asun21ta

asun21ta has 5 years experience and specializes in LTC, Home Health.

asun21ta's Latest Activity

1. 

   C.N.A extreme lower back pain 5 months pregnant.

   asun21ta replied to mottema's topic in CNA/MA

   You need to see your doctor ASAP! Any pain during pregnancy needs to be viewed as suspicious and needs to be assessed. First thing is first, you and your unborn baby's well being, please call your doctor. Also, as the last person mentioned, it is illegal to be fired for being pregnant. You need to discuss the possibility of going on light duty with your boss. The physical demands of the job can be dangerous. The most dangerous being early labor from too much physical stress. Please be cautious. Now that I am done lecturing you, lol, Yes, I worked as a CNA up until I was about 6 months pregnant. I had excrutiating lower abdominal pain, especially after dealing with obese patients. I would see my doctor, who would rule it out as abdominal stress from baby and work. She asked me not to lift heavy patients. That was easier said than done becase that facility worked a skeleton crew on a daily basis. Help was almost non existant. Many of the patients needed total care and most had demanding families. It was hard. My fiance and I decided it was best I take it easy and stop working on the floor. I spent the rest of my pregnancy doing home health care. What a difference. No more unexplained aches and shooting pains. For me, the stress of the floor was not worth me compromising my health and my first baby. Don't let my situation scare you. I felt like a weakling because I had to give up the floor when many women did it until the last month. Many of the CNA's I worked with worked up until the day they were due. Every woman is different. It depends on the individual and what type of residents you have. Congrats on the baby and best wishes!!!!
2. 

   Philly CNA's please read!

   asun21ta replied to brinkofgreatness's topic in CNA/MA

   I don't live in Philly, I live 10 minutes outside the city. A lot of Nursing homes in Philadelphia will hire with no experience. Apply all around. Check out Genesis. They have a whole chain of Nursing Homes inside and just outside of Philadelphia. Also, I know Fair Acres is about 25 minutes outside Philadelphia. The pay isn't all that good, but you make up for it with a full benefit package. They hire and train new cna's. They are worth looking into so you can get some experience. Good Luck!
3. 

   CNAs: When is the last time you were thanked/recognized?

   asun21ta replied to Poi Dog's topic in CNA/MA

   I get thanked all the time by the nurses at my job. It's usually for doing something to make their job easier though. The patients are one of two things. Extra greatful and appreciative or "entitled" and ungreatful. Just a few weeks ago there was a meeting with one of the directors, one of the counselors told to me that I recieved many praises from the nurses during that meeting. He said they voiced how the evenings are terrible when I am not there and they couldn't work without me! It made me feel so special! :thankya::thankya:
4. 

   How often do addiction nurses deal with physical problems?

   asun21ta replied to satyadhi's topic in Addictions

   Hello there. I work in a Drug and Alcohol Facility. I can tell you we deal with people who have serious medical conditions all the time. Often, it something that was ignored for so long that it turns into a full blown medical condition. Our most common one is Diabetes. Many addicts do not bother to check their blood sugar or use insulin because they are too pre-occupied with trying to get their "fix". Often, their diabetes are hard to control once they do try. Diabetes is just an example. Many patients were in serious accidents, the doc wrote them scripts for narcs and now they are addicted to them. Some have serious medical conditions stemming back to a serious accident that got them addicted to drugs in the first place. Lets just say, D&A nurses will get some med/surg experience depending on what type of facility you work for.
5. 

   For those who work in LTC facility, what is the doctor like?

   asun21ta replied to NP Sam's topic in CNA/MA

   The doctors I worked with were really nice. Actually, at my last LTC the doctor was more respectful to the CNA's then he was to the nurses. He used to chew the RN's/LPN's out and in the same breath tell the CNA's what a wonderful job they were doing. I have seen some nurses walk away in tears because of how nasty some doctors can be. It all depends where you work and what kind of doctor you work with.
6. 

   I will keep asking for help!

   asun21ta replied to Poi Dog's topic in CNA/MA

   The patient probably has bad days when she can't weight bare and the help of a 2nd person is required. This should be outlined in depth in the patient's care plan. I know how it feels to ask for help and either you get help with an attitude or they tell you to do it yourself. I never deny help to another CNA if he/she needs it. More people need to work as a team. This is how accidents happen. I too have the attitude, "if you don't want to work, why are you here?" This was one of the many reasons I took a break from working at LTC facilities. I could not deal with how unhelpful some of the CNA's and Nurses were. I felt like I was the only person who was there that actually wanted to do my job right!
7. 

