Most facilities want you to be 18 also due to the fact that you cannot legally operate lifting equipment until you are 18. Some facilities will probably still hire you but limit you to what you can do until you turn 18.
mstearns09 replied to PrettyNerd's topic in CNA/MA
There are always going to be the people who don't pull their equal weight, the people who want to be SuperAide, the people who work hard and get the short end of the stick, and the people who know how to work together. It is impossible to work somewh...
Nope, not a typo in the title. I know over time you get used to the smells you encounter at work. I know all the tricks of the trade when I feel like gaging when cleaning up a particularly difficult code brown, but every once in a while, I come acros...
mstearns09 replied to mstearns09's topic in CNA/MA
The c.diff patients....yes! That odor will infect the entire hallway! We had one recently and once you experience it, you never forget it. I think I might start keeping a jar of coffee beans in my locker and sniff them after cleaning up a patient wit...
Mind you, I work at a small hospital, but we do admits, discharges, vitals, I & Os, ambulation, assist PT as needed, pass hall trays, set up telemetry, take patients down to the attached clinic for appointments, baths and showers, pass ice waters...
mstearns09 replied to katiemisskatie's topic in CNA/MA
I made myself a "brain" sheet. It's difficult to describe but I have it set up to record patients' names, room numbers, whether they have vitals that need charted and how often, if they are on i&o, have a Foley, and a place to chart anything else...
Orientation usually occurs after you have the job secured. They didn't tell you about pay and benefits then? If you're actually on the floor, you need to have scrubs on and shoes that will be sturdy and comfortable.
mstearns09 replied to Dragonfly2013's topic in CNA/MA
The Compass test is a test of your basic knowledge level and is often used to find the best entry level classes for you when starting at a community college. They probably are going to look at your reading score for entry into a CNA class and maybe y...
Don't count on it. Nothing put on the internet is ever truly private. There are always ways of finding so-called private information. If people want the information bad enough, they will find a way around Facebook's security provisions. My rule of th...
A wise person once told me that anything worth doing requires effort. Even the most successful people in the world, regardless of their income, had to fail multiple times before they found success. Failure and success go hand in hand; you can't have ...
Yep. I am feeling the same way. To the OP, if you're going to work in healthcare, proper terminology is a must. If you were to use slang terminology like that in front of a patient, the patient would likely be incredibly insulted and humiliated. Jus...
All of this is why I don't post anything on Facebook about my job. I don't even list where I work. Any reference to work is so vague or completely objective that no one could look at it either in private fashion or public fashion and draw any sort of...
mstearns09 replied to jadabraxton96's topic in CNA/MA
One of the best CNAs I ever worked with was 4'9" and probably weighed 99 pounds soaking wet. Size generally doesn't matter. Ability and willingness to do the job to the best of your ability does.
Facebook, Twitter, or elsewhere (even here), you have to be careful what you say and how you say it. Merely deleting a post will do you no good; neither will pleading you did it on your own time. Freedom of speech does not protect freedom from conseq...
I generally work 1st shift, 7a to 3p, with two other CNAs. The first one takes lunch at 11a, the next at 11:15, and the last at 11:30. This way, there is always one person on the floor. Works well for us.
It depends on the shift. If I work day shift, we get report and whoever is designated the "D" gets the vitals while the rest of us get patients up for breakfast (we also have an intermediate section of long-term care patients). Once breakfast trays h...
Not sure about the lift tests as each of mine were different, but the respiratory fit test will be for a N95 PPE mask since there is a chance you could be exposed to TB while working.
One of those nurses who is never happy with anything that you do even if you've gone above and beyond the call of duty to match the patient/resident's wishes? I have to work with one and clearly I am not her favorite person. I'm fine with that; I'm n...
No. You must be certified by your state. Going into the test without formal training would be highly discouraged. In my experience, most hospitals want at least a year of experience. The work in LTC is often not like the work in a hospital. I would n...