I'm a secretary right now and am thinking of becoming a CNA to get some hands-on experience in the healthcare field while I go to school to be a nuclear medicine technologist (if I can get accepted). I really love helping people (especially pediatrics) and I had a psychic tell me once that I have "healing hands" (whatever that means).
Anyway I need to know the down and dirty of being a CNA. I want your best and your worst stories. I want to know what all being a CNA means - do I just clean up vomit, change diapers/flush Foleys or is there more? I want to know if you love it - I want to know if you hate it. Nurses - what do you love about your CNA's - and what's your biggest peeve?
I have soooo many questions... Am I only assigned to one specific nurse all the time or do I get rotated? What if my nurse hates me? Am I assigned to only one area of the hospital or will I get to know my patients? Do scrubs come in tall sizes (I'm 5'8)? Do I have to do anything "needle-related"? Do I have to insert catheters? Are CNA's respected or do they just get dumped on? I noticed that most hospitals in the Dallas area want CNA's with 3 months experience or more - where am I supposed to get that if no one will hire me without experience??
HEEEEEEELP!!! Flood me with your knowledge and wisdom....
First of all - forgive me if I offended anyone with my choice of wording (i.e. -diapers) or if anyone felt slighted by my calling the duties "just". I have obviously displayed my naïveté with the finer points of this field of work. Please accept my apologies. :imbar
Secondly - I am REALLY EXCITED about this field after reading these posts!! Please keep the info coming!
I'm a secretary right now and am thinking of becoming a CNA to get some hands-on experience in the healthcare field while I go to school to be a nuclear medicine technologist (if I can get accepted). I really love helping people (especially pediatrics) and I had a psychic tell me once that I have "healing hands" (whatever that means).
Anyway I need to know the down and dirty of being a CNA. I want your best and your worst stories. I want to know what all being a CNA means - do I just clean up vomit, change diapers/flush Foleys or is there more? I want to know if you love it - I want to know if you hate it. Nurses - what do you love about your CNA's - and what's your biggest peeve?
I have soooo many questions... Am I only assigned to one specific nurse all the time or do I get rotated? What if my nurse hates me? Am I assigned to only one area of the hospital or will I get to know my patients? Do scrubs come in tall sizes (I'm 5'8)? Do I have to do anything "needle-related"? Do I have to insert catheters? Are CNA's respected or do they just get dumped on? I noticed that most hospitals in the Dallas area want CNA's with 3 months experience or more - where am I supposed to get that if no one will hire me without experience??
HEEEEEEELP!!! Flood me with your knowledge and wisdom....
Change diapers...yes
flush foleys... never
anything needle related.......never ever
insert catheters.... never ever
will a nurse hate you?.....chances are good.... (but thats not specific to you)
be respected?.....absolutely NOT .... actual NURSES arent even there yet
scrubs?..........yes they come in all shapes and sizes....
do cnas get dumped on?...........YES
move around?.....probably, they tend to send you where they need you, but you could work on just one unit, somewhere.,
experience?.......dont worry, plenty of places hire right out of the course, some ltc places even hold their own courses, hiring the participants
alot of physical work, your back will hurt, your feet will ache.
I dunno.... you said you want to work as a nuclear med tech? This is a whole different world, one that I try my best to steer people away from with all my might!!!! How about a phlebotomy tech? A medical assistant in an MD's office? Dont be a CNA.
I dunno.... you said you want to work as a nuclear med tech? This is a whole different world, one that I try my best to steer people away from with all my might!!!! How about a phlebotomy tech? A medical assistant in an MD's office? Dont be a CNA.
I get the feeling you don't/didn't like being a CNA...
Did/do you have more experience in a hospital or LTC setting?
Wouldn't I have to take the same CNA classes to be a medical assistant in an MD's office? What does a phlebotomy tech do?
Also - one thing I guess I should also explain. While I already mentioned that I would use the CNA certificate to allow me to work in a healthcare setting while I'm (hopefully) in school, I failed to mention that it's also going to give me a direct advantage over other applicants to the program since acceptance is based on a points system. I get extra points for HAVING the certificate (even if I never used it) and I also get extra points for actually working in the healthcare field (based on time worked).
