Hospital VS Nursing Home- which is harder for a CNA?

[matcha-cat]

I know both jobs are very difficult, but in my CNA course, our primary area of study is in nursing homes and that's where I've been having my clinicals. Consequently, I don't know much about the daily life of a CNA working at a hospital. In nursing homes, the CNAs basically own the floor by answering call lights and getting every resident prepared for lunch, taking them to the bathroom, etc. They keep things moving and happening. Since we're working with only the elderly population (sometimes we have slightly younger folks who are in there for chronic health problems) our job focuses on every aspect of our residents' daily life.

I know I would be doing the same type of work at a hospital, but I'm curious as to whether or not it's almost exactly the same, or if it's maybe slower since patients may possibly be more independent with a more diverse age group? I know working in a hospital will bring different tasks and problems, but when I think back to when I was hospitalized for 2-3 days for leg surgery, I was really only visited when it was time for medication/vitals, or when they were giving me my food or helping me use a bedpan.

I'm asking this question because I would like to work in a hospital when I eventually become a nurse, and I thought that getting experience working at a hospital as a CNA would be great experience and look good on future job applications. I've heard that some hospitals don't like taking new CNAs (because the work is harder???), and I've also heard that they don't like taking CNAs who have worked in nursing homes because they aren't experienced with hospitals. Just trying to figure things out. Thanks for your input!

[RainMom]

I wouldn't venture to say whether CNA duties are harder in one setting over another; they can both be very hard, physically & mentally.

Don't expect a slower pace in the hospital. There can be those magic shifts where independent pts outnumber the bed bound total care pts (but that usually gets ruined by everybody being isolation & anxiety ridden call light happy pts). The type of floor matters too. I started in ortho; NO ONE gets up without assistance so nurses & aides are constantly in & out of rooms to get pts up to the BR or recliner. Also realize some units do not even use aides at all; it's all up to the nurse.

Although CNAs in acute care have fewer pts, there are some things that are done more frequently like VS & just monitoring the pt's in general, hourly rounding. In acute care, you don't care for the same pt group for long extended periods of time like the months & years in LTC; this can be good or bad depending on your preference.

As far as who hospitals will hire, just apply & see; don't rely on what "they" say. Hospitals change their own guidelines all the time. Mine, at the moment, will only hire RN students as CNAs with the hope that they will stay to fill RN positions.

Good luck! You'll figure more of this out as you go thru school & have more clinical experience.

[Dormi93, RN]

I worked at both a nursing home and a step-down ICU as a CNA.

The main difference will be types of workload.

I found that you CAN (depending on co-workers) have a lot more help in a hospital because there are generally more nurses/cnas around. In my job at my step-down I had a lot less of a patient load but they have much more going in.

6 out of 12 are Q2 turns, don't forget at 9:30 right when all the nurses want VS/ HS VS checks done that room 6 is just coming off her post heart cath bed requirements and is going to want to get up for the first time and go to the bathroom but you can't leave because you need to monitor for complications so you can tell the nurse how she was doing when she got up. There goes your pager letting you know room 8 wants to get ready for bed but all the nurses are passing HS meds so it will have to wait until you are done in 6. Oh yeah, when did they want all 8 of those A.C. HS BS in again?

Obviously it will change every night because the patients and situation changes every day, which I enjoy.

You gain more responsibility after you start at a hospital unit because things can go very wrong very quickly. I had a lady who was on my unit because she was having exac PNA but she was also about 9 days post op for a Total hip replacement and when she was getting into bed she inverted her hip and broke her femur.

Just do what you enjoy. If you are in the field long enough you will most likely find your niche.

I remember before I worked at a hospital, and was in a LTC facility, I was training a CNA that worked at a hospital and he was complaining it was so slow until the shift (his second one) where two CNAs called in so it was me, him, and an RN (who bless her soul was amazing but was working to help raise her great grandkids and was unable to help with any physical tasks) were on a 28 bed LTC unit (with patients not eligible for the dementia unit, rehab patients, total care patients, etc.). Due to workload (I learned after our manager talked to me about him) he walked off the unit 3 hours into 8 and never came back. I've had much worse days than that and for a long time it jaded me into thinking hospital CNAs must have it much easier.

I have found on days my step-down is much more busy and hectic than that day was. I enjoyed the hospital more because it required me to use critical thinking more often than the LTC facility did.