New Grad CNA Working at PRN Staffing Agencies

[planttherapy]

Hi everyone!

Contrary to the title, I'm technically not a new grad though I have minimal CNA work experience (long story short I got my license a year ago, worked a few days in a nursing home, but stopped due to the rise in COVID and living with at-risk family). It's now the start of my Summer and I'm applying to staffing agencies for per diem.

It appeals to me because of the flexibility, especially because I want to keep the job when I begin nursing school again in the fall. I am nervous about how my lack of skills would hold up when I'm constantly in a new facility each shift. If it helps somewhat, I just finished my nursing fundamentals clinical this semester.

Any information will help! 

[Mimiftrlpn]

 

I've worked PRN throughout the pandemic in both the nursing home and the hospital. It becomes routine very quickly.  Get there early and find the CNA who is about to go home. Find out how your patients/residents are assigned. My nursing home just let us pick. But the hospital assigned my patients ahead of time and I got them from the Unit secretary.

Ask the CNA for a walk through/report no matter how brief. At the nursing home, introduce yourself to that CNA and the nurse working with you. It's fine to say you're PRN at the nursing home and you don't know the residents. Make sure you know all codes to all doors and where things are stored. Make sure you have enough supplies for the night and know where to get them if you run out.

Know which residents/patients are assigned to which nurse.

Write it down so you're not constantly asking little things like that. All facilities are basically the same, the only thing that changes is the patients that night.The nursing home will have residents who never leave, though. Or Residents  may be totally different. Staff too, you may not get to know them if they constantly change. Or if they use a lot of agency staff.

Make sure you ask the outgoing CNA specifics about the patients ahead of time like who is likely to be combative, who wanders, who might wake up and take off their briefs and smear excrement, for instance. Who is independent and should not be disturbed?

I like to be prepared. Find out who are the diabetics on the floor if the CNA doesn't tell you the nurse will, but ask her. Who is going for dialysis, who needs to be ready, washed and dressed for an appointment that day?. That way you can decide who to work with first.

Who is NPO? Who is incontinent? Where is your equipment: gait belts, mechanical lifts? Can they grab the handrails and turn? Will you need help with a resident?

Where is the ice, water, and where do they keep snacks for patients? If you don't know how to do something, be honest and say so. Don't be afraid to review some skills on Youtube on your break. And review things when you get home, too.

Know your username and password for documentation. Don't forget to clock in/out and if you do, what's the procedure so you can get paid! Know where to park.

Know how to use equipment correctly and troubleshoot it if necessary. Know how to document and scan procedures and equipment you borrow. And where to recycle or dispose of it.

Where is the bathroom: yours and the patients/residents? Breakroom, vending machine?

That, and keep safety and body mechanics in mind at all times. Stay within your scope of practice as a CNA no matter what crazy stuff you see on the floor, especially when you're new. And follow the rules and policies.   

Whenever possible, get to know at least one supervisor, so that you always have references.

That's it, that's your whole shift every time, no matter the facility: hospital or  nursing home.

Good luck, let us know how you're doing.

 

 

[Mimiftrlpn]

Learn the extensions for other departments, and understand the codes you hear over the loudspeaker in the hospital. When it comes to safety, make sure which exits to use in the event of a fire and what to do. I've been in one fire in the nursing home already, so thank goodness I knew what to do!