Number of residents

student forever · Apr 23, 2012

At my work, we have 2 CNAs to 44 Residents, so we usually split it in half. i work the 2pm-10pm shift and it makes for a crazy day when about 6-10 residents like to go to bed at the same exacty time. i've been working there for awhile now, so i'm used to it, but the new aides get stressed easily.

This is how it is at our place. It is not easy to get new aides to stay. recently one stormed out because she was too stressed; she was still on orientation! But she was not a cna and had never done the work before and was nursing a 2 month old! And her hall had gown-up precautions. That would have freaked me out, too if in her shoes!!

It is difficult to keep the good ones. Myself, I am also thinking of swithcing to the skilled section or maybe looking elsewhere. Never thought i'd feel this way when I was hired. I thought I would be here for decades!

student forever · Apr 23, 2012

I have noticed some cna's get the exact hall every time while others rotate around. Why is this?

Altra, BSN, RN · Apr 23, 2012

Summary of regulations on LTC staffing, by state:

http://www.pascenter.org/documents/Staffing_regulations_1_08.pdf

Lyricalluna · Apr 23, 2012

I work in post acute care at my facility. They try to keep us staffed good or the families will complain so I've had up to 11 residents, but lately I've had 8. The call lights are constantly going off though so the patients need a lot of attention.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Apr 23, 2012

I have noticed some cna's get the exact hall every time while others rotate around. Why is this?

I think it's because there are pros and cons to both situations. When a CNA has a permanent hall, there's more continuity of care... they get to know the residents backward, forward, and inside out and they're able to give better care and also they know what's "normal" for a certain resident and what is not. At the same time, if there are gradual changes in a resident's condition, they're not as likely to notice as someone who hasn't worked that hall in 2 weeks. Having everyone on a permanent hall is also pretty bad if a flu or stomach bug goes around and all the staff on one hall gets wiped out. Then you have staff from the other halls coming in with no clue what to do. So I think facilities like to have a mix of both.

Personally I like to rotate around. My job gave me a permanent hall for a long time and I found myself very burnt out and had to beat the door down to be a float again. I kinda wish that everyone in the place had to work every hall. It would be more fair. On every hall there's at least one permanent staffer that I really hate working with.