My experience at CNA clinicals

[MorteDiAmour]

Hello everyone!

I am new, and very happy to be here! I will start this with a little background on myself. I have always known I was meant to help people, but it wasn't until the last 4 years or so that I knew I wanted to do that in the medical field. I am prior military, and a dental assistant. I am finishing up my clinicals for CNA, I will graduate my RN program next year, and apply to Med school. I want to work in the ER, as an RN, as well as an MD.

Anywho, I have been taking a CNA class that is 4 weeks long, and I am in my last 3 days of clinicals. We had our first 2 days at a different facility, and I can say I miss the residents TONS already!

We were paired up (2 students) to one CNA. I LOVED the first CNA, and she seemed to truly care about the residents. She even went as far as to ask me (almost accusatorily) if I did not feel moved by the plight of these residents, because it was so obvious she did, and some of the students even cried alot. I absolutely did connect with these residents, but had to remove my emotions from it (I am a BIG crier), or I would not have been able to give them the best care that they deserved.

The second day, we were paired up again, with a different CNA. She was AWFUL!

1. She cursed like a sailor, dropping F bombs almost every sentence, even in front of the residents! She even talked on the phone, and remarked that her "baby daddy" was in jail.

2. I was changing a resident under her supervision, and was so nervous about hurting her (she was contracted badly), that I asked a lot of questions. She ridiculed and mocked this resident in front of her, saying things like "O she is stiff as a board", "Why are you so stiff lady?".

3. We were helping a very sweet couple to bed, and one of them complained of back pain from the soaker pad. She asked the CNA to move it up a little so she wouldn't be in pain all night. The CNA commenced SCREAMING at this sweet lady, mocking her, and telling her she can't even feel her own back anyways. Midway into the screaming, the sweet lady was telling her she was sorry. :c I made sure to answer ALL of her call lights, and she was so thankful for the kind attention/talking that she could not say "bless you" enough.

4. We went into another room to change a resident (she did this), and I talked to him throughout. He was a wonderful man, very kind, patient, and did not even mind that we were there to observe. When we left the room I remarked about how kind he was and about him being a Veteran. She decided to say he was probably a pedophile and talk bad about the man for a good 10 mins.

5. She talked multiple times about another resident saying how much of a pain in the A$$ he is. He was always on his call light, but was probably my FAVORITE resident because he was so fiesty.

6. She didn't wear gloves sometimes when she was changing briefs/cleaning up the soiled briefs/wipes that she threw on the floor.

Anywho, I do have a few questions...

I was offered a position at this home, and I really don't want to ruin my chances but I can not stand to not report this lady. I wanted to knock her teeth out for treating the residents that way! If I could have gotten away with doing so I would have! I plan on reporting this to my teacher, but she is very uppity and so pretentious. I feel she won't do ANYTHING further. I am also worrying about my partner, because he didn't seem to react to the situations! This lady should not be caring for residents! What should I do? Who can I report this to? I live in a smallish town, and would like to remain anonymous if at all possible. Who should I report this to besides my teacher? Any advice would be great, and I'm very sorry for the long post!

PS I forgot to add that I didn't report it right away, because our instructor rushed us out of the facility. She pulled us from the middle of something, because she let the other students go home early (she wanted to go home early too).

[tomc5555]

I would concentrate on myself and realize I am not the truth police. Use the behaviors you didn't like to be a better CNA. My advice is to not report anything. Her facility knows what a b@&$) she is and they don't care. I don't think what you observed falls under the mandated reporting category. Good luck on your new career.

[jb2u, ASN, RN]

We can not give legal advice on this website. So please keep that in mind.

It is never appropriate to turn a blind eye to abuse, including verbal abuse.

If it were me, I'd start with reporting it to my instructor. The next person would be the DON for this

facility.

It's funny you mention about the guy "always being on the call light." When I worked in a nursing home, we had this guy that

all the other CNAs complained that he was "always on the call light first thing in the morning." Well, whenever he was

assigned to me, after report I'd go straight to his room, make his bed, and fill up his water pitcher. And guess what, he wasn't on his call light and thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread!!

Congratulations on the job offer. It sounds like those residents in that facility would

be lucky to have you there.

Good luck in nursing and med school.

[LaterAlligator]

The CNA commenced SCREAMING at this sweet lady, mocking her, and telling her she can't even feel her own back anyways.

Anywho, I do have a few questions...

I was offered a position at this home, and I really don't want to ruin my chances but I can not stand to not report this lady. I wanted to knock her teeth out for treating the residents that way!

Firstly, of all the things you had a problem with that CNA doing, screaming at a resident (verbal abuse) is the only one I would report. Talking badly about patients (not to them), using profanity, not following hygiene protocols, etc. is unprofessional but it's not abusive. And it's also very common. Being a CNA doesn't require that much training, it's incredibly hard work for low pay, and has a massive turnover rate; there are a lot of crappy aides in the world. You can't change that. You can only report abuse when you see it.

I'm pretty sure the abuse reporting is anonymous; I've done it before and they didn't ask for my name or info or anything. They did want the person's full name and CNA certification number. Just google abuse reporting in your state your look at your state's dept. of health website for info.

You're a mandated abuse reporter.

The other stuff is not really your business.

[ginsil22]

The abuse should be reported to state and the facility's DON, This is a responsibility of all health care providers.

I work in a long term care facility and these "incidents" should be reported to the DON. Be sure to report in an objective manner and not be emotional about it. The director will care about each of these observations. These incidents affect quality of care and this shows up in assessments that reflect the facility's ratings in government surveys. Low scores show poor care and families care about these scores and will choose one facility over another when looking for places for their loved ones. It really can make or break a facility. A persons dignity and respect should be foremost in giving care.

When crossing paths with someone who complains about the behavior of long term care residents think critically about reasons why the resident is acting this way. Point this out to the person who makes the comment. Most often this works. Your thinking and they are not! Someone posted something about meeting a patients' needs solved the problem. Often it is that simple, but it could also mean something is wrong and this information should be discussed with the acting nurse. Nurses document behavior problems with residents all the time in order to back up why certain medical care is ordered. Medicare is strict and wants documentation or bills will not be paid out. Medicare will not pay if quality is not up to snuff too.

As for working at this facility..... it can be a hit or miss. If the facility is not striving to hire individuals who care about quality then you may be unhappy, but you won't know how the facility works if you don't work there every day.