   Getting "burnt out"

   asun21ta replied to asun21ta's topic in CNA/MA

   Yeah it's the little things that add on to the delays. Many of our patients are very needy. Every few minutes or so a patient "needs" you do something for them. No one can really get anything done uninterrupted. This is the kind of place that really needs teamwork in order for things to work efficiently. There is so much to do and so little of us to do it, these nurses really need help out more sometimes. I have seen them take papers out of a chart to review them and instead of putting the paper back in the chart that is sitting on their desk, they put them in the filing bin. I don't mind helping at all, but sometimes I feel like I am being picked on when they make me do things they should do. Especially when I come from another building to do a set of vitals. When I return they are playing on cell phones, laughing, joking, and talking about people, so naturally I wonder if they are picking fun at me:confused:.
8. 

   MRSA Isolation

   asun21ta replied to KEN44's topic in CNA/MA

   I understand. We had patients that had MRSA. If the MRSA is in a wound or something, they are not going to infect the whole community just by walking around. However, they are extremely contagious and they need to be isolated especially when they are bathing, changing dressings, sneezing, coughing (depending on where the MRSA is) they need to be to isolated. Many mediacl facilities isolate the patients because of how easily it spreads and for liability purposes. Here is a list of common things associated with the spread of MRSA Close skin-to-skin contact Openings in the skin, like cuts or abrasions Contaminated items and surfaces Crowded living conditions, like in hospitals or prisons Poor hygiene Truth of the matter is MRSA exists everywhere. You would be surprised to know that is in more places than you think. You and I could have MRSA and not even know it! Just use the precautions as outlined at your facility.
9. 

   school supplies needed for cna course

   asun21ta replied to dukester's topic in CNA/MA

   I used a notebook, several pens and highlighters, scrubs (various colors), comfortable white sneakers and a watch with a minute hand. The school supplied the text books. I bought my own stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. The school offered to let us use theirs to take them home to practice with, but because I am not kosher of the "community stethoscope" idea, I purchased my own.
10. 

    Getting "burnt out"

    asun21ta replied to asun21ta's topic in CNA/MA

    I had a talk with my DON yesterday. Apparently two more people were unable to transfer to a higher level of care because of Doctor's orders and various other things not being put into the charts ASAP. The filing is not my sole responsibility. The DON instructed the Nurses to file their own documents such as Nurses Notes & Doctors Orders Immediately. Not many places will allow you to throw your work in a bin. I come from an LTC. This would never be allowed. All documents had to be filed that same day at my old LTC. I am noticing some rules are different but the same lazy people exist everywhere. My DON agrees that something needs to be done. She also says there is no reason for me to trek a million miles from another building for vital signs when there are at least 3 nurses standing right there at the nurses station that can do it. Apparently, unbeknownst to any of us, she was there in her office when they were having a field day with me a few days ago. She didn't like it one bit. She says she can see how I can't get important work done. She is "revising" and "enforcing" the policy starting tomorrow! Thanks for listening you guys!
11. 

    Benefits of becoming a CNA before Nursing School??

    asun21ta replied to Emile's topic in CNA/MA

    I think being a CNA's helps with nursing school. It also helps with making you a better nurse in my eyes. I think it helps tremendously. In my 4 year experience, the Nurses who were once CNA's make some of the best nurses. Most times, you can tell if a nurse has been a CNA before. My best friend is an RN and she tells me all the time that she can tell which ones never had any medical experience at all. She was a CNA all throughout nursing school. Her instructor always commended her on the knowledge and understanding she had during clinicals. She firmly believes being a CNA helped her through nursing school. She She always says CNA's make the best nurses and I agree.
12. 

    Getting "burnt out"

