As others have noted there are times when a person is listed as a two assist and in actuality the are a one assist. The facility does it to cover their butts. Or in the past they had an issue that bumped them up to a 2 assist and then it was never DC'D.
With that said if the care plan tells me they are a 2 assist I ALWAYS get help PERIOD no exceptions. My resident's safety is more important then the feelings of my coworkers. If they have a problem with that we can discuss it later but they will be helping me transfer my 2 assists as I will be helping them.
I currently work HH and when I took the job I made it perfectly clear with my employer that I do not cook, clean the house or other domestic tasks. I will only do what is required of me in the performance of my duties as a CNA. That is not to say I will not absolutely do those things. But that I do not want it to become a habit and expected. I will prepare the occasional meal and other tasks.
I love my clients as well but would not have put up with the families behavior that you did. I would have let them know in no uncertain terms that I am there for the client and not for them. If they have a problem they can call my boss who happens to own the agency I work for and he would have pulled me out and ended the contract. I have seen him do this on several occasions. There is just to much work here and to many agencies available to worry about it. I can get a job in any agency here because I have developed a reputation of providing great care. Word of mouth is great. I have had some of my clients use other agencies and have that agency try to get me hired with them so that I can care for the client again. It is not uncommon for other agencies to call me for positions even though I do not work for them.
You have the day off and you go shopping and as soon as you get there you reach down to adjust the gatebelt around your waist and panic when it isn't there.
You go out to dinner at a nice sitdown restaurant with you SO and ten minutes after you get seated all the tables around you empty out because you are talking about the bodily fluids you deal with on a daily basis.
When you buy a soda and instinctively convert the oz to cc.
When you are not embarrassed to be caught out in public wearing crocks.
When all your family and friends come to you to diagnose their medical problems and without thinking you say "I'll go get the nurse"
Like Juliaann posted; put in apps all over the place. Not every facility is like that. I had to walk away from my last facility because I was not even allowed to take 5 minutes to take a restroom break. I now work in home health. Less hours and money but I am happier. I am thinking of getting a PRN job in a facility just to make up the difference in pay. Hang in there until you find another job.
I say go for it. I decided at the ripe old age of 47 to become a CNA. The best decision I have ever made. I love it. I am now in the process of applying to a school to get my LPN then plan to bridge into my RN. And to top it off I am male. The only male CNA where I work. So as Nike says just do it.
I started right out of CNA class at a county owned facility. That did not go well so I left. I then moved to a facility that had a great reputation in the area to work for. Things started well but went down hill fast. I left there. There is a facility here that has a very bad reputation that everyone talks about as being a bad place to work. I was hesitant to apply but now I am so glad I did. I now work for the facility with the worst reputation in the area. AND I LOVE IT. We had a few new girls start and one of them should have never became a CNA she doesn't have the temperament for the job. She lies about care, does a sloppy job, disappears all the time, extremely slow and not showing any signs of speeding up. I know she is a new CNA and have tried to help and give pointers to her to no avail, she doesn't care. I have been told by my nurses that her days are numbered. The rst of the staff are great. They all care and do a bangup job. I am so happy I decided to apply to the place with the worst reputation.
That being said now to the topic at hand. Sorry to hear you are having problems with your preceptor. As was suggested you can work elsewhere. I have found if there is a CNA that acts that way there more than likely is more than one as not doing anything to correct the behavior only condones it. So my advice is to report her and find another job. My statement above proves that there are better places out there if you are willing to look and don't buy into the gossip about facilities unless you have firsthand knowledge. Good luck and keep us posted.
You say the two of you used to have a good working relationship...so perhaps you might want to ask her if you could speak with her privately for a few moments. And then, in a nice way, remind her of that; tell her you're sensing a big difference in the previous work relationship and would like to know why?
A friendly direct approach is usually best first.
Good luck & I wish you the best!
I tried that route to no avail. When I asked to speak with her she said no and then proceeded to lock herself in the med room.
