oregonbeach

I recently passed my CNA 1 & 2. A friend will be removing her father from a care facility and putting him in her home next month as he is gaining strength and the docs determined this was the best plan before returning to his own home. She would like to hire me part time to do general CNA type work for 2 months. It's great for me because I do have scheduling issues that would not help me to get a regular job over the next 2 or 3 months, so this is a golden opp. I'm wondering if this can be done..... her hiring me who does not work for an agency, and her getting payment from Medicare for me? Medicare knows they are paying for part time care. Does anyone have any experience with this? She seems to think there is a cap on the amount of money they will pay, so if I were to go to an agency and work through them, bringing a client, it would cost a lot more out of her pool and he'd have less care time.

I applied for that, got the reject email yesterday (Ortho). I love that the only qualification is CNA 1 cert and ability to have CNA 2 in 45 days. Which I assume is them training you. Or not. But I told them I anticipated attending school and having my training done by the 3rd week in Dec. Yet, I get the kiss off letter and they are still recruiting. I shouldn't take is personally since I know several people who are on call and apply for permanent positions and have received the "pursuing more qualified candidates letter," when they've been doing the job for months. And the recruitment stays up. I seriously wonder how these determinations take place. I'll keep applying. Thanks for the info.

Just passed in the 3rd week of October. Taking off until my CNA2 class in December, then I'll do a job search. So you got in to Salem with a CNA2 and no experience? They usually just have MA positions listed. Good for you!

I believe the original writer's letter was respectful and honest. Having only dealt with a "public" facilities, I was unaware that these types of questions and requirements could come up in a job interview. But is it actually legal for an employer to expect you to participate in religious activities, or to ask a person's beliefs? I'm not talking about a question like, "This is a religious facility and in the course of a day you may have chapel services, prayer groups, bible study, prayer circles going on all around you. Our patients need to know they are safe in their beliefs and respected. Can you work around this?" I'm wondering if in a private hospital an employer can make you actually participate? Just wondering... having worked in state gov for years this concept blows me away.

Hey! Just wondered if you ever got a CNA2 position. I will be attending CNA2 classes in a few weeks, but have seen no job advertisements for them. Our hospital's site lists the job as "CNA/MA," in the header. But every announcement that I've read for months requires a Medical Assistant Certificate from some registration site in some other state. Basically, they only hire CNA2s if they went through their training program. And the training program is very sporadic and has the requirement of being bilingual. Even then, only hospital employees seem to get in. So basically outside of Portland, I'm wondering if I will end up being a CNA 1 with a little extra training?

For future test takers: The written exam is so easy it's criminal. It's the skills test. So our school had a skills booklet with 40+ skill pages. HDMaster.com listed 28 skills. I concentrated on those 28 right before my test. Testing day, someone from my school's office was there and she said they just reduced the number of possible skills to 19 (that you could be skill tested on). Now they haven't upgraded the skills on Headmaster since June, and the OSBN site is no help. But I would ask at your school if they have a list of what skills will be tested on. I'm finding it odd that basically a CNA 1 washes and takes vitals. That's it. We don't even replace a band aid. And the testing involved in the skills is a joke. Of course you're going to forget to lock the bed when the beds in your practical were so old they were hand cranked and the locks on the wheels were broken off.... and other such cold hard facts. A CNA needs a strong back and a good personality. Figure out a test for that! Yet the CNA 2 has no formal test. And getting accurate info (headmaster vs your school manual vs OSBN site) is a whole skill set in itself. I'm just saying the real test is how you work with what you are handed at the facility. That's real life.

Aw Ruby, I wish I'd have logged in before you took your test. I would ask where exactly you are testing and told you this: Everyone I've spoken to is absolutely terrified of the practical and it makes you skip steps. The folks above were right: verbalized what you're doing. Locking bed & closing the curtain are huge! Putting call light in correct spot, huge, even if just changing the linen. Also, knowing your measurements. We had a teacher who was instructing us the opposite... how much liquid was left, not how much they consumed. After a bunch of folks failed, they got back to later classes to fix that little problem. However in my case, I really felt like the actor/model was making it difficult for me by holding her breath when I was supposed to be counting. She had complained that I hurt her while taking her pulse.. so I felt pretty doomed. When I got home, I immediately emailed the test site with my concerns. Gave positive feedback where due, but recorded where I thought there might be an unfair grading before I got the grade back. You know, so it was established prior. I did pass, and have no idea if it helped or not. I was contacted by the school and told that others had complained, so who knows? Please let us know where you tested and how you feel it went.

