CJolin

I am a cna, and I plan on starting some pre nursing classes in the summer. Where i live, we need to have our cna to start nursing classes. i work third shift, and i have 4 kids, two are in school all day, one goes half day and one is at home all day. My fiance is disabled, so he stays at home with them. It has taken some adjusting, and we are getting used to the routine now. i sleep mostly when the kids are at school. i dont know how it is going to be when i start school. I may just go part time. i know how you feel, but like the others say, it is only temporary. it will pay off in the long run! good luck in everything! Cari

I have been working as a CNA for almost 2 months. About 2 weeks ago I had a resident die. That was the first time I accually had that happen to me on my shift. I have never seen anyone die, and only had 1 great grandma die in my recent memory. I knew that the resident was going to die any day. I could feel it. Everyone else said that she just had a UTI, that they all act like that when they get uti's. I disagreed. She was 93 years old. Anyway, when I began my shift at 11pm I went to go check on her because she had just gotten back from the hospital and she had a folley cath. put in. When I went in her room, she was sleeping (first time in 3 days) but her breathing was very forced and had a gurggley sound to it. It also smelled like she had a bm, wich she never used to do in her pants. We checked in on her every 10-15 mins that night. Around 3am I was toileting another resident when the other CNA came in the room and said that I better come and check on this one patient, she said that she was cold and had white foamy stuff comming out of her mouth. I grabbed the vitals kit, but knew I didnt need them. I went in her room and instantly knew she was dead. She was pale white, cold to the touch and I couldnt find a pulse. From there we called 911, they came, hooked her up, verified that she was dead, then the med examiner came, the family, then the funeral home took her away. Ever since this happened, I have been thinking about death and dying. Mostly when I cant get to sleep. I get scared at work a lot now. I work 3rd shift, and I am always hearing things, or seeing things that scare me. I think her death did something to me. I am not thinking about her lifeless body, its more a mental picture of her lying there, taking those gurgly last breaths. We had to wipe the foamy stuff off of her mouth before the family went in to see her, The other CNA handed me a washcloth, I told her that I couldnt do it. I kept thinking she was just going to jump up and be alive again. Will all this go away with time? Do you ever get used to it? Thanks for listening to me!

CBRF (assisted living)

Sometimes I feel like I am a house keeper. Here is my list of things I do for the night. We have two cna's on duty for third shift, thats it. Oh, I also work in a CBRF assisted living. about 30 residents. We have about 3 hrs of cleaning to do clean bathrooms, toilets, sinks. showers, mop floors, clean windows, hand rails, etc. Answer call lights for bathroom assists, there are about 8 residents that get up during the night. Wash wheel chairs 2hr room checks. We just make sure they are still breathing. Get up the partial assist patients starting around 5am. Helping them with peri care, and getting dressed. Most can brush their own hair and teeth and everything else. make beds for the residedents we get up. Straighten up their rooms, suites. help get breakfast ready, (make coffee, set up bowls of cereal.) make sure med cart is stocked with supplies, and water. The med passer comes in around 7am. thats about it. We have about a total of 2-3 hrs of down time, I usually find something to clean, or just sit around if there is nothing else to do. So what does everyone else do on third shift? Cari

keeping my fingers crossed for you, update us when you get some news! Cari

I am a resident assistant at a LTC (not yet cna) I work 3rd shift, and I am at $9.25/hr. Once I am certified I get a whopping $0.25 more! I am in Wisconsin. Cari

I feel your pain chadash. I hope to one day work in a hospital. We have 4 hospitals in my city, and ALL are hard to get into. Its like the Secret Mason Socitety or something around here! Cari

I have about 15, assisted living, 3rd shift. Cari

I am a resident assisitant for a whole 3 days now. I am taking my CNA class a month from now. That will get me a whole $0.25 more in pay once I am done and certified. I am not sure if I like my job or not. It has only been 3 days, so I have time to figure it out. I am excited that there is a CNA forum on allnurses. Thanks Admin! Cari

Thanks OP for posting this, I too was wondering about thease types of things. And good suggestions pp's! Cari

a poster on another site (totaly not nursing related) referred me.:nuke: