Cici89

If you strain yourself or get kicked or hit by a resident you could literally lose your baby. I've luckily never had it happen to me but I know people who have. Typically, jobs are not required the offer light duty if your restriction is not based on a workplace injury... this means you would have to leave. LTC is famously the most stressful so yes, there are cna jobs that are less draining but during pregnancy is a tough time to work any sort of physical job so carefully selected where you apply (maybe as a hospital night sitter...?)

I'm a bit confused why the beds aren't set in such a way that it's easier to roll people... I truly don't mean to speak ill of your job performance but I know that I (& most coworkers) can roll & change disabled people up to 200ish pounds. Sure it's not super easy but even with our constant work & past back issues (it seems most people have injured a back muscle at one point or another, luckily for me my back injury wasn't job related) we don't absolutely have to have another aide present to complete the work. Maybe ask around, visit other homes, shadow coworkers, see what they're doing that you're not.

Depending on your state regs combative can be taken as refusal and you are not obligated to provide care. Find out details before you start (not from previous caregivers, from law research or a trusted nurse)

I wear leggings to work... other aides wear leggings... med nurses wear leggings to work... I'm at a mid-size ltc in the Seattle area. Staff wears leggings on casual Friday, weekends, and noc shift. The way I see it is - I want to be cool and comfortable in the 80*+ building while I run around doing physically demanding work. I've gotten compliments from patients on my brightly colored leggings (I only have 2 pair I'll wear to work) & except for missing a few pockets they work great for my job. If they want to fire all of us leggings wearers for clothing and ignore our quality work, then I don't want to work for such a sexist & shortsighted building anyway (that and they don't have enough staff to do a mass firing without getting into big trouble with state).

In a word: yes. I have found very few nurses who weren't CNAs who actually understand and respect aides. Sure, a lot will say they value us and are glad to have the support but the ones who've been doing it a while - they're the best. One of my charge nurses was a cna for 17 years. Aside from being a wonderful person, a good boss, & a great nurse, she is understanding and helpful even down to our level.

At my LTC the DNS tries her best to split up the "good" aides. (Honestly we really are better than the terrible/slow aides.) I understand her reasoning but sometimes I don't want to work 30-50% harder because I'm stuck on a hall with actual idiots. I'm prn and sometimes I'll sign up for a shift with certain people so we can work together and actually be done on time and provide decent care

Ask around to see if the family has a reputation- many intense family members are well known to seasoned staff. I try to not send newbies in alone when the family is in the room. Maybe because I work with a highly disabled population I'm jaded but the whole "here's tp & handwipes" from CNA school is 100% inaccurate. I've never had a patient on a pan who could perform their own pericare.

CNA programs in Washington can be well under $700 (including textbooks and fees). Most programs I'm looking into require an active CNA so if that's the case for your programs, think of the CNA class as one of the pre-reqs. I did my CNA in a 14-hr week class structure so I could also take classes at the comunity college.