terrajai

I passed!! I'm so excited!! i'm official now and working my way up to a R.N.!! Hooray!!! :grad: I love my job too!

So it really wasnt that bad! I was scared stiff and didnt sleep the night before, but im here! Im a CNA now!! Im on my way to my dream. Thanks for the encouragement Terra J:redbeathe

Wow! Thanks for the encouragment too. And I'm sure you will do wonderful at your CNA course Terra J:redbeathe

Thank you for the advice. My stomach is in knots for going to work later and wondering if she is still there. It is nice to know I am not alone with these feelings I have. Terra J:redbeathe

Ive looked over the board and cant seem to find a title for grief (I probably missed it) so I hope it is okay to post this here? Tonight we had a patient in our nursing home who has several medical issues but went downhill from this morning till tonight. It was incredibly sad. i was just talking with her yesterday and she was perfectly fine. Now she doesnt recognize me or respond to me. She cant even suck on the straw when i give her a drink. It took everything to hold the tears back tonight. Im a pretty sensitive person and get attached very easily. I mean, ive been through deaths before at my work and still had to hold in tears, but it eats me up too...i dont want to bum everyone else out at work or anything, or any of my patients, but i go around hiding my true feeling and its just eating me alive...i want to just bawl but i dont want to upset anyone. I guess my point in posting this is: any ideas to deal with death and grieving? Should i not grieve at work? should I even grieve? Is it too pathetic that I am so sensitive to these people? how can i handle this better? This is my passion...im going all the way to R.N. and i want to be emotionally stable to handle these things...i dont want to come off as numb and not care about my residents, because I do...im just not sure of a good outlet for all these emotions i have when i work... advice?? Terra:o

If I can take a blood pressure using an automated machine, I usually count their resps while the machine pumps up and releases. I keep my hand on the cuff (but not too hard) until I finish counting. If I can't get it while doing blood pressure I keep my hand on their wrist after I take the pulse and just look past them and watch their chest or the top of their back (not directly at them; privacy issue IMO) and count pulse for one minute and respirations for 2 minutes to make sure it is accurate. Terra J

My teacher said the same about talking through the skills...just say EVERYTHING. I take my test this Saturday...even though I've been working a few months now I'm still pretty nervous...:stone

I take my CNA test on Saturday!! Im so nervous about it! Has anyone been through one? Can you help ease my nerves?! I really want to pass, Im studying hard!! Thanks! Terra J:redbeathe

i am glad im not the only one who feels this way. I know I am as guilty of catering to some residents more than others, but lately I have to stop myself and put myself in the resident's shoes....what if I was them? would I want people ignoring me because I wasn't their favorite, or wasn't on their hall? I wouldn't personally. And that's how they must feel. Obviously if I am taking care of something else I cant help everyone, but when one does need help and Im around, I dont care what hall Im on...their our residents, it is their home, and I will take care of them. :redbeathe

We never do. We have had one CNA for 40 residents before. We have a least two per hall, which doesnt help much either, with sit-to-stand and vanderlifts where you need two people. In our memory care unit the two CNAs will be putting someone to bed, and without a nurse out in the main lobby the residents wander by themselves! Im only an RCA at the moment, so I really cant do much by law, but I like to sit with them and make sure no one gets hurt! It scares me. I wish the staffing people could come during the evening and night shifts to see how we are not fully staffed and not able to offer the best care for our residents. It would change their mind for sure. Right now we just do the best we can because that is all we are capable of. :redbeathe:heartbeat

I work at a nursing facility as an RCA training to be a CNA. I have been there two years now, and frequently I hear the words "Oh, I cant take care of (so and so) because he is not my resident." It really upsets me. For me personally, all of the residents are my residents. I'm sure you have your own group of people to take care of during the shift, but the other residents are just as important and need as much love and care as the ones you care for during the shift. It upsets me that people would just only care for "their" residents rather than helping someone in need. Am I alone on this? Feedback would be appreciated....:redbeathe