NHLNA

My primary job is assisted living, second shift 3 to 11. Thirty hours a week (4 shifts) is full time, I was working four days one week and five the next but the workload has gotten really heavy so I opted to only do 4 shifts per week there. My other jobs are: Per diem in a LTC / skilled / rehab facility. I pick up when I want extra money, various shifts and when they are short they will gladly let me do a 7 to 11 a.m. or 5 to 9 p.m. if I don't want a full shift. It's also heavy, but I can't do like some people do and put in 50+ hours at one place. I need a change of environment. Per diem Agency Home care, I do three two hour morning shifts per week. I love, love, love home care. You get to give individual attention and just go at their pace. I pick and choose my cases, love my two current clients. Per diem agency, back up for a one on one aide that works third shift. If she can't come in I do 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. with one dementia client. Might be four nights a month, might be none. I have always been the type of person who works two or more jobs at a time, I like to be busy and I like variety.

I love being an LNA, I really enjoy my residents and for the most part my co-workers. I work full time in an assisted living facility and per diem for a home care agency and a LTC/skilled/rehab facility. The assignment load / weight is pretty much the same at the assisted living facility and the LTC facility....assisted living used to be easier than LTC, but they are very frequently becoming a much heavier load because they are taking on people who really shouldn't be in assisted living. It's not uncommon for my assisted living assignment on second shift to be 16 people, one fully independent only safety checks, one set up only, and fourteen that require moderate to full assistance with care. On an eight hour shift, where the first hour to hour and a half a lot of residents are in activities and don't want to leave to be toileted,vital signs on those that need them,finger sticks on our diabetics, dinner is at five...the LNA's serve dinner in the dining room on my floor, which leaves mainly from six p.m. onward to do the majority of care, answer lights, do showers, laundry, and keep tabs on the exit seeking residents because our dementia unit is not really secured. It's by no means a light load. The LTC facility is almost easier because we don't serve the meals, we assist as needed and we feed residents that require it. There are activites into the evening which helps the sundowners stay occupied so they aren't so persistently exit seeking. The residents are on the heavier care side, but it's four aides for fifty residents..so a typical is assignment is more like 12 to 13. Home care I pick and choose my clients, so the load is as heavy as I choose to make it. Right now I only take short (1-2 hour) shifts and mainly do personal care and homemaking. I think it varies from area to area, but there are plenty of LNA jobs in my area. A lot of places have a high turnover rate because they are frequently understaffed and people burn out quicker with the heavier workloads.

We aren't allowed to wear anything with holes / cutouts / openings, we also aren't allowed to wear anything mesh or non-leather / leather like. My shoes right now are a $28 pair from Payless and I love them...they are non-slip, their brand of work shoes...forget what it's called. I walk three to five miles a day in addition to work and they are great. Much better than some of the $100 shoes I have purchased.

I was 29 when I got my license, I will be 31 in September and just started working as an LNA in May. The youngest person in my class was 19 or 20, one girl was in her early twenties, two of us were close to 30 or early 30's, and two were 40+. I had a small class.