I think I will just have to drop the discrimination and hostile work environment bombs and see if that can bring about an open dialog so that we can address and fix whatever her problem with me is.
First off I am a male CNA working at a LTC facility. The only male working on my shift. For the last two nights I have had a bear of a time with the LPN assigned to my hall. For some reason unknown to me she has a burr in her bonnet towards me. We used to have a good working relationship. We only have 5 CNA's working on the floor 2 in each hall and one on split. The way the breaks are broken up one from each hall goes on break at the same time. Now she (the LPN) tells me that I cannot take any breaks unless there are 2 CNA's on the hall. Ok not a problem the split person will be on the hall with the other CNA. But wait there are only 3 CNA's left to cover both halls how can there be 2 CNA's on each hall. Now get this I am the only one who has to abide by this rule imposed by the LPN, none of the other CNA's have to abide by this rule. Needless to say I don't get my breaks anymore.
She totally refuses to talk to me. Refuses to give me report. Refuses to discuss anything pertaining to my residents. All she does is bark orders at me. All this is doing is jeapordizing resident care.
I feel singled out for some reason. I have spoken to my ADON and still nothing changes. I am tempted to drop the discrimination bomb to get their attention. But I am not sure if this rises to the level of discrimination. I feel that it may due to me being male and the LPN being female and the rest of the staff being female.
I am concerned that she may attempt to do something to threaten my certification. I have started to watch her like a hawk. Tonight I noticed that while doing med passes, resident care, treatments that she does not follow standard precautions, I.E does not wash hands. Tomorrow when i go in I plan on having a small note book with me and writing everything down to cover my behind.
I guess this is kind of a rant but would like some input as to how else to handle the situation.
Just wanted to post an update. I know I have been out of the loop forever now so an update is in order. About a month ago I had to have an [FONT=arial,sans-serif]orchiectomy left side. I have since developed complications that I am dealing with. My incision is still bleeding. Going to the md in about 10 min. But Prior to my surgery I took my certification test for CNA and am proud to say I PASSED. I am now certified. Now to just get healed and back to work.
Another update is in oder. I quit that job today. I tried my best but could not put up with it any longer.
Here are my reasons;
1. On mechanical and 2 assists getting help is difficult. I understand we are all busy and I am not asking them to drop what they are doing and help me. All I ask is when they are finished with what they are doing to come help me. I was the only aid on the floor who followed the rules and refused to do mechanical lifts and 2 assists by myself. I was made to feel like I was asking to much when I requested help.
2. Durring meal time we had a number of residents who needed feeding. The residents were never given the opportunity to refuse the meal. If they refused they are forced to eat it. I refused to force them to eat but I would encourage that they ate. I feel it is ultimately the residents right to refuse to eat. I know that not eating is detrimental to their health and I explained to them the consequences of not eating. But they are adults and able to make up their own mind. Now don't get me wrong I would not offer the meal and on the first refusal take it away. I would offer numerous times and if after offering a number of times and also offering something else other than what is initially provided I would inform the nurse and chart it as a refusal. Most times I could get them to eat with a little coaxing.
3. On Friday I was pulled to another floor halfway thru my shift. I have no problem with being pulled at all. I took my lunch break prior to reporting to the other floor. Prior to leaving I made a list of all that I accomplished. I had 5 resident who were in their day clothing. I toileted them and cleaned them up. I told the other CNA's that they were washed up and that they were still in their street clothes. This was at 4pm. The other residents were either independant or still in bed. The ones in bed I cleaned up changed briefs and put new bed clothing on them. I was called to the phone to again explain what I had done. No problem their. Message might have gotten messed up. A short time later the supervisor showed up to have me fill out a statement as to what I had done. Which I did. But I got the feeling something was up. Again a short time later another CNA showed up and shadowed me the rest of the night documenting everything I did. Not sure what was up with that as they would not explain why this was being done. I feel it was because I did not put bed clothes on the residents who I cleaned up and were still in their street clothes. Remember this was all done before dinner and dinner is served a 5pm. Also I had one resident who was scheduled for a shower. I was on my way to give the shower but his daughter showed up for a visit. I told his daughter about the shower and asked if she wanted me to go ahead and give him a shower or would she like me to hold off until after her visit. I got the answer I was expecting that she wanted to visit with her father and if I could wait until she left. She finally left right before dinner was to be served and I did not have enough time to complete the shower prior to dinner being served. Which information I passed on.
