I am just fed up with it. I have begun to dread going to work (my stomach is in knots). I believe that I work hard and provide the best care to my residents but it seems like it is never enough. I went into work last night and I had to give myself a pep talk just to make it through...sad.
I am tired of working with manipulative and mean co-workers. I am sick of asking for assistance with a heavy resident and being told by another CNA that everyone else handles that patient alone. I am sick of hearing "harrumphh!" and the sighing when I ask about a resident that I am not familiar with. I am sick of the bullying and the yelling. I am sick of DON's who have no regard for family emergencies and who make those who ask for FMLA feel like crud. I am over it.
I am really disheartened and saddened but I have lost my drive. There has to better working conditions out there. I do not intend to quit until I find something else. When my instructor told us that the classroom environment was world's away from the real life one, I thought she was pulling our leg. I thought that I would be the one to make a small difference with a good attitude and yada yada yada. I was wrong.
I am still attending school, but I thought that CNA's were not allowed to dispense medications?
Is there further training involved with becoming a Med. Aide?
I too love the field, but would enjoy working one on one with patients, and from what I've read on here and from our Clinicals that I've experienced so far, that is not going to happen.
Thank you in advance for any information you can provide. :)
Some states have med aides - here they are called QMAs (qualified medication aides). You have to take a pharmacology course and pass a test to be one. Fewer facilities are hiring them these days, but it can be a great job if you're lucky enough to get the opportunity.
I understand your frustration. You said you thought you might make a small difference....Well, I am willing to bet you have made a difference in many of the residents' lives.
Kohala, I totally understand how you feel! Being an aide will burn you out so quickly But I do agree with Coffeemate. I don't really see too many facilities around in my area with Restorative Aides. I worked @ one facility that did in fact have a restorative aide, but she was the only one with that position! Still, the job seemed so less stressful! Or being a med aide sounds like a good idea too. I am considering doing this b/c I'm so tired of being on the floor taking crap from everyone! Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck! :)
Being a cna is not a easy job. I have been one for 12 going on 13 years this Aug, and for the last 3 years I have been doing rnp(restorative cna). It has given me a break from the total care side of being a hands on cna. However at times I do miss the 1 one 1 with patients that you get from being a hands on cna. I guess that's what convinced me to go to school for a degree in nursing. The bottom line is you have to believe your doing something that you want, nursing is not for everyone. Just try to keep your heart in it, I know that sounds cheesy but when your heart is not in it you don't give the best care and it just becomes a job.:)
Kohala71, I'm afraid I have to agree with you. I've been working at my LTC facility since August 2010, and for the past few months I've been desperately searching for another job. I've been working in the Special Care Unit (the Alzheimer's/dementia unit) for a couple of months because I thought it would be better working conditions than 'the floor'....however they've continued to staff me for the floor because people keep quitting or getting fired and they don't have enough people to fill all the shifts. Lately I'm working 4-5 stretches of shifts with only 1 day off in between, and I'm totally burned out.
Not being allowed to give people the quality care they deserve is wearing me out. All my kindness, compassion, and hard work just seems to make so little difference in the long run. I'm trying to get into home health care or hospice work, but I live in a small town where CNA jobs are scarce, except for LTC facilities, or the other alternative is to work as a caregiver and get paid the same low rate that non-certified staff are paid. I feel really trapped where I'm at. Everything you say is pretty much the same wherever you go -- mean, thoughtless co-workers who resent having to help you.....rushing through your tasks because it's more important to just get it done than do a really good job.....struggling every day just to find a better way to do things because you can't stand to sacrifice quality for quantity......and then tomorrow it's all the same all over again.
For some people things naturally get better and easier as you continue to get more experience......especially if you plan on continuing on to a career in nursing. For those of us who are not planning getting a degree, CNA work seems kind of a dead-end, unless the reward you feel from helping others is enough to make up for any financial lack you experience. For me -- NO. I've never worked harder and felt more discouraged and disheartened about my occupation while earning far less than I know I'm worth. I'm just not going to stay where I'm at, and that's my final answer.
