Have work conditions for CNAs gotten worse?

[northernguy]

It seems to be a common experience that CNAs are at the point of quitting and fed up with where they work. This seems to be the rule rather than the exception. It is certainly the case where I work. I'm wondering if this is something that has gotten worse in the last few years or whether it has always been this bad. I've only been a CNA for just under a year.

When the rest of the economy went south, I think a lot of people jumped into health care, and becoming a CNA is kind of the quickest and easiest route into the field, at least pertaining to education (it certainly isnt the easiest when it comes to doing the job). As a result I'm wondering if the market isnt flooded with way too many CNAs, and as a result work conditions and job security are going down hill.

I guess I'm basically asking people who have worked as a CNA for a long time if it seems like things are worse now than they were.

[blackandyellow]

In my experience there is also a higher demand for nursing homes that are also skilled. I work at a long term care facility per diem and a hospital full time but when I started at the nursing home five years ago it was mostly long term care and I would say now it is about 50/50 with skilled. I have seen people with bachelors degrees who lost their jobs become CNA's because they need an income. I have also seen more people come and go then there use to be. Another reason is a lot of new RN grads cannot get jobs without health care experience so they will work at a nursing home as an aide or RN for 6 months get the experience and move on. I think the residents are more demanding with the skilled rehabs because they are completely with it and have certain routines that can be time consuming. Sometimes I am in a room with one that feels like forever and I come out of it to find my resident with Alzheimer's managed to get into trouble while I was in there not watching him/her. At the same time I do enjoy being able to have a conversation with a resident that is skilled and get to know them. I think CNA school at least where I live doesn't prepare you for the demands of the field and I see a lot of people realizing this field is not for them. It is a hard job to do if you don't enjoy it.

[yousoldtheworld]

In my experience, it has. It seems to me that facilities are taking advantage of the bad economy. They know that in some areas, CNA jobs are hard to come by (because as you said, everyone and their brother became an aide when people started losing their jobs in other areas)...so they can get away with horrible staffing and terrible pay. They know many of their aides have to stick around, because they don't have any other options at the time.

For example, they haven't changed the starting pay for aides at my facility in 7 years. 7 years ago, starting out at $8 an hour plus shift differential (15 or 30 cents, nothing to write home about) wasn't too bad. Now? It's almost an insult. But the better paid facilities have stacks of applications a mile high to go through, and it's a children's home...so once you start working here, you often get too attached to the kids to leave, even if you get a better offer.

[pca_85]

Yes. I've been doing this for 9 years and this is the worst I've ever seen it. I mostly do homecare and work minimal shifts in a facility to stay state tested. I feel bad for the residents, they're the ones that really suffer from the poor staffing. Though CNA's do feel it. It's an exhausting enough job when you're fully staffed, much less when working short