These are the 3 biggies that drove my decision to cut my losses and run from that place. Since I started there I have been made to feel like an outsider. I was expected to know everything about everything and if I asked a question I was made to feel that I should have already known that. I am not sorry about my decision to leave there but I feel sorry for the residents I really made a connection with a number of them and will miss them.
I went today to take my state test and FAILED. I blew it on ted hose and Peri care. I passed the written with flying colors. I know there is no excuse but I think life might have had a hand in my failure as my mind was not really in it. I worked last night got off at 11 got home to find out my mother had a massive coronary. She survived but needless to say when I left to go for my test I had had no sleep. Right now I am so bumbed and lost. I WILL retake the skills portion again. But I am feeling so let down by myself. I know I know this stuff and should have passed. need to get some sleep.
I think another update is in order. I feel things have finally clicked for me. I have been able to get my work done on time and completely. It feels good to be able to do that.
My residents are so great. They do have their moments though. One in particular really pulls at my heartstrings. She asked me lastnight if I was working today and I told her I was off today. Well she started to cry. I assured her that I would be back on Thursday which helped her to relax a bit. I told one of the other girls about this and she just said well she does that. Well I don't care if she just does that or not. I know it upset her that I was not going to be her caregiver tonight. She made me choke up a bit I had to beat a hasty retreat or I would have lost it myself.
At first I was questioning myself and wondering if I had made the right decision. Well now I KNOW I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION. I really like what I do. Well like is to soft a word I LOVE WHAT I DO.
As others have noted there are times when a person is listed as a two assist and in actuality the are a one assist. The facility does it to cover their butts. Or in the past they had an issue that bumped them up to a 2 assist and then it was never DC'D.
With that said if the care plan tells me they are a 2 assist I ALWAYS get help PERIOD no exceptions. My resident's safety is more important then the feelings of my coworkers. If they have a problem with that we can discuss it later but they will be helping me transfer my 2 assists as I will be helping them.
I currently work HH and when I took the job I made it perfectly clear with my employer that I do not cook, clean the house or other domestic tasks. I will only do what is required of me in the performance of my duties as a CNA. That is not to say I will not absolutely do those things. But that I do not want it to become a habit and expected. I will prepare the occasional meal and other tasks.
I love my clients as well but would not have put up with the families behavior that you did. I would have let them know in no uncertain terms that I am there for the client and not for them. If they have a problem they can call my boss who happens to own the agency I work for and he would have pulled me out and ended the contract. I have seen him do this on several occasions. There is just to much work here and to many agencies available to worry about it. I can get a job in any agency here because I have developed a reputation of providing great care. Word of mouth is great. I have had some of my clients use other agencies and have that agency try to get me hired with them so that I can care for the client again. It is not uncommon for other agencies to call me for positions even though I do not work for them.
You know youre a CNA when;
You have the day off and you go shopping and as soon as you get there you reach down to adjust the gatebelt around your waist and panic when it isn't there.
You go out to dinner at a nice sitdown restaurant with you SO and ten minutes after you get seated all the tables around you empty out because you are talking about the bodily fluids you deal with on a daily basis.
When you buy a soda and instinctively convert the oz to cc.
When you are not embarrassed to be caught out in public wearing crocks.
When all your family and friends come to you to diagnose their medical problems and without thinking you say "I'll go get the nurse"
Like Juliaann posted; put in apps all over the place. Not every facility is like that. I had to walk away from my last facility because I was not even allowed to take 5 minutes to take a restroom break. I now work in home health. Less hours and money but I am happier. I am thinking of getting a PRN job in a facility just to make up the difference in pay. Hang in there until you find another job.