Home health care, or assisted living may be a better fit for you.
Wow, I'm sorry you deal with that. I'm a newer CNA and I deal with many of those things myself. I don't know how long you've been doing this but it just sounds strikingly familiar. I wish I had a truly productive suggestion for you, but all I can say is that a change in environment might be the best for you. Sorry if that's stating the obvious, I just wanted to let you know I empathize with you.
Kohala71, I'm afraid I have to agree with you. I've been working at my LTC facility since August 2010, and for the past few months I've been desperately searching for another job. I've been working in the Special Care Unit (the Alzheimer's/dementia unit) for a couple of months because I thought it would be better working conditions than 'the floor'....however they've continued to staff me for the floor because people keep quitting or getting fired and they don't have enough people to fill all the shifts. Lately I'm working 4-5 stretches of shifts with only 1 day off in between, and I'm totally burned out.
Not being allowed to give people the quality care they deserve is wearing me out. All my kindness, compassion, and hard work just seems to make so little difference in the long run. I'm trying to get into home health care or hospice work, but I live in a small town where CNA jobs are scarce, except for LTC facilities, or the other alternative is to work as a caregiver and get paid the same low rate that non-certified staff are paid. I feel really trapped where I'm at. Everything you say is pretty much the same wherever you go -- mean, thoughtless co-workers who resent having to help you.....rushing through your tasks because it's more important to just get it done than do a really good job.....struggling every day just to find a better way to do things because you can't stand to sacrifice quality for quantity......and then tomorrow it's all the same all over again.
For some people things naturally get better and easier as you continue to get more experience......especially if you plan on continuing on to a career in nursing. For those of us who are not planning getting a degree, CNA work seems kind of a dead-end, unless the reward you feel from helping others is enough to make up for any financial lack you experience. For me -- NO. I've never worked harder and felt more discouraged and disheartened about my occupation while earning far less than I know I'm worth. I'm just not going to stay where I'm at, and that's my final answer.
Home health care, or assisted living may be a better fit for you.
I read about all the burnout because of shortages, thus causing stress. Is this because Facilities don't want to spend the money hiring the correct amount of aides?
I read about all the burnout because of shortages, thus causing stress. Is this because Facilities don't want to spend the money hiring the correct amount of aides?
It's because the CNA's bear the biggest brunt of cost containment by being paid the lowest wage LTCs can legally get away with, even though the quality of care the residents get is mostly due to them. They try to get the most work out of the fewest people possible. I was not told that my starting wage would be barely above minimum when I accepted my position, otherwise I would've told them no thanks. Later when I got a raise after being certified, I was still being paid less than some of the other CNA's one of which was a personal friend of the DON. I was also lied to about how much my raise would be. Apparently where I work there's no standard or system to what CNA's are paid, it's based on personal politics and not how much your work is really worth.
I feel so bad for you, i totally understand what you mean though. I work in a place that is dog eat dog. Only some nurses help the aids and some of them just run the aids. Also some of the other aids just talk about each other all the time. I thought I was going to work in a place to help people, and all it has done is changed me. I am unchanged by death, my negotiating skills went out the door. The sad thing is they made me like this. Sometime I get a glimse of hope, to be whom I once was before, and at that very moment it is ripped away from me... I know this does not help, I just wanted you to know that you are not the only one.... the sad thing is we have one of the hardest jobs there is and get no respect.........
But I do agree with Coffeemate. I don't really see too many facilities around in my area with Restorative Aides. I worked @ one facility that did in fact have a restorative aide, but she was the only one with that position! Still, the job seemed so less stressful! Or being a med aide sounds like a good idea too. I am considering doing this b/c I'm so tired of being on the floor taking crap from everyone! Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck! :)
yousoldtheworld
1,196 Posts
Some states have med aides - here they are called QMAs (qualified medication aides). You have to take a pharmacology course and pass a test to be one. Fewer facilities are hiring them these days, but it can be a great job if you're lucky enough to get the opportunity.