PS - anyone know what the general salary range for a CNA in the Dallas area is?
will a nurse hate you?.....chances are good.... (but thats not specific to you)
be respected?.....absolutely NOT .... actual NURSES arent even there yet
scrubs?..........yes they come in all shapes and sizes....
do cnas get dumped on?...........YES
move around?.....probably, they tend to send you where they need you, but you could work on just one unit, somewhere.,
experience?.......dont worry, plenty of places hire right out of the course, some ltc places even hold their own courses, hiring the participants
alot of physical work, your back will hurt, your feet will ache.
I dunno.... you said you want to work as a nuclear med tech? This is a whole different world, one that I try my best to steer people away from with all my might!!!! How about a phlebotomy tech? A medical assistant in an MD's office? Dont be a CNA.
Wow, sounds like you either were a CNA at one time and hated it, or you had a bad experience with CNA's you worked with. As for Nurses respecting you, they sure do in our hospital. For every 1 nurse that seems to like to dump on us CNA's there are at least 2 handfuls that respect us and the job we do to help them. Given that a shift usually has 6-7 RN's it's hardly ever that I work with the 1 or 2 that seem to dump on us. Infact when the hospital I work at was going to eliminate CNA's altogether, the nurses banded together with their union and fought to keep us! I think being a CNA is very rewarding and I for one and so glad that I did it for 3 years before starting my nursing program. How is what we are doing (Scope of duties aside) really very different than what an RN does? I mean I know the meds, the invasive stuff, but we are still there and we still care and sometimes it is the CNA that gets to spend more time with the patient than the RN because of all the stuff the RN has to do. I for one love being a CNA and I hope that the original poster doesn't turn and run away from just reading this post.
Anyway I need to know the down and dirty of being a CNA. I want your best and your worst stories
Let me tell you a little story.
Once upon a time, I was a middle management "big-shot" that jetted to Germany, Japan, and all over the US for a large automobile manufacturer. I liked my job for the most part, and did it well. I was in charge of multi-million dollar projects. I oversaw everything from the basic design of the equipment, to setting it on the floor and getting it up and running. I did this for 15 years, and thought I was "doing my part". I thought it was a satisfying job for the most part.
I decided to quit for several reasons, 1- I was burnt out, and 2 I had always been intrigued about nursing. So I up and quit and am in my final week of Nursing Assistant training. I'll be a sophomore in a BSN program this fall.
My very first day in clinicals utterly negated the last 15 years of my life (in a good way).
My first resident was a frail elderly man that needed to be fed. He was on a pureed diet with thickened liquid, and I was REAL nervous because I had never done anything like this before.
When I walked in the room I could tell right away that his bed was soiled, he had slid waaay down in bed, and the air conditioner was blowing directly on his exposed skin--in short; he looked miserable (and a little neglected).
I spent the next two hours doing almost every "skill" that we had just learned in class: occupied bed change, peri-care, catheter-care, feeding, mouth-care (with dentures), shaving, and bed-bath. I found stage two decubitus ulcers on his heels and sacrum and reported it to the charge nurse.
He seemed to be somewhat confused the whole time I was helping him, but when it was all said and done, he used his good hand to grab mine, and just looked at me...
He could not verbalize much at all, but he didn't need to. His face was utterly beaming. I knew right then and there that I had made the right decision to quit my old job and get into nursing.
Those two hours helping that man were more rewarding than the entire collective 15 years at my previous job, and I am not exaggerating one bit.
The next resident cussed at me the whole time, and tried to hit me LOL. Oh well. :chuckle
First of all, congratulations on your decision! It takes a special person to work in healthcare, especially as a CNA.
You said in your post that you were especially interested in pediatrics. Before and during nursing school, I worked as a CNA on a pediatric/women's services floor. I loved it.
As a CNA, you are often the one with the most contact with the patient. You are in the rooms (usually) hourly, and because of this, you are usually the very first person to notice a change in the patient's status. You directly report to the RN (or LVN) for your patient. This is really important in children, because once they begin to "crash," they need quick intervention. I was often the one who first saw the crash and rallied the troops.