I say go for it. I decided at the ripe old age of 47 to become a CNA. The best decision I have ever made. I love it. I am now in the process of applying to a school to get my LPN then plan to bridge into my RN. And to top it off I am male. The only male CNA where I work. So as Nike says just do it.
***warning MALE CNA*** hehe just had to add that.
I started right out of CNA class at a county owned facility. That did not go well so I left. I then moved to a facility that had a great reputation in the area to work for. Things started well but went down hill fast. I left there. There is a facility here that has a very bad reputation that everyone talks about as being a bad place to work. I was hesitant to apply but now I am so glad I did. I now work for the facility with the worst reputation in the area. AND I LOVE IT. We had a few new girls start and one of them should have never became a CNA she doesn't have the temperament for the job. She lies about care, does a sloppy job, disappears all the time, extremely slow and not showing any signs of speeding up. I know she is a new CNA and have tried to help and give pointers to her to no avail, she doesn't care. I have been told by my nurses that her days are numbered. The rst of the staff are great. They all care and do a bangup job. I am so happy I decided to apply to the place with the worst reputation.
That being said now to the topic at hand. Sorry to hear you are having problems with your preceptor. As was suggested you can work elsewhere. I have found if there is a CNA that acts that way there more than likely is more than one as not doing anything to correct the behavior only condones it. So my advice is to report her and find another job. My statement above proves that there are better places out there if you are willing to look and don't buy into the gossip about facilities unless you have firsthand knowledge. Good luck and keep us posted.
I think I will just have to drop the discrimination and hostile work environment bombs and see if that can bring about an open dialog so that we can address and fix whatever her problem with me is.
Man what a night I just had.
First off I am a male CNA working at a LTC facility. The only male working on my shift. For the last two nights I have had a bear of a time with the LPN assigned to my hall. For some reason unknown to me she has a burr in her bonnet towards me. We used to have a good working relationship. We only have 5 CNA's working on the floor 2 in each hall and one on split. The way the breaks are broken up one from each hall goes on break at the same time. Now she (the LPN) tells me that I cannot take any breaks unless there are 2 CNA's on the hall. Ok not a problem the split person will be on the hall with the other CNA. But wait there are only 3 CNA's left to cover both halls how can there be 2 CNA's on each hall. Now get this I am the only one who has to abide by this rule imposed by the LPN, none of the other CNA's have to abide by this rule. Needless to say I don't get my breaks anymore.
She totally refuses to talk to me. Refuses to give me report. Refuses to discuss anything pertaining to my residents. All she does is bark orders at me. All this is doing is jeapordizing resident care.
I feel singled out for some reason. I have spoken to my ADON and still nothing changes. I am tempted to drop the discrimination bomb to get their attention. But I am not sure if this rises to the level of discrimination. I feel that it may due to me being male and the LPN being female and the rest of the staff being female.
I am concerned that she may attempt to do something to threaten my certification. I have started to watch her like a hawk. Tonight I noticed that while doing med passes, resident care, treatments that she does not follow standard precautions, I.E does not wash hands. Tomorrow when i go in I plan on having a small note book with me and writing everything down to cover my behind.
I guess this is kind of a rant but would like some input as to how else to handle the situation.
Thanks
You can come to my facility anytime
. I am a CNA and would welcome you with open arms. I would have shown you all you needed to know.
just keep in mind it does get easier as you go and gain more confidence. Keep at it.
Oh and by the way;
Just wanted to post an update. I know I have been out of the loop forever now so an update is in order. About a month ago I had to have an [FONT=arial,sans-serif]orchiectomy left side. I have since developed complications that I am dealing with. My incision is still bleeding. Going to the md in about 10 min. But Prior to my surgery I took my certification test for CNA and am proud to say I PASSED. I am now certified. Now to just get healed and back to work.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...lune&n=Baroern
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...lune&n=Cathris
I got back into WOW for a bit but alas had to leave it alone again. But along those lines how many here play Second Life?
