mochabean

No. I don't get your point and your arguement still sounds ridiculous. If you don't like money, don't be a banker? Everybody I know likes money! Can you be more SPECIFIC with your over-generalizations? You've never seen a team of healthcare providers wear masks due to intolerable smells? Sounds like you don't work on my unit! And masks do eliminate odors, depending on what you add to the inside of the mask to block the overpowering smell, like Vicks or pepperment. How do you know if someone is suffering if they're suffering in silence? Based on your response, it sounds like you didn't even read my last post. You're making it seem like that healthcare workers are being insensitive morons and going into everybody's room wearing a masks. That's not even the case. You're also not considering individual circumstances. Wear a mask= bad healthcare worker. Booooooooo! So I'll repeat again: Some smells are TOLERABLE and others are NOT. I work with nurses who've been working for 5-25 years and they even wear masks if they "can't take the heat." Gee, maybe it's even wrong to wear a mask when going to see a patient who has MRSA. We wouldn't want to humiliate them either! It also sound like you're saying patients are simply suffering because someone is wearing a mask, not because they're lying in stool and in pain. I had a patient who told me she was embarrassed because I was cleaning her up. And guess what? Her stool didn't smell extremely bad and I wasn't even wearing a mask! She said she was embarrassed because she was used to being independent and was now unable to do things for herself. No mention about a mask! But you don't care about that because. . .wear a mask= bad healthcare worker.

I don't know how wearing a mask is proof of being incapable of working in the healthcare field. That sounds ridiculous. Some smells are tolerable- others or NOT. Working at a hospital, I've smelled BM so awful that it makes you so nauseated and you have no choice but to wear a mask. And since the patients like to keep their rooms like saunas, the heat intensifies the smells and it becomes difficult to breath. Isn't it more important to get the patient cleaned up as soon as possible? Everyone seems concerned with hurting feelings. When I had a patient with GI bleed and bloody diarrhea that contained blood clots I wore a mask, the nurse wore a mask, and even the doctors who came into the room wore masks. If the stench is overpowering and effects the way I work, then I'm wearing a mask. I have yet to hear a patient lying in stool complain that s/he was emotionally hurt by someone wearing a mask.

Nope!

That's interesting about housekeeping. They make up the beds once a patient is discharged, but they don't make up the beds while the patient is there. Then they only work 8-hour shifts, so after they leave it's the NA's responsibility to take care of trash and spills. It doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Do the best that you can when you start working as a CNA- don't do something you know you're not able to do. Ask for help when you need it. I work with CNA's who are nursing students. Some are great to work with while others are PITA know-it-alls. I just got accepted into nursing school, but I don't talk about it that much. Some of the people I work with already know I've been accepted, they think I'm still taking pre-reqs, or they just don't care. Good luck!

I agree with you and everyone else. CNA's are definetly underpaid and overworked. No care's about nursing assistant/patient ratios and my facility has a hiring freeze for nursing assistants. This past weekend my unit was understaffed and I was on the brink of going crazy. Being overworked and stressed turns you into a completely different person for the worse. Sometimes you want to put in a few extra hours, for a larger check, but at the end of the day it's not even worth it. Having a well, rested mind and body is more important than money. I used to work three 12's in a row, but I became exhausted from doing that. Now I work 1 12, take a day off, and then work 2 12's. You need to take a day off and gain your strength back.

I work on large unit and I'm tired of the floor being understaffed. I could have 20 patients and have 4 different nurses ask me,"Can you get vitals? Can you clean this patient? Can you get this patient a meal tray?" This one nurse asked me could I feed a patient and I told her I was busy and she'd have to wait. She huffed and said,"Never mind! I'll do it myself!" Well, duh! Then you have your lazy nursing assistants. This past weekend there were 3 of us. I had attended to all my complete care patients, changed bed linens, tidied up the rooms, and even fed a patient. One of the nursing assistants was pulled to sit and I had to take on her patients. This girl only had 2 complete care patients, it was 11 AM and they weren't even bathed. Most of her patient's had extremely dirty bed linens, the rooms were extremely cluttered. Do you think I took care of it? NOPE! If we both get paid to be nursing assistants and I can take care of all of my patients, then there's no accuse for that other nursing assistant not to have done anything! Another thing that's funny is that when I first started as an NA, everyone only cared about bathes, vitals, accuchecks, and pulling linen. But when I started clearing away cluttered rooms, making beds, shaving, combing out matted hair, wiping bedside tables, and changing dressings, all of a sudden its a major PRIORITY now. Yet when I walk past the rooms covered by other NA's the rooms are filthy and patient's look like ragamuffins, laying in soiled briefs and sheets. I've noticed that when I work with some nurses, they have no problem asking me to do things. But when they work with other NA, especially the one's who have bad attitudes, they don't ask them to do anything. I had a bad weekend and I just wanted to get that off my chest!

You can apply to UPMC for a nursing assistant position and be trained for free. However, the organization has been limiting overtime and most floors are frequently short-staffed of nursing assistants. I heard there was hiring freeze for nursing assistants, although a bunch of GNs were hired. You can apply anyway and just wait to see what happens. CCAC has a nurse's aid training course. I can't remember if it's 2-weeks or a month long, but the course is around $700 and you can take a test to be a certified nursing assistant. At most LTCF and, I think, West Penn nurisng assistants are required to be certified before applying for a position.

This post is old and I already have a nursing assistant position, but thanks for responding anyway because it could be helpful to someone else. I'm *glad* I didn't pay all that money to CCAC for nurses aide training! When I started working at the hospital, NA initially were paid $9.91 an hour. A couple months later UPMC changed the starting rate to $10.16 an hour. I'm not surprised it would be lower at a SNF.

Since we're on the topic, maybe you guys can help me out. A few years ago I got an MSW, but I never had the opportunity to use it because I had a difficult time finding a job. I've done internships at an LTC and a hospital. . .that's pretty much it. I just gave up on social work and have left it off my resume. Do you guys think it'll be benefical to list the MSW despite the lack of work experience related to social work?

I start next month! I'm really excited!

I got my uniform last week and it consists of navy blue scrub bottoms *and* a navy blue scrub top. I tried it on and they feel great, plenty of room to move around in. My name isn't on my scrubs, but if the uniforms are still the same in a couple years I'll sell mine.

I have a Merriam-Websters medial dictionary at home- can I use that instead of getting the Tabers? Is there a difference?

Well, it looks like I won't complete the 2-step test until July 19! That's past the deadline, but I have most of my things turned in. I'll have to call the school and see what they say. I got my uniform today and I tried it on. I look great it in! Every thing is navy blue except for the white lab coat. I'm still looking for decent shoes. I wish I could wear a pair of plain white Adidas superstar shoes- those are REALLY comfortable!

This thread is a great idea! I remember Daytonite posted months back that you should treat your clinical like a job interview because everyone is watching you. Based on what everyone's shared so far, she's right.