Julie19

I'm a CNA at an ALF. I went in Sunday night for my shift and the new day shift nurse was still handing out her evening meds. The night shift nurse had just arrived and began helping her get finished. Next thing I know, day shift nurse walks out of a resident's room, stops, then screams out, "I just gave that resident another resident's pills!!" To make a long story short, we kept an extremely close eye on this particular resident all night because she has normal BP but one of the pills given to her was for high BP. It rode very low all night; she felt terrible. Thankfully, we didn't have to send her out but it was still a highly stressful night. The nurse received no disciplinary action and that really bothers me. She didn't even show remorse. She just went home and didn't even call to check on the resident. Have you guys ever experienced this? How was it handled?

Yes, I would think so.

You just wrote the story of my life! My sweat even sweats at work. I stay pretty much miserable in the summertime and you're right, management doesn't give a damn.

You're in the home stretch!! Just keep up the good work and you got this! :yelclap:

4 days? There's no way you can learn everything you need to know in that amount of time.

I work Fri, Sat, and Sun 7p-7a. Thursday evening I take a long nap so I can stay up most of the night and sleep all day Friday. Then on Monday mornings I sleep until around 11a and make myself get up and get back on schedule. Some people can't flip flop but I can no problem. I couldn't handle nights if I didn't.

Since you already work the night shift, it should be pretty easy to adjust to this schedule. I work three straight twelves and I can't do anything on those days except sleep, eat, and work. At least on eight hour shifts you could get off that morning and do everything you need to do then get some sleep or do everything in the afternoon before work. It's a lot better than being jobless, IMO. Good luck!

Congrats!!

It sounds like they did you a favor. No one should have to work in a toxic environment like that. Pick yourself back up and move on. :hug:

1) You are grossly unappreciated as a CNA and highly underpaid. It's also easy to injure yourself if you don't use proper body mechanics. 2) Getting to take care of patients! I love my Alzheimer's patients dearly. Also, gaining invaluable experience if you wish to go on and become a nurse. 3) No, I'm very happy I became a CNA. I'm starting LPN school in the fall and I have learned sooo much from my training and my job. 4) I've been a CNA for 1 year and 4 months. I started my job in an Alzheimer's unit of an assisted living facility 2 weeks before I passed my state test and I'm still employed there. 5) Yes. I'm starting LPN school in September then later doing a LPN-RN bridge program. 6) My Mom was a CNA for a long time. After growing up and seeing what she did for a living, I couldn't see myself doing anything else. 7) I work in assisted living facility but I wouldn't recommend it. If you read any of my other posts you'll see why. But I think if you want to go on and become a nurse your best bet is try to get employment at a hospital. You'll learn many more skills that'll help you further down the line (like phlebotomy and EKG). 8) Lord, yes. I've been bit, kicked, slapped, punched, spit on, etc. I've learned to get away from the patient if possible. Give them (and you) time to cool off and come back and try it again. If they're still combative, you may need some help. 9) I work with Alzheimer's residents so I know if they were in their right mind, they'd appreciate it. The nurses are wonderful where I work and they agree we're underpaid. Family members have belittled me more than anyone. 10) I have low tolerance for vomit. When I see it, it tests my gag reflex. But that's the only thing that bothers me. I don't necessarily have a favorite task, I just love knowing my residents are dry and content. 11) No, but sometimes after my three 12 hour shifts I almost have to crawl out of bed because my back is in such a bind. 12) Not yet, fortunately. 13) I took a 6 week program at a technical school. 14) There's too many too count! You gather a bunch of memories while being an aide. 15) No, not really. I felt like my training got me pretty well prepared. Hope this helped! Good luck!

This was a refreshing post. You can only read so many posts about how much people hate their jobs before you feel like gagging. Congrats on your new job & I hope you continue to love it.

Thanks, everyone! I'm feeling a little better now.

I'm getting all my paperwork together for my LPN program and it only just dawned on me how having my GED instead of a high school diploma might affect my chances of getting an acceptance letter. I've got my mind on it and now I can't stop thinking about it. For those of you that have your GED, did it make it anymore difficult getting into nursing school? I'm probably worrying too much but I just can't help it. By the way, my GED score is 2640.

A technology center here in eastern TN. It's a 12 month program.

Get your CNA.