Mc Donalds pays more for CNA with 8 yrs exp

LPN-n-2005 · Feb 1, 2005

:chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :rolleyes:

That exactly why I won't go back to working as a Nursing Assistant. While I am in school I would rather work as a cashier for same rate of pay to do a third of the work. And they wonder why they can not find Nursing Assistants?

redraccoon, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2005

Sad, but true. And McDonalds often offers better benefits. Just one example of how screwed up our health care priorites are. CNAs do a lot of hard, nasty work. Theres no excuse for them making so little money. Its no wonder that it is difficult to find and keep intellegent and good workers in the field.

Town & Country · Feb 1, 2005

Very, very sad!

What CNAs do is irreplaceable. They are so vital in healthcare....a great CNA makes your job (as RN) sooooo much easier! They're worth their weight in GOLD.

It's obscene that they make the same wage flipping burgers. Where on earth are our priorities???

nahjah · Feb 1, 2005

I have been a CNA for three years. I will graduate with my ADN in May! While I agree that we don't get paid nearly what we should (my brother is a dishwasher at the Olive Garden and makes the same as my base rate :uhoh3: ) the experience that I have received while being a CNA will make me a better nurse. I am able to relate what we are learning in class to many of my residents- it is like a light goes off in my head- "oh yeah, that's what was wrong with so and so." Also, I know what we go through as CNA's and how some nurses treat us badly (not all) I know that when I become a nurse, I will respect my CNA's (as long as they are doing their job- unlike some out there who are there for just a pay check) and I will be able to relate to what they are going through because I went through it myself. Being a CNA has been an invaluable experience, one I would never take back. :)

lee1 · Feb 1, 2005

I think that you can almost say the say thing about most of the jobs at a hospital. Escort, housekeeping. Without them the constant movement of patients to and from testing, discharges, revolving beds (admit/discharge) would take much longer and of course that is how the hospital makes money. Testing and keeping the beds full to overflowing.

It seems to be pound foolish and you are cutting off your nose to save your face or however the sayings go.

A living wage is what is needed with the appropriate benefits to keep people.

Not every escort or nursing aide wants or should be a nurse. But, we need to have incentives for those that want to be just those positions. It is also very costly to be constantly training new techs, escorts, etc.

Sheri257 · Feb 1, 2005

Yeah, I can't believe it either. But it's true: CNA's are horribly underpaid.

In California, you might do a little better than minimum wage, but only by $1 per hour. Not worth it when it costs about $600 or more just to get your CNA license.

Of course, one of the nursing homes in my area seems to have plenty of money for managers who sit around all day. I've never seen so much administration at a nursing home .. they have like a dozen managers.

That's more managers than CNA's. Especially since they can't keep CNA's.

Turnover is very high ... sigh ...

Unfortunately, business as usual ...

:rolleyes:

flashpoint · Feb 1, 2005

Isn't is amazing? Our nursing secretary (my sister-in-law) has been at the hospital for two years and makes more than me (an LPN and paramedic) and I have been there for seven years! I know that Deanna works hard and is a whiz on the computer and types faster than anyone I know, but I help save lives...doesn't that count for something???

CNAs are worth their weight in platinum...I cannot believe the amount of work they take off of the nurses...there are so many days that I simply could not survive without them. Sometimes, I feel really guilty about the amount of work that they do to help me out! However...a lot of nurses would come unglued if they were paid more...wages at the hospital I work for are pretty fair when you compare CNA to LPN to RN. But when compared to McDonalds or housekeeping or dietary, we're alll getting shafted.

oramar · Feb 1, 2005

Citi Bank is opening a call center in our town. There are going to be a lot of entry level jobs at about the rate our support staff make with opportunites for advancement. I have been wondering if we will lose any of secretarial staff or NAs to them. I don't even want to talk about when the Casinos and race tracks come to town in next two years.

Plagueis · Feb 2, 2005

:rotfl:
An excellent CNA who has worked at the same nursing home for the last 6-8 years. Just quit and went to work at Mc Donalds for the same amount of money. This is very said and makes me angry.
How does everyone else feel? Does this happen in your areas as well?

That is unbelievable! I'm going into CNA training later this month, and the idea that I will earn the same as a person at McDonald's is discouraging. CNAs actually get paid that little? (I don't know what the pay scale was in your case, but around here McDonald's starts people at $6 per hour.) And employers wonder why there's so much turnover in that position! If they want to keep more CNAs around, they should pay them more and offer benefits. Since I am a "newbie," of sorts, I'm wondering how much CNAs should be paid. I mean, they ought to be worth more than someone working at a fast food place.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Feb 3, 2005

Yep. Happened to me. I found that flippin' burgers was kinda fun, in a low-responsibility kind of way.

But nothing I'd want to make a career out of.

sassynurse78 · Feb 3, 2005

This is true in my area also, it is very sad. Recently our company decided to change our insurance plans, our CNA's insurance costs them 25.00 every two weeks, but the insurance only pays when they get to 2500 a year, then will only pay up to 20,000 for the entire year!! Of course no one takes it and the ones that need it have found other equally paying jobs, including McDonalds with better insurance. While on the subject of fast food, my 18 year old brother works as a manager at Pizza Hut, where he brings home almost as much as me (I'm a LPN) and received a fully paid for vacation to Florida for keeping the sales up :angryfire this year!