Just need to put this out there. (venting)

[AtomicxKitten]

For anyone who is deciding on becoming a CNA.. PLEASE do not go into a CNA class with a horrible attitude especially during clinicals. We have a girl in our class right now, she is 8 months pregnant so our instructor takes pity on her and she gets away with literally doing NOTHING in clinicals. Not only that, but she has a HORRIBLE attitude, not with everyone mind you, just with me and this girl I have become close with in class and we're normally very quiet and easy going people.

This all started when we visited a facility to do whirlpools for most of the morning. The pregnant one had to use the bathroom so I figured I would follow her as I had to use it too and didn't know where it was. Immediately she spun around and says "Are you going to follow me in there!?!" I kindly said, "No, I was following because I didn't know where the bathroom was." Then she just rolled her eyes and went in. Then when it was time to give baths, guess what she was doing the ENTIRE time? Sitting in a chair pulling stray hairs out of her head (She does this in class all day too.) then gets mad when our instructor says, "Can you come over here and wash his hair?" She has said other rude comments to me as well and undermines me in class when the instructor isn't around.

It came down to me and my friend having to report her yesterday. She was originally in the Alzheimer unit helping up there because they can do things for themselves they just need to be reminded. Well she got lonely up there so she wanted to be down in the Gardens with us (I don't know why cause she acts like she hates doing ANYTHING). So, she was in the shower room helping my friend and another girl with a patient. The patient was a ceiling lift and needed to be toileted. This patient was totally with it, and she has a specific routine, she will tell you what she needs, how to do it, when to do it, etc.

Anyways, So the pregnant girl was in the room with my friend and another girl from class and continuously rolled her eyes the whole time she was in there IN FRONT OF THE PATIENT mind you. My friend was putting the lift pad on the patient and needed help, she kindly asked the pregnant girl to come help her, and the pregnant one threw her hands on her hips, threw her head back and screams, "I don't know what you're asking me to do!!" then rolls her eyes and sighs and begins acting like a teenager. My friend then said no more, got someone from the hall to come help and (this is the funny part) the patient turns to the pregnant girl and says "Didn't they teach you how to use a lift in class?" Next thing my friend knew the pregnant girl had left the room.

She wasn't going to report her until I talked to her at lunch about having a problem with this certain girl when we were waiting for our instructor to join us in the Lounge for a class session. This Alzheimer patient wandered in, looked at the pregnant girl and said "What's your name?" So she looks at me and says, "He's talking to you." She totally ignored him and I said, "He's looking straight at you, you can't see him?" So the patient walked back out and she says in a smart ass voice "What's the matter, you afraid of the little old man?" Then said something else when I said a comment about something the instructor was talking about during our session but I wont get into that. So we decided the best thing to do was report her actions because it was really getting out of hand. We reported her after lunch and our instructor told her she was in the wrong. So she runs back to the girl who was in there with her and told her she suspected we had reported her cause she saw us talking to our instructor in the hallway. So this girl that was in the room when it all happened (She's all buddy buddy with the pregnant girl) went back to my friend and said "Did you say something to the instructor about what happened?" My friend said "No we were talking about something totally different with her." So the instructor comes back to my friend and tells her, "Well I talked to her, she looked like she was about to cry." So my friend shrugged and said "Well she shouldn't act like that in front of a patient."

After we were done for the day, my instructor went in to talk to the patient who was involved and luckily the patient was on our side, and told my teacher about the whole issue so maybe she'll keep a close eye on this one girl from now on.

Long story short. If you are looking to go into this business, please do not go in with an immature attitude. Not only is it rude to your fellow CNA's but it's demeaning and rude to the patients and you will not get far with a sour face.

[Hygiene Queen]

Oh, my.

Vent away.

Some people are just that immature and it's a mixture of infuriating and comical.

I wish I could tell you that your classmate will certainly fail and never get a chance to work as an aide...

But, sadly, I cannot tell a lie.

I have actually worked with people like this (though only at the worst facility ever... this place would've hired a dog-turd if it had arms... not kidding).

Report. Report. Report.

Advocate for the residents.

Continue to take the higher road when interacting with her.

Take a moment to chuckle about her ridiculous behavior when you can.

Cheers,

Hygiene (who is now suffering PTSD from your post )

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

you will not get far with a sour face.

Take hope in your own words! I know it sucks now, but keep your chin up. Her attitude will catch up with her eventually!

[slilly]

You are always going to have somebody difficult to deal with in class, I had a guy in my CNA 2 class who thought he was better than everybody else cause we were doing clinicals at his hospital where he worked in the ER, well we were on one of my instructor's floor and he was showing off and my instructor who worked on this floor was talking to me and said "he really is making himself look like an ass and I can't stand him", then I looked at her and was like yeah you should have heard what the other CNA's said about him. The other CNA's that work on the floor were tired of his crap. The other students in my class who had been his really close friend during the lecture part were now starting to get tired of him too, and wanted to hang out with me and this older lady who was my good friend. Karma will catch up to this girl. You are right about the whole attitude thing if you are going to be in healthcare, it should be professional and mature and also you should love what you do. So many people go into this thinking "oh its so easy and I will have an instant job", well yes it is not the hardest job in the world, but attitude can make or break you from having a job.

I think that patient should have reported her to the staff, or your instructor directly if they had a sound mind and knew what was going on.

[OCNRN63, RN]

If you're going to be a nurse, you need to learn how to deal with difficult co-workers without running to the manager to report people​. It's one thing to report someone for being unsafe; it's quite another to report that person because you think she's got a bad attitude.

