eveningsky339

As far as the laziness goes, don't help the lazy CNA. It sucks and may even hurt-- the residents deserve better-- but either the lazy CNA will start picking up the pace, or they won't, and the higher-ups will notice their lack of effort. As for the crappy attitude... ignore it as best as you can. I've never gotten to the point where I can't take it anymore. :)

I had over a month of orientation. But in my defense, I was still a student. There should be two phases of orientation. In the first phase, you shadow a CNA and give them a hand when needed. In the second, the CNA shadows you.

At my shift, 1st Shift was the least popular. Not that popularity really mattered in terms of staffing, as hiring new CNAs was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I started out as a student CNA doing nights. I ended up giving that position up because while I enjoyed the shift, it took a toll on my body and my family life, and I developed a sort of isolation syndrome from being on a different schedule than the rest of the world. Afterwards, I worked per diem on all shifts. After only a handful of day shifts I decided no more, the hours were good but they were understaffed and not very nice. I found a nice little niche in evenings, but I hated having the morning off then getting in the mindset to go to work. I occasionally went back to nights, and discovered a newfound respect for how laid-back it was and the coveted sit-down time (though some nights were so busy that this didn't happen).

A hand-made item isn't such a big deal compared to some "gifts" that have bounced around over the years. Discuss it with your supervisor. I personally think that most policies towards gifts that I have encountered are ridiculous in one way or another.

You won't even think about it after a while. It just comes with the territory.

Thou shall bite thy tongue when the bipolar whiny resident is crying about the fact that she hasn't pooped in five hours for the third time this shift.

If a brief is put on improperly, specifically not "tucked into the creases," a red line known as a brief line appears on the resident's thigh (or wherever the edge of the brief was pressing against).

For some people it takes two days, for others it takes months. I'm still picking up speed and learning new things, and I've been working for over four months!

I always carry a cellphone for the same reason, but I would call 911 before I dared to call the nurse's desk. Many residents have died in my facility because the nursing staff has no idea how to respond to emergency situations. I remember one incident in particular where a resident began having difficulty breathing at the start of the night shift, but the charge nurse didn't know what to do. So she waited for the day nurse to come to discuss it, but she didn't know what to do either, so they called 911. Of course, the resident was dead on arrival.

I will admit to enjoying the little life stories about my residents that I find in the obits. As I think about it, it is probably better to go through the stages of grief in front of a newspaper rather than at the start of a shift. But alas, my superstitious dread of obits will perhaps always remain. My first encounter with an unexpected obit was particularly a surprise. My wife was showing me an article which happened to be next to the little obituary article, and I saw the name of a resident I cared for in big bold letters.

Just got an idea: Is there a photograph of this resident's husband that you can give her to look at while you do care?

I've worked in Med/Surg and ICU. Med/Surg is a step above nursing homes. You still do basic care for a set of patients, but they tend to be younger and sicker, and you won't feel like a "babysitter." You also have doctors and nurses going all over the place, admits and discharges, etc. It's a fairly fast-paced environment and the workload tends to be lighter than a nursing home, though sometimes you have total care patients come in from nursing homes and if you have more than one you could potentially get overwhelmed. ICU is also a busy place, but you have fewer patients. However, you are devoting a heck of a lot more time and energy to that set of patients. It's an intense environment, but it can get tedious and even boring spending time with the same group of people. But that's just my personality, I can tell you that Med/Surg and ICU nursing are not "for me" (though I work on Med/Surg!). I live in a small rural hospital, so no burn units or anything interesting like that. I think that I would enjoy working in a much more fast-paced environment where you don't have to do stuff for the same patients for days on end. The ER peeks my interest, and I plan on going for an EMT license soon. OB/Pediatrics (combined unit in my hospital) also sounds neat, but of course it's absolutely cut-throat to get in. I see your username is futuremidwife. I recommend trying OB/Peds if that's where your interest lies.

I think this makes the most sense... I would approach this RN and explain that you are just trying to cover your butt.

Lately, I get uncomfortable when accessing the news website of my county. They always show an obituary in the bottom right corner of the main article, and I've had two unpleasant occasions where I was just checking the news and finding that one of my residents/patients had died. It's part of being in the business, but it can still be a nasty surprise.

I've done my fair share of stupid stuff, and still do to this day. Part of being a CNA is learning to CYA (Cover Your ***) legally at all times.