lauraashley

State: MN City: Twin Cities Specialty: Assisted Living Pay: 9.00/hr...pretty crappy if you ask me

i was job shadowing yesterday and this lady with alzheimer's goes, "hi! I didn't recognize you with clothes on!!" I've never met her before..hahaha

exactly why I changed my mind and am now looking into going for phlebotomy... i can't believe people actually like being a CNA...being treated like **** on an hourly basis. yeah i'm a pessimist, but honestly...I could never do it. I commend people for being able to!

i'm pretty sure they were lying. i've read some horrible things about the company today. i'm worried. especially because they have called me 3 times about a 2nd interview and each time I have to tell them that I've already scheduled one....do they not keep track of who they call? they must have a very high turnover rate even though they stated that it's low.

I was relieved when I saw the CNA-resident ratio. Thanks for your reply!

Thanks everyone! Very helpful advice. This place is beautiful and I get to job shadow for 3 days before I make a commitment as well. They have special memory places where residents can recall memories of childhood, or when they had children, etc. I am a very compassionate, comforting person and I believe these traits will help me. Another good thing is that the nursing assistant to resident ratio is very low at this place. I believe for every 1 NA there is 5 residents.

I have a 2nd interview next week at a wonderful assisted living facility. I think they want me to work as a CNA in the dementia, Alzheimer's unit. Could anyone tell me what a normal day at an assisted living facility working with Alzheimer's (advanced) patients would be like? There were 2 people conducting the 1st interview. One girl was about my age and she said she would never be able to work in the Alzheimer's unit. It made me very apprehensive. Thanks

There are. I know that this nursing home is very low income. The residents at the one I went to for clinicals were so dejected..only a few had family members that cared and most were so far out of it that no one could bring them back. I almost reported the place though. They do NOT do things properly at all. I asked the CNA in charge of me how to do male peri-care because we never learned that. She quickly showed me a half ass job that did NOT involve cleaning the correct areas. Also, a resident was wet and while she did change her brief, she didn't change the wet pad the poor lady was sitting on. The nurses were all talking about the residents in front of them (ex. "i hate cleaning his poop" or "he is terrible to work with", etc) Excuse me but just because someone is old and doesn't speak your language does not give you a right to talk crap about them in front of them. That's just complete disrespect. After residents eat, aren't they supposed to sit up in bed for a bit? At this place they just laid them down in bed right away. Thanks! I'm done with clinicals now--it just really opened my eyes at the horrible care some people receive because some nurses are too lazy to do their job. I understand this but I just don't have it in me to do it. I admire everyone who does--without you all nurses could NOT do their jobs. I just wish more nurses and doctors would appreciate the HARD work a CNA goes through.

Of course I talked to them! I explained what I was doing the entire time. What I'm saying is, I want to be able to have a CONVERSATION with who I'm helping.

I just finished my CNA training and am scheduled to take the state test on Monday. I did clinicals yesterday as well as today. I thought it was horrible because we were at this really gross nursing home. It smelled of feces and none of the residents spoke English, so nobody could communicate effectively with them. (yes, I did talk to them during my clinicals.) I was constantly changing diapers. All of the residents were totally incontinent and out of it--they seemed so depressed. It was like caring for dead people. This is NOT the career I want. I am going for Physician's Assistant, and being a CNA is good for my application. I want to be able to TALK to at least some of my residents...at that nursing home I felt like I was violating them.. I've heard that assisted living places are nicer than nursing homes to work at. Is this true? I really want to know if I'm going to be constantly changing diapers at an assisted living facility. I have an interview tomorrow at a Sunrise branch and have heard some bad things. I also shattered my elbow in a car accident and all of this lifting has made my arm terribly sore. I don't know what to do!! Thanks.