So I work for a home health agency and I've been doing this for a few weeks. I see two clients, 9-1 and 1:15-4. One is hoarder, keeps her house dark at all times, kitchen infested with ants, dolls everywhere, trash is emptied on the daily. She is a nice lady when she's in a good mood. My second client, a lady that I have only met with twice. She's particular about how she wants things done and her house is nice and tidy. We got along pretty well, I thought. She told me I was going to make a good nurse one day and that I was patient. Today, I arrived 2 minutes early to my second client's house. It was my second time meeting with her. I called her to tell her I arrived, like I did on the first day. She was mad that I was late, I explained to her that I had a client before her and am given 15 minutes for commute. She kept on fussing over it, saying that no one had told her anything, even though I did tell her on the first day that I see a lady before her... She was agitated that I called her instead of knock on the door. "Normal people knock on the door. Why would anyone call when they can knock on the door?" "Okay," I said, "Next time I will knock on the door." "Well go on, knock on the door." "You mean, right now, as we are on the phone?"
Seriously?
She gave me attitude as she let me in. Went on and on about how other people knock. I became annoyed very fast. I started in the bathroom and worked my way to the kitchen. I remember her husband telling me that's what their CNA of 4 years would do. They had a routine. Her kitchen is brightly lit up with natural lighting. She insisted I turned the light on so I can see what I was doing. I said it was alright and I would prefer to have the light off. She flipped the switch on. I told her again I could see just fine and flipped it off. She flips it back on. Okay, whatever. She watches me mop and sweep from the other room, the whole time. After I finish I go into the backyard to dump the water, hose the mop, set it out to dry, took the bucket bath in. She said I needed to mop the bathroom. Annoyed that she didn't say a word as she watched do all of that, I asked her if I could just clean the floor with a rag with a cleaning agent. She said she would like it mopped and that it has always been mopped and that she told me from day one it needed to be done. Which I honestly don't recall. I was flustered. I told her I will next time, and that I need to get started on other things. She says nothing for a while, sits down, and says, "I don't know how you're gonna make it." I ignore it and go to the bathroom to set up for her bath. She got mad that I didn't take the trash out first thing before I did anything. Like I said, she is particular about things. The whole time I was there, she kept on fussing and complaining about how I don't do anything right, I don't understand or speak english, I'm the worst CNA she's ever had, etc. Okay, lady. I am not a child, I am a good worker, and I am fast. I have a bad temper sometimes and I try to keep cool when I'm at work, but when she was speaking to me like that, the whole entire time I was there, I had to give her a piece of my mind, too. But I was not mean. I would just said she didn't need to talk to me like that and I was here to help her, she just needs to explain things once instead of going on and on about things (like knocking on the door), and that she didn't need to be mean to me. She said she wasn't mean and everyone loves her, because she is a good Christian. Okay.. After a while, it became kind of humorous that she would follow me around and insult me. I would just agree with her and say "Yeah, I'm the worst CNA ever. You got really unlucky there." "Yep, I don't know how to speak english." "I'll never make it in life." She tells me to be quiet and that if I were her kid she'd beat the **** out of me. This whole time I'm just cleaning. I ignore her again. She tells me she doesn't want me there. She called the agency to complain about me while I was in the same room, told them I didn't know anything, I don't do anything, I'm the worst, etc. I go into the guest room and start cleaning there. Off of the phone now, she says more stuff about not wanting me there, complaining about me, to me, some more. I step into another room and called the agency myself and told them she really didn't want me there, and they said it was okay for me to go. I use her telephone to clock out and she's yelling at me telling me to get off of her phone. That entire hour was a nightmare.
I came home and was never more happy to be greeted by my awesome, loving corgi. Maybe I should just look into working with animals, I thought.
I'm not sure what to think right now. I know I will have to deal with some pretty difficult people. Other than being a smart aleck as I was being insulted, I don't know how I could have handled the situation differently. I really don't. I can't just take all of her insults as I am on my knees scrubbing her toilet. I understand that clients will get annoyed and impatient with CNA's they haven't worked with before. Before I started working as a CNA I knew there would be times where I would be discouraged from pursuing a career in nursing. But I wanted to get my experience for nursing school. So far I just feel like a maid. I wanted to avoid LTC because of the running around, not having time to do stuff for patients, and the lack of interaction with them, and just the drama with co-workers. I know nursing is a difficult job, but in a different way. What I really want to do is neonatal or peds. I'm really hoping that along the way I don't get more and more discouraged from my goal. I'm not sure if I have a question, or really know what to do, or how to feel right now. I guess I'm just ranting.
