riotgrrl

Hi Monique, I have been a CNA in both ltc & hospital settings for last 8 years so I will try to give you some advice. I did screw up my back and cant do patient care anymore but I do still work at the facility and provide help to the residents however I can within my restrictions. Being a CNA is a hard but rewarding job and not everyone is able to do it. First off, you should not know everything in one 12 hour shift. No matter how long your schooling was - every facility has different policies, procedures, & routines. The facility I am currently employed at has a 2 week mentoring program but if aides need more time they can ask for it. If you feel like towards the middle/end of the week you are going to be needing more time then talk with the HR dept./person. Also if you feel like the person mentoring you is not a good fit, ask to be put with someone else. Like I said some people are CNAs that shouldn't be & not everyone that is a good CNA is a great trainer but a new employee shouldn't be doing patient care by themselves if they do not feel completely comfortable & ready. Also I see that you will be doing 12 hour night shifts (overnight? or 3-11?). Personally, I feel that day shift is the hardest shift (at least at my facility) but 11p-7a is a close second because although people would love to think our residents sleep, some don't and the patient load is higher. When you are on your own assignment just remember to breath, if you get overwhelmed don't be afraid to ask for help. Take it person by person and establish a routine for yourself. Make sure that before every shift you know the transfer status of all the people you will be taking care of, if they are contient or not, etc. Things can change from shift to shift (or you could be in different assignments). Get report from the previous staff but don't rely on that, also look it up wherever it is at your workplace. Make sure you have your supplies & just know that you will be okay. I also stress to the girls here that if a person is a 2 assist but maybe they are doing better one day or you cant find someone - it doesn't matter, you need 2 people. I know reality is that sometimes its hard to find &/or get help but if you or that person were to get hurt because you don't use the correct transfer method/amount of people, you can get 1)fired, 2) workers comp denied. I felt like you did at the 1st place I worked as a CNA (also was certified there), I only worked there six months. Honestly, most people love it at that facility but I didn't. The thing is you need to just give it your best shot. Yeah it sucks I am in pain all the time now but I have made some of the most rewarding friendships & relationships with families & residents doing long term care. I love it a lot & will be sad when I am no longer working here. In PA the ratio for CNA to patient can be 20 patients : 1 CNA on any given shift according to pa department of health & although I've never had 20 in LTC, I had 16. I've also routinely & the girls/guys currently working have 11-14. It is hard to give proper care to people when the ratio is that. Sadly, I do not think it will be getting better so I always advise the staff to just give the best care they can, ask for help, & breathe. If you have any other questions please let us know.

Hello my name is Holly Martin and I am a CNA and EMT in the state of Pennsylvania. I have been injured as of July 2010 from a workplace injury due to poor staffing at the facility in which I was a CNA. I called the state department of Health shortly after my injury and discovered that in our state the nursing direct patient care staff to patient ratio is 20 patients to 1 staff member for all shifts of the day. They're reasoning is that they feel nurses should help the nursing assistants but we know the harsh reality is that in most facilities this doesn't or can't happen due to their own shortages. I am tired of this law being outdated. It is not fair to the patients and it certainly is not fair to the staff. I am taking a stand and I am asking for other people to also stand up and help fight this so that we may change it to a more reasonable amount of staff to patient care in our state. I may never be able to go back to work full time as a CNA or as an EMT and that saddens me. I love to help people and save lives and I have not been able to do that for the last 14 months. It is my goal to stand up and make a difference so that it does not happen to more CNA's in our state. I am also making a stand that if the ratio is lowered and if a skilled nursing facility violates that ratio that there will be severe repercussions for them. It is time we take the initiative and save ourselves from injury and our patients from the indignity of getting improper care. I live in the Northeast Pocono region of the state and I will be starting a petition at several of the nursing homes and hospitals in my area. I am asking that if any other members live in the state and are willing to collect signatures in their areas using the same petition that I have on file to please email me. I am doing this so that it may turn into a statewide collection and we are actually heard when I start taking the petition to local and state officials. We need people to collect as many signatures as we can so that we may actually make a difference and change the ratio in the state of Pennsylvania. If you are willing to help out and live in PA please email me at [email protected] Thanks, Holly Martin PS. If you live in another state and your ratios are also high I urge you to start a petition in your state also. We need to stand up for ourselves but most importantly for our patients. We must stop cutting in areas of healthcare where it directly affects the life quality of our patients.

