once you have completed the first quarter/semester of nursing practicals.

I will say that getting in the hospital during the end of my schooling was indeed beneficial because it meant I was already part of the organization, I could "get in good" with those I needed to in order to make segueing into employment as an RN much easier.

CA CoCoRN, RN · Feb 17, 2005

Actually, I've met CNAs who have worked long term at a hospital (5+ yrs) who were making $22/hr. (This is Northern California, folks.) I also met a housekeeping person who worked at the County hospital for 20 years who was making about the same.
NurseFirst

Yeah...but in Northern California the cost of living is HIGH!!! The RNs are paid $45-70/hr from what I hear and they're unionized. Union hospitals tend to be paid more. Some colleagues of mine SCABBED up there late last year because a couple of unions went on strike and those were the wages that they reported receiving. So keep in all in perspective.

A nice house up there will cost you on the up side of $500K.

germain · Feb 19, 2005

Yes, in LTC CNA's are paid very poorly, but here in Seattle metro area, home health aides get 10-12$/hour with agencies, and I get 15.50 as a hospital aide , this is all with a minimum of 2 years experience ( I have 11). That still isn't much, but its more than burgers. Good aides leave LTC and go elsewhere, and you all know who is left.

THink of what animal specialists at the zoo get paid to feed monkeys and tigers, its a LOT more. Its just SO SAD that long term care is so awful. I keep waiting for the public outrage at our McNursing home mentality.

I am almost through with my nursing pre-reqs and started because I want so badly to make things better for aides. I wanted to study management. This is something I feel very strongly about. Now I don't know if that's possible, It seems like such an uphill battle.

I am also involved with SEIU and I want to encourage all of you to try and UNIONIZE your aides. State paid homcare workers here in Washington are now unionized and they get paid near 9$/hr plus low cost health insurance. Thats still peanuts, but its better than 5 eyars ago when it was 6.15 w/o Benifits. Nursing homes are seeing similar gains. There is a new push to unionize these workers! Thats where the hope lies, if it lies anywhere. :balloons:

nursemike, ASN, RN · Feb 19, 2005

This is not an easy problem. Where I work, as an escort, support staff are union, but nurses aren't. I am so looking forward to getting out of my union! Wages/benefits are OK, not great, but after six years I make $10/hr (9something base) and have decent benies. Aides used to make 0.35 more, but got bumped up a pay grade in last contract, now about 72 cents more than me. $1400 a year is worth thinking about... and both jobs beat flipping burgers. I think entry for an aide is now just over $8/hr. It isn't enough, but I'm not sure how you pay for a lot more. Medical costs are through the roof, as it is.

I think nurses' aide is good prep for nursing school, but any clinical job is some help. I also think anyone working full time in healthcare should be safely above the poverty level, at least for a single person at entry, and enough to raise a kid or two with experience (experience is very valuable--even in my lowly job, I know enough to make a big difference in a bad situation, even if it's just when to scream for a nurse!)

On a related issue, patient loads for aides are typically too large. A really good aide can do good care on 8, occassionally, but 6 is more realistic, and no aide can be thorough with twelve.

Of course, I fully intend to be the sort of nurse who doesn't kill the aide for my six patients. I plan to be a team player and get right in there with the blood and the poop and the body parts. I also expect that nearly every graduating nurse thinks the same thing. Guess I'll be finding out soon what happens. I do work with a number of nurses who live up to what I expect from myself, so it's going to be hard to just sit in the report room and give orders.

uh, I didn't finish my thought on unions. They have their place, but all too often mine will fight tooth and nail to keep someone on so I can do their job, along with mine.

germain · Feb 19, 2005

Yeah, I hear you that unions can sometimes seem to cause problems when they support workers who are lazy. IN theory those rules are meant to make it hard for staff to get fired without reason, but sometimes there IS reason, it jsut needs documentation.

Certainly the benifits of fighting together to get better pay and staffing ratios is worth it. If we don't band together management will just squeeze us little people for everything we've got. THEY NEVER HAVE OUR BEST INTEREST IN MIND- ONLY $ AND PROFIT.

