h_kitty

Hi ! Your best bet is in nursing homes. All over California nursing homes are hiring. Hospitals are hard to get into , but you should always apply anyways! Hospitals always look for experience. Nursing homes I feel are harder work and less pay , but they're easier to get into. Hospitals pay more. It depends on where you go. I'm from Southern California and I found a CNA job in a nursing home for 14$ an hour. You can also look into Home health Agencies!

How was your experience? How long did you wait to return and was the transition easy for you for being out of school for some time? I had to drop earlier this year and I moved from California to France. My husband and I will not be returning to California for another 2 years. When I left, one of the employees told me I had a 5 year opportunity to come back and pick up from where I started (level 3 out of 4 levels.) I was just interested in how your transitions were. :)

It'll get easier... It's always tough in the beginning .Eh I cried on the way home in my car after my first shift in a LTC.. lol hang in there. Before you know it, 6 patients would be a dream day to you. 12 patients and 2-3 showers is the norm over here. soon enough after working, you'll see how much faster you get, you'll get a routine down and yeah...just ride it out Next time if that happens, try giving them bed baths before you leave. If you don't have time for that, really good partial bed baths..Also I would next time put a towel under the leg bag....and I would have told the nurse the bags were leaking so maybe they could change it. :)....less work for you with changing sheets all the time. And try charting throughout your shift...leaving ofcourse the meal percentages, and the BMs, IC, C for last so you aren't overwhelmed and rushing at the end to do it. =]

Eh I still think u shouldn't even put it down. Then it's going to get into why u were there only a week then into your personal life. Especially with the jail thing. They might think ok how do we know ur not going to do that to us, u know? Kinda like what the first commenter said

I agree with rmc09. I wouldn't put it in... Wasn't the first week just orientation videos and orientation training? Just say your brand new :) and excited to work. People always hire new grads ! don't bring up too much of your personal life. Just say u did well in school and can't wait to work

But before u left did u check to see if her tab alarm was on? Or if she's a fall risk, did u check to see if she had a floor mattress?

A really good resume! I have my old one from way back that I wrote. I can email it to you if you'd like to get an example :)

I would get all the phone numbers for the LTC's in your county and just call and ask. I did that, and found openings for AM shift...=]

=/ I'm pretty sure she didn't mean it that way. I think her question was more towards if you were living on your own with a cna salary. Futurepedsnurse:), I get $12 an hour and roughly make $1600 a month after taxes & live with roommates. With paying for rent, utilities, car bills, braces bills, school payments, gas etc, I barely make it. It all depends on what you pay for you know and the area you live in. I live in southern California, and a one bedroom here is like $1400...

From experience, I couldn't make being a cna my career.. too tiring (physically) to do for the rest of my life you know? Ofcourse I enjoy it, but I want to go higher. A lot of my coworkers have been doing it for years... 5+ years. A lot of them tell me they wish they would have gone to school, but they got stuck in the cycle & plus CNA's get paid crappy..not enough to support yourself financially. I get $12 an hour..barely enough to support myself let alone if I had children.

lol don't double brief...just do your rounds and make sure everyones clean when you leave. :) You will learn in time that all shifts complain about each other. am shift will complain about noc... pm's will complain about am's and noc will complain about pm's.. haha it will never ever end so just do your work and you'll be fine=]. make sure their chucks are where they're suppose to be at and yeah... it's really out of their place to text you..you clocked out and you're off. just do your job and before you leave go to your nurse and be like everyone is changed, clean and good. Give like a report so it covers your butt you know?

I work 32 hours a week, plus the lvn program which I do in the mornings and let me tell you it's very stressful! It's stressful for me because I'm trying to support myself, but I'm also trying to study for tests and do the crazy amount of homework they assign. if you don't have any kids, I'd say go for it because you will have no life. I couldn't imagine having kids and working full time and doing this program... I only get one day a week where I'm not at school or work and thats an extra homework day for me....you'll be exhausted, but its possible. I'm doing it now, and so far its okay... If you live with your parents, or are married and have that support, I'd say work like 2 days a week..

If the grab bars weren't broken, I would use those. If I knew they were stable enough, I'd use their wheelchair and lock in next to them and have them grand the rails and stand.......but if they can't stand on their own, I would still ask for help with that kind of situation. If I have to transfer someone who "can't" stand on their own,( which I'm assuming you meant she can't weight bear) and is a X2 assist, wipe them, pull their briefs and pants up, all why supporting their weight on me, I wouldn't. I'd call for my partner or something because a fall (even a guided one) is a huge thing and a lot more work for the nurses with paper work=/...with like incident reports and what not. and especially huge if it's by a student. so if you have any doubt, don't transfer alone!!! Your teacher said that you have to learn this way because you might not have help all the time, which is true, but risking it ...ehhhh... . I help my partners all the time whenever they ask me for help with toileting a patient...=]

hah I found it on craigslist in the medical section for jobs. A lot of facilities here in southern california are actually putting up their ads and saying they're hiring. What also helped me when I really needed a second cna job, I got all the phone numbers for nursing facilities in my county, and sat there and called every one of them asking if they were hiring. some said no, but the job I've been working at now for 8 months, was one of the jobs that said they were hiring... so do that;) !

a notepad, pens, highlighters.... they'll probably just go over the rules and hippa so I doubt you'll need your book. You can bring it incase? :)