Remove California and New York and Oregon is considered one of the highest priced places to live. The Willamette Valley was in Money's top 10 (sometimes 5) most exp real estate in late 1990's early 2000's. Assume it's still that way. However, that being said, there is a lot going for us here. Portland has several hospitals, Salem has one. There are many small towns in between and further on down the valley. If you do end up away from Portland, know that Salem is the only Trauma hosp outside of Portland and Eugene. The small towns feed there. Thus the little town hospitals (Silverton, Dallas) have a local rep for being wonderful with fast service and friendly people. Yeah, they have no trauma! Meanwhile in the state cap, you have all the homeless, prison families and high public assistance crowd who use the ER as their personal doctor, along with all the traumas for 50 miles around. It is the busiest ER in the state, literally. It's not all ER though, and there have been several new buildings added in the last 10 years with one opening about 18 months ago. For the most part, a clean modern facility.

I think the most frustrating thing for me, is small things that could be fixed with almost no cost. For example, we are not allowed to have linen carts on our floor, or store linens in a patient's room. The theory is that all is planned: Mrs. X usually has a shower at 9am Friday, so we go to her room armed with appropriate showering and bed change linens. Of course carefully carrying 10lbs of fabric away from our bodies without touching our uniforms. Reality is that there's a call light on and Mrs. Y made it to her toilet with a walker, but didn't get her clothes down in time so there's feces all over her, the floor, the side of the toilet. Seriously you think that I can turn on a light and get help? Or get a janitor? You really need both. No, I have to run only 20 feet if I'm lucky, but maybe up to 60 feet if I'm around the corner to get supplies. This kind of garbage takes so much more time and away from patient care, but linen carts (even covered ones) are offensive to the visitors.

Just ask your school. Everyone here, even in the high school CNA classes, wears scrubs during class to put you in the mood of being in health care. If they require scrubs, often they will have a specific color in mind based on the facilities that you'll do clinicals in.

Other awkward stories, but no, we have to knock and announce ourselves before entering. Usually the door is open so we can see if the patient is sleeping and often just make sure they are breathing and leave them to sleep if they don't answer. There is a point, like for lunch (not nec breakfast, tho) where you do wake them up, but it's with voice and knocking rather than looming over someone.

In Oregon the min wage is $8.40 an hour and even an unlicensed, but trained NA will get at least $9, but a beginning CNA at least $10. I don't know of any hospitals or docs who hire CNAs, only LTC or nursing facilities, so the rate is $10-$12 depending on you and where their funding comes from. We have a CNA2 category here where once you are licensed as a CNA, you take a further course in a hospital setting. Those start $12-$14. They are not trained for blood draws in the course as outlined by the state, but the are allowed to be trained by their hospital to do so is my understanding. Or let's put it this way: if you're in the hospital, it's likely that a CNA2 will be drawing your blood, but no CNA 2 I've spoken to teaches it. Clear as mud, right?

Interesting. There are 5 CNA programs that I can find in the Portland area that offer an intense 4 week class. They all have different starting prices and lists of other costs. Smoke and mirrors basically. In the end, I found it easier to go to a school that lists a slightly higher price, but brings CPR, fingerprinting and the TB to you, rather than you searching around for it. So I chose American Healthcare. They have night, weekend or a daytime series. Night & Weekend take 8 weeks since you have less time per week than day classes. I have not yet sat for my boards, but hear horror stories. One person I've met failed a skill test, and therefore failed all skills and is awaiting a "do over." The failure was that the testing person claimed he gave an inaccurate radial pulse. However, the tester was not monitoring the pulse on the other hand or with a stethascope, she apparently just watched? The student challenged it, and the State has decided he doesn't have to pay the fees again as you normally would, but they are still making him retest all five skills. Kind of like admitting some guilt, but not wanting to get all that involved. I'm wondering if anyone has any pointers for Boards? Be confident, but not cocky, be humble, but don't grovel, be friendly, but not familiar..... am I on track?

I'm curious.... they say to "bring a set of fingerprints." I wonder how you do that? Plus, I have been fingerprinted several times over the years in assorted jobs, including last month for the census and they all use a particular card. Did you do this?

Thank you! The state site (http://www.oregon.gov/OSBN/pdfs/CNA_CMAprograms.pdf) lists training sites, but is incomplete. I know of other Nursing Homes in the area who offer classes. I also know that when you call Salem Hospital, it talks about showing up to the October orientation. Is the message really early, or really late? Getting good information about schools is nearly impossible with all the internet scam sites, so thanks again!