Still, unions need to work on their image problem. Unions are the ONLY way workers have ever gotten benifits, but they too have interests, the workers are not always on the top of their list. I believe strongly that if more people got involved and demanded better leadership from our unions, we would get it.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Feb 20, 2005

I have to admit, I've never been to one union meeting, so it's not exactly fair to complain that my voice isn't heard. On the other hand, for the first few years I worked there, a fair part of the union membership wanted badly to do away with my job classification, which doesn't exactly encourage loyalty.

My personnal experience with management is that they want me to be happy and fulfilled in my work. We have 2000 employees, and the CEO calls me by my first name. Of course, we're also a not-for-profit corporation, which reduces a lot of the pressures. We were in the red my first two years, and in a business, that's pretty dire. Wasn't a picnic for us, either, but now that we're running in the black, we're not under intense pressure to increase profits. For us, the issue is more to do with reducing costs.

It all ties together, though. Today, I had to throw away several opened packages of Dri-Flo chucks (we also do the terminal cleans in patient rooms). Had nurses and aides been more careful to open one pack at a time, we'd have saved a fair amount of money. That same pattern, unit-by-unit and day-by-day, amounts to enough to pay for real improvements--better equipment, more staff, bigger bonuses, whatever. But how to get people to see that? A lot figure it just goes to by the bosses a new Mercedes, so why bother?

Eh, if I knew the answers, I could be one of the bosses.

LydiaNN · Feb 20, 2005

Yes, it does happen here, too. As far as I know, none of the fast food places give their line staff enough hours to qualify for health benefits, but there are places that pay a premium for the lunch rush. OTOH, my husband works for one of the major fast food chains, and the majority of his staff only earn slightly more than the $6.75 minimum wage in this state.

bobnurse · Feb 20, 2005

we had a CNA leave to be a waitress at a restraunt.....

We had a CNA leave to be a secretary....

We had a CNA leave to work at walmart.....

and We had a LPN leave to become a manager for a 7-11

The list goes on and on

nursemike, ASN, RN · Feb 20, 2005

I worked with a nursing student in the same job as mine. She left to be a waitress. She made $168/night in tips. Cute girl. She's a nurse, now. Talk about dedication to the profession.

oldcurlyrn49 · Mar 9, 2005

Hello,

First allow me to introduce myself, I am new to the forum.

I am an RN currently working on a 12 bed peds unit. We have a 16 year

old high school student working on our unit as a CNA. Apparently there is some new program in place to recruit students interested in pursuing

an RN degree. She makes $10.35/hour, does not know how to make a bed

or how to screw a nipple on a baby bottle. To make matters worse she

was told she would be assisting RNs during procedures IVs, caths etc...

She does not feel it is her responsibilty to pass pt. trays or get them

up to the bathroom, which is something we all do on the unit, no matter what your title. Oh, and she no longer wants to be a nurse, its too

gross, and there is too much paper work.Her only motivation to work is

to buy a $300.00 designer purse. I would think we could "find" a nursing

student who genuinely wants to work peds, don't you?

germain · Mar 9, 2005

Hello,
First allow me to introduce myself, I am new to the forum.
I am an RN currently working on a 12 bed peds unit. We have a 16 year
old high school student working on our unit as a CNA. Apparently there is some new program in place to recruit students interested in pursuing
an RN degree. She makes $10.35/hour, does not know how to make a bed
or how to screw a nipple on a baby bottle. To make matters worse she
was told she would be assisting RNs during procedures IVs, caths etc...
She does not feel it is her responsibilty to pass pt. trays or get them
up to the bathroom, which is something we all do on the unit, no matter what your title. Oh, and she no longer wants to be a nurse, its too
gross, and there is too much paper work.Her only motivation to work is
to buy a $300.00 designer purse. I would think we could "find" a nursing
student who genuinely wants to work peds, don't you?

Yes you could. A regular run of the mill CNA would do better. Let 16 year olds volunteer, not work, in nursing homes.