[Missingyou, CNA]

Some people are required to take some sort of training or their state assistance will be taken away from them. Most end up in a CNA class not because they want to but because they HAVE to. I had not one but 2 girls like this in my class who, at the end of the class, changed out of their (class required, paid by the state) scrubs and dumped them into the trash just outside the door because they "smelled like old people"!

~and yes, they made it known that they only took the class because their "benefits" would be cut if they didn't.~

I pray people like this never actually get a job as a CNA!

I know for sure that if they do, their attitude and lack of caring will get them in trouble and fired....

Out of 11 people that took the class with me, a year later, only 4 of us got jobs as CNA's and only 2 of us are currently working as CNA's.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

Wow! I totally feel your pain. I've worked with my share of people with bad attitudes. I can totally relate. I know it is so hard to not be bothered by this attitude of this woman but the best thing you can do for yourself is try not to internalize it. Be assertive but in a professional, proactive way. Next time she rolls her eyes when she talks to you, you could maybe ask her if she's okay. "Sara, are you okay? Do you have something in your eyes? I've noticed you keep rolling them. Can I get you some eye drops? I'm concerned about you." or respond to one of her rude remarks with "Aren't we in a delightful mood this morning." This might be deemed unprofessional by other readers on here but this methodolgy has helped me tremendously. It lets the person with the poor attitude know you're onto their crap and you aren't going to stand for it yet you're still not crossing any lines.

Good luck with your CNA studies. Show a positive attitude and eagerness to help and learn. It will pay off in the long run. This woman's attitude will catch up to her if she doesn't change her ways. People like her will eventually have a slice of humble pie. Let me tell ya, humble pie isn't fun to taste nor is it pleasant.

[SnowShoeRN]

If it makes you feel any better, I used to work with a CNA who had a super bad attitude. She lasted all of 5 months at the job. The thing is, as flexible as you have to be with people who have bad attitudes, their behavior ultimately ends up negatively impacting patient care. I think you did the right thing. She might be 8 months pregnant, but that doesn't give her any excuse to downright ignore a patient or not respect anybody trying to converse with her.

[PD82]

Don't worry too much....this pregnant girl with the bad attitude will be lucky to pass her final exam. And if she is lucky enough to that, she will need to find a job. I'm guessing her interview skills wont be that great, and if she is lucky to land a job it wont last long when she realizes what she is expected to be doing.

Being a care giver is NOT for everyone.

[Isitpossible, LPN, LVN]

unfortunately, you will see a lot of attitude everywhere-not just cnas... at some point your not going to be able to report everyone... their will be doctors, nurses, cna's, techs, secretaries, unit manager etc with sour attitudes... good experience for what lies ahead! :)

[SleeepyRN]

I know this is a long post, so read or don't read at your own will LOL. This is for the OP and anyone willing to read. Getting along with and respecting coworkers can make or break a career....and your sanity.

I usually would not report a person because it could lead to affecting their career, meaning it would then affect their family (I think about if the person has kids, and that they need a parent with a job.) I give the person a chance and go from there. THAT being said, in this situation, I 100% agree that you did the right thing by reporting her. She acted inappropriately in front of and towards patients. You did what a prudent health care professional should do. You advocated for the patients/residents. Kudos :-)

Unfortunately, in your upcoming career, as I'm very sure you are aware, you are going to occasionally deal with coworkers who are snotty/rude/mean to you and more importantly, to patients/residents and their family members. My advice is to brush their behavior toward YOU off your shoulders. (unless it occurs in front of patients or coworkers.

That needs to be addressed immediately.) So don't waste a second letting someone make you feel bad. YOU will know that it's not you. It's them. They are probably going through something in their lives and are depressed or miserable in their lives and lack coping skills. And who knows, they might normally be friendly people but are lacking the coping mechanisms during a rough time in their lives.

Now, IF this type of behavior occurs frequently and you have to work closely with said person, you may want to pull the person aside and address the situation head on in a non-confrontational way. You could say something like (in your own words with what you feel comfortable with) "I've noticed you have been short/snippy with me. I want to clear the air. Is there anything I have done to offend you?" YOU know its not you, but using this psychology helps the person not feel attacked and just get more rude with you. This can really work wonders. I have used it a handful of times in my 13 years of work experience. One woman even started to cry and said "You're right. I've been taking everything out on everyone. She proceeded to apologize profusely to me, and actually opened up about her problems, and we actually hugged. I had worked with her closely for 5 years at that point, so I had to address it and not just brush it off.

As far as rude CNAs and nurses that act AS inappropriately as your class mate, take comfort in the fact that (most of the time) their butts will be out the door so fast by being fired. The joke is on them.

Lastly, one more piece of advice. And that is: Understanding and Forgiveness. None of us are saints. We may be for the most part kind people, but if we look back, I'm sure we can find some times when we were , well, mean or snippy. It doesn't excuse others behaviors because at some time or other WE have not been our kindest. But if someone looked through a peaking glass and saw only the moment in time when you were behaving at your worst, would you want that person to judge you from that time period of what they saw? Of course not. There is so much more to us than those regrettable moments where we were unkind. This pregnant nursing student: (I am absolutely not condoning her behavior), but I'm sure she has family and friends whom she loves, and is kind as can be to them at times.

This is where forgiveness comes in. We all want to be forgiven when we acted not so kindly. I know I am a kind person, but like the best of them, I have occasional moments where I am super crabby and distant. I try to catch myself and use the advice above. I fail sometimes, but I keep trying to be kind and forgiving. Understanding and forgiveness towards those who have wronged us, will give US peace and make work a better place.

[Philly_LPN_Girl, LPN]

You will deal with ignorant people until the day you leave tghis earth. You will just have to learn how to deal with them although people should not be so darn ignorant.

You have to learn how to put people in their places as well as keep a notebook with you to document things such as harrassment, and following the chains of command.