Another update is in oder. I quit that job today. I tried my best but could not put up with it any longer.
Here are my reasons;
1. On mechanical and 2 assists getting help is difficult. I understand we are all busy and I am not asking them to drop what they are doing and help me. All I ask is when they are finished with what they are doing to come help me. I was the only aid on the floor who followed the rules and refused to do mechanical lifts and 2 assists by myself. I was made to feel like I was asking to much when I requested help.
2. Durring meal time we had a number of residents who needed feeding. The residents were never given the opportunity to refuse the meal. If they refused they are forced to eat it. I refused to force them to eat but I would encourage that they ate. I feel it is ultimately the residents right to refuse to eat. I know that not eating is detrimental to their health and I explained to them the consequences of not eating. But they are adults and able to make up their own mind. Now don't get me wrong I would not offer the meal and on the first refusal take it away. I would offer numerous times and if after offering a number of times and also offering something else other than what is initially provided I would inform the nurse and chart it as a refusal. Most times I could get them to eat with a little coaxing.
3. On Friday I was pulled to another floor halfway thru my shift. I have no problem with being pulled at all. I took my lunch break prior to reporting to the other floor. Prior to leaving I made a list of all that I accomplished. I had 5 resident who were in their day clothing. I toileted them and cleaned them up. I told the other CNA's that they were washed up and that they were still in their street clothes. This was at 4pm. The other residents were either independant or still in bed. The ones in bed I cleaned up changed briefs and put new bed clothing on them. I was called to the phone to again explain what I had done. No problem their. Message might have gotten messed up. A short time later the supervisor showed up to have me fill out a statement as to what I had done. Which I did. But I got the feeling something was up. Again a short time later another CNA showed up and shadowed me the rest of the night documenting everything I did. Not sure what was up with that as they would not explain why this was being done. I feel it was because I did not put bed clothes on the residents who I cleaned up and were still in their street clothes. Remember this was all done before dinner and dinner is served a 5pm. Also I had one resident who was scheduled for a shower. I was on my way to give the shower but his daughter showed up for a visit. I told his daughter about the shower and asked if she wanted me to go ahead and give him a shower or would she like me to hold off until after her visit. I got the answer I was expecting that she wanted to visit with her father and if I could wait until she left. She finally left right before dinner was to be served and I did not have enough time to complete the shower prior to dinner being served. Which information I passed on.
These are the 3 biggies that drove my decision to cut my losses and run from that place. Since I started there I have been made to feel like an outsider. I was expected to know everything about everything and if I asked a question I was made to feel that I should have already known that. I am not sorry about my decision to leave there but I feel sorry for the residents I really made a connection with a number of them and will miss them.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
I went today to take my state test and FAILED. I blew it on ted hose and Peri care. I passed the written with flying colors. I know there is no excuse but I think life might have had a hand in my failure as my mind was not really in it. I worked last night got off at 11 got home to find out my mother had a massive coronary. She survived but needless to say when I left to go for my test I had had no sleep. Right now I am so bumbed and lost. I WILL retake the skills portion again. But I am feeling so let down by myself. I know I know this stuff and should have passed. need to get some sleep.
I think another update is in order. I feel things have finally clicked for me. I have been able to get my work done on time and completely. It feels good to be able to do that.
My residents are so great. They do have their moments though. One in particular really pulls at my heartstrings. She asked me lastnight if I was working today and I told her I was off today. Well she started to cry. I assured her that I would be back on Thursday which helped her to relax a bit. I told one of the other girls about this and she just said well she does that. Well I don't care if she just does that or not. I know it upset her that I was not going to be her caregiver tonight. She made me choke up a bit I had to beat a hasty retreat or I would have lost it myself.
At first I was questioning myself and wondering if I had made the right decision. Well now I KNOW I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION. I really like what I do. Well like is to soft a word I LOVE WHAT I DO.