HillBilly7799

I am a CNA in a LTC facility. It is my first job...ever. I'm trying to quit complaining about stuff, so I am going to list some "challenges" in working in a LTC facility. (Note: this is coming from a CNA, so it will be different from an LPN's perspective, but at least you are becoming familiar) 1.) Administrative nurses expect you to do so much for each individual patient, yet they give us 10-15 patients (75% are total care) and expect the CNA (not the nurse and CNA) to get every patient up, bathed, clothed, dried, teeth brushed and toileted in one hour for breakfast. I'm sorry, but that isn't feasible. I don't mind doing all that work, but when nurses are pressuring you to run little errands on top of the already given duties, that really makes me angry, especially when they are quite capable of doing that themselves. 2.) Combative patients: I have been slapped across the face, punched in the jaw, crushed against the nurses station, scratched, and have been cussed out every time I go to work. 3.) Family: this one is tough because you have to put yourself in their shoes. If you are a good aide and work hard, you shouldn't have to defend yourself if you know you're giving good care. But sometimes families have a hard time when their relative is not at the top of your list. In the case of being cussed out by a family about something that wasn't even patient related, I can tell you the best thing to do is suck up, tell them your sorry, and that it will be handled right away. That is just a few things from my perspective. I love my job. It wears me out, makes me question why I am doing this (I mean seriously, who wants to look at 15 peoples private spots every time they go to work?), and also makes me value my health. My patients make me laugh, even when they cuss me out. I love each and every one of them and I think about them all the time. I wouldn't trade for many things...

I would say go for it. I am a CNA and work in a LTC facility, and I can tell you that many of the nurses stay at the nurses station, only go down the hall when necessary to pass out meds, and generally are squeamish around feces and urine. It is an everyday thing for me. There have been many occasions where I have gotten feces on my clothes and I still do this job. I am not saying that you wouldn't be good at the job if you never were a CNA, but it certainly would give you confidence in dealing with patients. Also, I can tell you that you would garner a lot of respect from other CNA under you if you have had experiences in the "trenches." But please please don't work so much that your grades start to slip. If you can, try to utilize a summer to gain experience. Starting from the bottom up is never a bad thing and in the end, I believe it makes you a better person. God bless :)

Although I have never worked in a hospital or ICU, I can certainly give you some good tips I have learned in the nursing home. The biggest help to me has been a hand-full of non-sterile gloves in my pocket. That way, when you're doing rounds you can save time by grabbing them on your way into the room. If allowed, a bottle of Peri-Fresh goes a long way in keeping down perineal odors. If you have a patient whose feces is a little difficult to remove, a dab of shaving cream should do the trick. I've read that this can dry the skin, so some aloe lotion would be nice too. When placing patients on a bed pan, it's a good idea to put a towel underneath. That way if a little bit of urine spills, the towel can catch it instead of the bed. If you prefer not to wear a handheld watch because of germs or handwashing, I use an analogue clock on my cell phone when taking pulse and respiration. However, do not start using the cell phone on the job! I had to learn the hard way that this is dangerous to patients and my job security. Be sure when providing care that you give your patient the utmost attention. And never get behind! I don't know how busy you'll be in the ICU, but in a nursing home time is just about everything. And whoever posted the "code brown"...hee hee... I just have to say that I DEFINITELY know where you're coming from. I turned a patient after he urinated in his brief and all of a sudden I see this pyroclastic humongous flow of feces ROLL out of his orifice...it was just a big mound on the bed. He ended up do that twice that night. I had to give him a shower after the second time because he ended up playing in it. Horror. Hopefully you won't see too much of that in the ICU, but it is always a good lesson to learn!