I checked vital signs on kids, did some charting (intake and output, vitals, baths, etc). I spent a lot of time making moms and dads more comfortable, and taking care of their children when they needed to step out and have a break. I bottle fed kids, changed diapers (much easier on kids than adults =), and colored with my patients. I gave them wagon rides, and comforted them after a painful treatment.
Some of the bad things I found when I worked with kids were hard to handle. Often in the pediatric population, you see child abuse (sexual, physical, and verbal). It's really hard not to grow too attached to these children, or to kick their mom around a little for not taking care of her child (fathers too). You also have to worry about not only the child, but making mom and dad (and the rest of the family) comfortable and informed. When a baby is in the hospital, mom and dad often turn into different people because of their fear, and can become quite hard to handle at times.
I loved taking care of children as a CNA, and it was invaluable when it came to getting my BSN. Since I had worked in the field for so long, I had a big advantage when clinical time came. Plus I had nearly stalked all the nurses in my spare time, and tried to absorb everything they did so I could learn what was good and bad for my patients. The longer I worked there, the more nurses trusted me and tried to explain their rationale, labs, treatments, and meds. They helped me with NS homework, and were wonderful.
I worked in OK, so practice issues may be different. I was able to discontinue IVs and Foley Catheters, teach and assist in ambulation, crutch walking, and wheelchair techniques, check blood sugars by finger stick, assist patients with activities of daily living (bathing, eating, grooming), and do basic life support in code situations. As nursing school progressed I was able to do more (as an extern).
I will advise you to get into a hospital with a good orientation program (minimum 6 weeks for CNA) and one that will work with you and your school schedule. Talk to some of the people when you take a tour of the hospital, and see how they like it. Again, good luck! PM me if you have any other questions, or anything I could help you with. I learned more in my years as a CNA than I ever did in nursing school. You just can't teach some of that stuff with a book.
Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.
onesmallpark, I PM'd you, but I have to add this: I've heard from some very seasoned nurses that if you can work LTC, you can work ANYWHERE. Talk about learning time management. And the money sucks, no matter where you go. But, there's nothing like having a LOL grab your hand and saying, "You're an angel sent by God to take care of me."
I'm NA in the ER and it will just depend on the unit you work in. In the ER after our NA's become techs they can do EKG's, draw labs, d/c i.v's, insert caths, and a whole multitude of other things plus the other CNA duties. But it takes a looong time before they reach that point.
Basically you will get stuck with the cruddy jobs but you can get a lot out of it. It will just depend on your state and hospital.
I will respect every single nurse aide that has my patients as an equal. I've been a nurse aide for years before becoming an LVN so I know what it's like. This will happen until they have lost my respect by not taking care of the patients properly, ignoring the basic things you need them to do, disappearing outside ever 10 min leaving rsdts that have self abuse and dangerous behaviors unattended, sitting down reading a book for an hour but complaining that they do not have time to give someone a bath that obviously needs it.
A great Nurse Aide takes pride in her work, cares about the folks she/he is taking care of and respects his/her coworkers (including the CN)
And a great CN does the same (including the NA)
hope that doesn't sound like i'm ranting or anything...thats just the way I see it. It takes special people to take care of others like babies, and then go home to take care of their own families. To me good NA's are the backbone of the nursing staff because they spend 90% more time with the rsdt and definately knows when something isn't right with them. When they say something is wrong, you better listen to them and check it out. They are advocating for THEIR pt.
change diapers/flush Foleys or is there more? I want to know if you love it - I want to know if you hate it. Nurses - what do you love about your CNA's - and what's your biggest peeve? 
onesmallspark
26 Posts
First of all - forgive me if I offended anyone with my choice of wording (i.e. -diapers) or if anyone felt slighted by my calling the duties "just". I have obviously displayed my naïveté with the finer points of this field of work. Please accept my apologies. :imbar
Secondly - I am REALLY EXCITED about this field after reading these posts!! Please keep the info coming!