    asun21ta posted a topic in CNA/MA

    I am a CNA but I work as a unit clerk in a psych facility. I don't have to do patient care, but I do vitals, health assessments, accuchecks, filing, assigning rooms to new residents and assist with prosthetics (normally the nurses don't know how). I have to help the doctor with his appointments and a ton of other miscellaneous things. It's a very busy job, but the time goes by quickly and I love what I do. The problem is, I think I may be taken advantage of by the nurses whom I work directly with. We all get along fine, but I have noticed a growing trend that is making it hard to do my job. I don't want this to negatively affect my review. I am responsible for filing. Like I said, the place is really busy, and often the nurses just throw the lab slips, doctor's orders and treatment care plans in the filing bin (I totally disagree with this practice). When the patient is discharged and need aftercares, often it isn't complete because no one puts their own papers away. Often people are denied extra time because of the incomplete charts. The facility is large and it is a block long. The nurses will call me from another building to come and do 1 vital sign (mind you it takes me 5 minutes). When I get there, they are playing on their cell phones and joking. I don't understand why they call me from a block away to do something they could do. The patient often just sits and waits while they are playing and joking and I am trying to get MY work done AND help the nurses. The filing is now 3 weeks behind because I am constantly responding to the nurse's demands. I feel really bad when someone leaves and is denied service somewhere else because their chart is incomplete. Some nurses won't even collect their own urine specimens!!! I have to do it and prepare it for the doctor and I am getting burnt out. We had a meeting about it. The DON says everything is EVERYONE's responsibility, yet after a few weeks, I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and they are sitting on their butts goofing off again. Anyone else have this dilemma? I thought it was just in a nursing home, but it's like this everywhere I see. What can I do or say to try to remedy the situation?
13. 

    Telling patients you're short-staffed

    asun21ta replied to fuzzywuzzy's topic in CNA/MA

    I don't tell the patients that we are short staffed, but they could usually figure it out since it happened so often. I do not believe in lying to them about being short staffed. If they ask me, I tell them the truth. Why should I lie to them and possibly get in trouble for not doing something that should have been done hours ago? I am no slacker and I refuse to allow my patients to think I am slacking on the job when the real problem is a staffing issue. I figure since it's "their home" it's their right to know. Families usually pick up on it as well. At my last facility, families could care less how busy you were. They would come into another patients room and even the break room to get us! I remember one Mother's Day, the Schedulers gave so many people off, there were only 6 CNA's in a 130 bed facility! One CNA came in for her first day of orientation and she was given 20 patients to care for instead. (she never came back after that weekend!) It was horrible. Imagine the stress all of us had working short staffed on a holiday with an orientee. Lets not forget that a ton of family members where there because it was Mother's Day. (the DON called in and asked that we not tell the families and residents we were short staffed!) That was my most horrible day as a CNA! lol :uhoh3::uhoh3:
14. 

    Fired without a cause

    asun21ta replied to thejourney's topic in CNA/MA

    Good Luck with your job interview. I wish you well! I have had a similar situation happen when I just turned 18, I was a NA in training and one of my patients fell out of her wheelchair. I couldn't find a nurse anywhere....I looked all over. I yelled for help and no one came. I had to run and find the nursing instructor in the employee lounge (with several other nurses). I ended up getting in trouble! The DON was in the process of firing me for job abandonment; saying leaving the patient to get help was abandonment. She stated the nurse said she peeped her head in the room and I told her everything was alright! LOL Yeah right, with my patient on the floor while I'm screaming for help?!!! I quit the second I heard the DON read that lie out loud! It was very clear, the nurses lied to protect their jobs. Much to my satisfaction, that LTC was shut down a few years later. That experience turned me away from nursing homes for a while. I took a break from healthcare for 2 years. I am a CNA working in a dual diagnostic sub-acute psych facility and I plan on starting RN school in the fall. Just dust yourself off and try again!
15. 

    Your pet peeve of the week

    asun21ta replied to fuzzywuzzy's topic in CNA/MA

    Fuzzy, I totally hear you on the recreation staff. I had the same problem when I worked in an LTC. I used to hate how they would take my patients away before I could toilet them. They would bring them back to me completely soiled.....to the point that they needed a whole new outfit. One of them had the nerve to complain that the CNA's where not changing the residents before they took them away!! They would just take them without warning! Urrrgh!:madface:
16. 

    Your pet peeve of the week

    asun21ta replied to fuzzywuzzy's topic in CNA/MA

    I have several. 1. The Family members. As another person mentioned, they often tend to be worse than the actual patients. One of our family members was so distraught that her mom had just wet her breif that she paraded the wet the wet diaper up and down the hallway as she yelled and cursed out the staff. Then she proceeded to shove it into the faces of several staff members! WTH?? 2. The patients (often new) who turn on the call light for any and everything possible. These call lights are on more than they are off. I especially hate it when you ask them to tell you everything at once but yet that call light keeps coming on every 5-10 minutes. As if you don't have other patients to contend with. 3. The "know it all" Nurse/CNA. Everyone has one. They want to change the world!!!! These types either last many years at one job or they don't stay more than a few months. They get on everyone's nerves. I still love my job though! lol. Those are a few of my many pet peeves. :)