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.

The Spring Program is a Fast Track program. You have to take 2 courses during the summer, 102 and 201. I can't remember if the courses are 6, 10, or 12 weeks. You might want to look it up. But if you started in January 2009, you'll complete the program in December 2009. This upcoming fall semester will start August 17 and end the first or second week of December, I think. What happened with the advisor?

I was wondering the same thing about Taber's. Most of my books are previous editions anyway. The 20th edition is very cheap on amazon.

If you see people walking around with their thong or buttcracks showing- and I see it daily- common sense would tell you to make sure you're that your own butt is covered so the whole world can't see it. But I'm starting to believe these young ladies WANT people to see their butts. I went to a training class a month ago and this young lady who was overweight managed to squeeze her LEGS ONLY into a pair of tight low-rise jeans. When she sat down, half of her big behind was showing and when she stood up half of it was still hanging out. She knew her pants were too low because she would try to pull them up as high as she could. When we had to stand around a table to watch a demonstration, I accidently dropped my pen. This girl, very stiff backed, with one hand pulling down the back of her shirt, and VERY slowly, picked my pen up for me.:imbar I mean, come on!

Thank you for posting this. I'll be a first year nursing student starting this fall, but I've already started thinking about how to make my resume stand out. I'm currently a nursing assistant but I work on the same unit 99.99% of the time. I've worked with other nursing assistants- who are also nursing students- who are casual and are able to work on many different units throughout the hospital. I realized that being able to work on different units (cardiology, step down, transplant, oncology, etc.) definetly increases your network pool since you'll be around different nurses and DONs who are able to see the kind of work you do.

People have been called off at my hospital due to low census. Everyone works the minimum 36 FT hours- no overtime. This is bad for nursing assistants who already get paid low wages and need the extra money. If I would've known this before hand I would've saved up more money.

You should post this in the Pennsylvania forum and you might get more responses.

Last year I considered going to trade school and I went to the website of one to see what tuition was- but it wasn't listed. I called the school and asked, but suggested I come down for a tour and then they would discuss it with me. I went down there and, after an hour long tour, it was like I was dealing with a telemarketing/sleezy car salesman type of deal. I finally found out how much tuition was for PCT and medical assistant program: between $17,000-$20,000 for 12-18 months. Then the credits don't transfer to a college or university. I decided I was better off going to community college.

My school sent me a book list after I was accpeted and I have already purchased half of them. Since I'm taking summer courses, I have enough to read already and won't have a chance to look at my books until the end of July.

I finally got my criminal clearances! For future reference I'll remember to get them done online. I've read those posts about CCAC vs. hospital schools too. In fact, I work at a hospital and I noticed how staff would interact with students from CCAC and Carlow. The CCAC groups were larger, probably around 10. They did morning care, dressing changes, and gave medications. Then they had their group meeting with the instructor. Some of the nurses liked the students- we nursing assistants sure did!- while other nurses said the students were just in the way and didn't care too much for the instructors. One nurse said the students didn't do anything. I don't know what she expected them to do, but they were juniors. Sometimes a CCAC student and a student from another school were paired up with 1 nurse. I would be uncomfortable in a situation like that because both of the students could be on different levels or perhaps the one student will be given more attention than the other. The Carlow students were treated better IMO and I'm not sure if it was because there were fewer of them or because the school is right in Oakland and staff is used to seeing them. But I"ve heard from a couple Carlow students they didn't have good clinicals either. But I agree that diploma students have more of an advantage since they're associated with a hospital. I've talked too many students who are taking pre-reqs at at CCAC but doing the nursing program at Shadyside, West Penn, St. Margaret's or Mercy. I work with several nurses who went to CCAC and they praise the school, but at the same time I've heard that the quality is different among the campuses, with South being the best. Hopefully, we will have good clinical experiences but I plan to be more assertive.

How long did it take you to get your criminal clearances? I mailed mine in early May and I'm still waiting! I got my uniform yesterday- only 1 set though. What type of shoes are you getting? Do you think an all white pair of Adidas Superstar tennis shoes would be acceptable? Those are the only shoes comfortable on my feet! I have pretty big feet and the typical nursing tennis shoes just aren't good enough.Today I'm going to go to campus and turn in what I have so far. I'm hoping they accept the physical form my doctor filled out; she didn't do a thorough job filling it out.