Hello my name is Holly Martin and I am a CNA and EMT in the state of Pennsylvania. I have been injured as of July 2010 from a workplace injury due to poor staffing at the facility in which I was a CNA. I called the state department of Health shortly after my injury and discovered that in our state the nursing direct patient care staff to patient ratio is 20 patients to 1 staff member for all shifts of the day. They’re reasoning is that they feel nurses should help the nursing assistants but we know the harsh reality is that in most facilities this doesn't or can't happen due to their own shortages. I am tired of this law being outdated. It is not fair to the patients and it certainly is not fair to the staff. I am taking a stand and I am asking for other people to also stand up and help fight this so that we may change it to a more reasonable amount of staff to patient care in our state. I may never be able to go back to work full time as a CNA or as an EMT and that saddens me. I love to help people and save lives and I have not been able to do that for the last 14 months. It is my goal to stand up and make a difference so that it does not happen to more CNA's in our state. I am also making a stand that if the ratio is lowered and if a skilled nursing facility violates that ratio that there will be severe repercussions for them. It is time we take the initiative and save ourselves from injury and our patients from the indignity of getting improper care. I live in the Northeast Pocono region of the state and I will be starting a petition at several of the nursing homes and hospitals in my area. I am asking that if any other members live in the state and are willing to collect signatures in their areas using the same petition that I have on file to please email me. I am doing this so that it may turn into a statewide collection and we are actually heard when I start taking the petition to local and state officials. We need people to collect as many signatures as we can so that we may actually make a difference and change the ratio in the state of Pennsylvania. If you are willing to help out and live in PA please email me at [email protected] Thanks, Holly Martin PS. If you live in another state and your ratios are also high I urge you to start a petition in your state also. We need to stand up for ourselves but most importantly for our patients. We must stop cutting in areas of healthcare where it directly affects the life quality of our patients.

i actually called the department of health on my facility today. our facility is short staffing us on purpose, all of a sudden 3 months ago they stopped using agency to cover cna shortages and our facility is 119 bed facility. we are doing day shift with 10-11 aides. we currently have 113 in the facility. they have it split into sides. if we have 11 aides side one has 47 residents and they get five aides. side two has 66 residents and we get six aides. so a side one has about 9 residents each while a side two aide has 11 residents each. the problem is the acuity and the attention that the resident needs. we currently have a lot of hoyers...about 38 in house. we also have several residents that need to be 1:1 but aren't. we also have some very combative residents. and residents that are on 15 minute checks. we probably have about 10-12 combative residents that need more supervision that what they are getting. staff is getting very abused. the fact that they are not calling in agency baffles me. and get this on day shift on july 4th we worked with SEVEN aides in the whole building. four on side two and 3 on side one. it was horrible. the lady from doh said pa law is 20:1 ratio but that they will investigate my concerns based on the fact that i said care is being documented but not done properly and that residents are not being supervised closely enough and may cause harm to the residents. hell i'd even go as far as to say this is neglect because how can the staff watch the resident if there are only seven of us in house? seven of us is not right. i need to figure out how to go about getting a petition started to get something changed about the state ratio for aide to patient. the doh also figures rn and lpns into that but i mean they DO NOT help or even if they help some they do not do as much as they should. so glad i just found out my days as a cna are coming to an end i just found out i passed my EMT exam. but still this is not right for the residents!!

i wouldnt pay for any classes. just keep applying to nursing homes and hospitals and eventually you will get hired. in june i applied to both. was hired @ nursing home in july. they payed for all my cna classes and the state exam. now i have been hired by a hospital and they will be giving me additional training for ekg, gluc., & phlebotomy.

i live in the poconos. the nursing home is about 45 min away from me in nazareth.

i was just hired by a big nursing home in PA and they are paying 11.66 an hr for morning shift plus 3.00 more on weekends. they pay you while you take their c.n.a. course and also after 1 year they offer full tution reimbursement if you go to the local community college.

look at vocational schools and community colleges. i live in monroe county and both our votech and northampton community college offer cna courses. i know the votech offers night classes in the fall. it's like tues and thursday 6-9 and certain saturdays.

goodluck!

the course i am taking this summer (pa) has to be 88 hours. i do not know which class i am in yet. they are only taking 10 people per class. one class starts on july 16th and goes for 3.5 weeks. only 1.5 is clinical, the rest is theory. it is 4 days a week 9am-3pm except for the clinical which is 7am-1pm i believe. the other class is going to have an earlier start date (school doesnt know when, they are making it up because they have so many people wanting to take the class) but it will be 5 weeks because it will only be 3 days a week 9am-3pm. anyways we are required to wear white scrub bottoms with a teal top and white sneakers.

congrats i start my cna class next month. its a summer course that is only 3 1/2 weeks long so i should be a cna by august!

i am going to be applying for fall 2008 acceptance. i am only doing part time since i have to work full time. summer 07: chemistry intermediate alegebra fall 07: A&P 1 Statistics Spring 08: A&P 2 Speech Communications Summer 08: Microbiology some kind of fluff course cos ill be done with all my pre-reqs but I need at least six credits to get student loans. I would love to be able to take the microbiology during fall or spring but I don't want to do that because A&P is so IMPORTANT. at least to me.

do they accept finacial aid or do you have to pay for the program yourself?

i am also taking chemistry in the summer program. i am also taking intermediate alegebra. i am so nervous! i work full time and i am going to the main campus of my college which is like 40 minutes away from the house we just bought. sooo my first class is at 7:30am and i am in classes with a 45 minute break inbetween untill 1:00pm monday-thursday. i work six days a week. 4 days 4:00pm to 10:30pm and 2 days 8:30am-4pm. so i guess my typical day will be get up 6am leave house by 6:45 am classes till 1pm get home by 1:45pm leave for work by 3:30pm get home by 11:00pm repeat 4x a week! i know the other 2 days of the week will be spent studying. i told my boyfriend to not expect any quality time with me for those 5 weeks this summer. i am so nervous that i won't sleep for the whole 5 weeks of the summer but i am going to put my best foot forward and i am going to get AWESOME grades in both these courses. hopefully lol. if anyone wants to chat this summer and are taking chemistry just pm me. we can help each out with studying