pumpkinking

We are ALL slow at first. Once you get to know the residents, it gets easier. Your skills will sharpen over time! Sadly, there are times when corners just have to get cut. When you've got a unit supervisor breathing down your neck to get all 13 patients down do the dining room by a certain time, it happens. Now briefs still must be changed no matter what, residents must be dressed and have hearing aides, dentures, glasses, etc, but there are times when teeth don't get brushed till lunch, beds don't get made to late morning, deodorant is out the window, briefs get left in the trashcans inside resident's room til after breakfast, and forget nail care. I'll do that when I give showers. The higher uppers treat us like we're working a cattle call.

I hope by now that you've reported it to somebody. Just think if someone had left your dad with a towel essentially stuffed into an internal organ.

Unfortunately, you can't use fafsa for the cna course, bc it doesn't meet the number of hours required to be able to use the money. I went to Texas health school, but it was a little over 700. I've heard that red cross does free certifications, but I don't have any info on it. Maybe look into that?

Caring for 10+ residents for 8 hours a day, keeping them all on schedule, making sure everyone is clean, dry and fed, is not light work. Add to that the demands of supervisors, family members, fellow nursing staff and a handful of residents who are less than nice, you get a utterly depleted person at the end of the day once in a while. A resident passed today, and now I feel awful for being short with her a few days ago. Here was this woman on her death bed, and I got annoyed with her for wanting to be toileted. Ugh. Granted she wasn't in her right mind, she couldn't walk, and she was a new admit that I hadn't dealt with before, but I can just remember thinking, " Really?! I have a nurse up my ass for breathing treatments, a fall risk whose chair alarm is going off, and you want me to take you to pee!? If I take you,you'll probably just sit there and do absolutely nothing, I'll fall behind and **** will hit the proverbial fan." Ugh I feel like an a-hole. Just one of those days.

Welcome to nursing! I know it's HARD at first. But as time goes on, it will get easier and you'll get more efficient. Once you get to know the patients, you can get down a routine that is a bit quicker. It'll take a month or 2, but your confidence will grow and your work will show it. Keep residents safe, CYA and be a team player. You'll be fine, don't give up!

Where I work, if you transfer a 2 person by yourself, you get a write up or lose your job. Bottom line. Cya.

Some days yes, some no. We have a resident who runs the heater in her room. It is the middle of June in the sub-tropical region of Texas; It is BEYOND miserable to work in there. Gawd.....

That staying 7 minutes after my shift is up is unauthorized overtime. That family members think THEIR parent/grandparent/whoever is THE number one priority in the whole facility. (No, I will not call the police in your mother's roommate bc her dentures are missing.) That the one second you sit down for the 1st time in 4 hours, the nurse suddenly notices and reams you. The list goes on....

The snf where I work has a rotating schedule. We have 4 on, 2 off. When we come back from our time off, we get a new section. At least in one respect, you're not permanently on a difficult hall, so I really like it.

Remembering names just takes time. You'll know them on a first name basis AND their room number, diet , diaper size, etc. before you know it! My snf did 3 days of shadowing, 2 days hands on orientation, then I was on my own. Good luck!