FutureC.N.A

Welp.....I'll tell you what makes no sense to me...why would a hospital or any place for that matter look at my resume and see that it clearly states I have no experience and that I am fresh out of the program and then go to all the trouble of setting up an interview with me like they are going to hire me and then saying "Well we are looking for someone with more experience." I did cave in and apply to LTCs and ALFs and even Home Health Agencies and they all did the same thing. I'll tell you what else makes no sense to me, the lies they tell you in the CNA program like "This is a very rewarding job" and "You will be able to find a job anywhere, lots of places need CNAs and will hire you." I took the job at the gas station while I was still job hunting for a CNA position because I couldn't find one soon enough to pay my bills. Being a CNA was never my dream anyway I was on the waiting list to get into the RN program at my school and figured the CNA program would be a great way to raise my GPA and get some hands on experience. Honestly, after going though clinicals at the nursing home we went to, I would rather work at a gas station for the same amount of pay then work at one of those places. I don't know if they are all like that but every CNA in that place hated their job and were quick to tell all of us to stay in school. Also, I personally just do not want to work in a nursing home because of reasons. I do have that freedom to choose where I work.

I'm sorry to hear that you failed your clinicals. I really do understand how you feel. I made it through my clinicals, although every day felt like a miracle that I made it through without quitting. I also feel like a failure because even though I made it through training and even passed the state certification test, I never got a job. I job hunted every single day and went on interviews at different hospitals but nobody would hire me due to lack of experience. ) It's been about four months since I became certified and now all I do is work for minimum wage at a gas station. My parents are also angry/disappointed and every day they remind me of my failure by telling me I need to be finding a CNA job. My mom and I also still get in to arguments about it a lot. Honestly, at this point, I don't even want to continue finding a CNA job because the only openings around the small town that I live in are in nursing homes and with home health agencies. I just look back at it as a great, eye opening, learning experience. I believe everything happens for a reason and like my CNA instructor said, "Taking a CNA training course not only makes you realize how things are in this profession but it also helps you learn a lot about yourself."

Thank you so much for the reply! She also told me that I will be doing blood sugar tests and I was worried about that because we weren't taught that in school so I was wondering if that was in a CNAs scope of practice? Also, I know this is a stupid question and I probably already know the answer but I just wanted to be sure- I know she said that they do vitals and repositioning throughout the night- so you go into their room and wake them up for that every time. What if they are really cranky and refuse? It is a smaller, county hospital and I live in a pretty small county in Georgia. I am BLS certified but I don't know any of the hospital codes and I've never done CPR on anyone, so I'm a little nervous about that.

Also, what's the patient to CNA ratio at the hospital you work? She told me outright during the interview that this hospital is understaffed at the moment and that the patient to cna ratio is usually 18 patients to 1 CNA and that during night shift there are usually only 2 CNAs working. She also said she wants to cross train me to be a Unit Secretary. Do any of you guys have experience working as a Unit Secretary as well?

I had my very first CNA interview today for a night shift position on a medical surgical floor. I was just wondering if any of you worked med/surg and what it's like? Pros/cons? I had lots of questions I wanted to ask during the interview but I felt like I would've looked incompetent if I had asked them. However, during my CNA training we never really went over surgical patients much or even what a hospital setting is like. My teacher spent more time teaching us about geriatric patients and nursing home settings because she said that was where we would most likely get hired for our first CNA position.

Thank you all for the responses! A couple questions, though - what is a float pool position and SN? Also, what was it like starting out working for a home health agency, SuperMeghan91? What was a typical day like?

I also used 4yourCNA on youtube. I watched the videos over and over and had the grading rubrics for each skill in my hand as I watched them, checking off each step as she did them in the video. The lady who makes them is also good about responding to comments you leave on the video and helping you out about any questions you have. I passed my test last week on my first try and I only used those videos to study with. They really help! Good luck! :)

Hey! I am a new CNA, just passed the exam last week. I am currently trying to find a job so I can save up money to start nursing school in January. I am finding it very difficult to find a job without having experience. I also can't decide what type of setting I want to work in. I would rather not work in a nursing home. I did my clinicals at a nursing home and it was very discouraging. The CNAs I shadowed there all seemed to hate their jobs and seemed to have more of a workload than they could handle. I have been thinking about applying to a home health agency, but I don't know if that would be a wise thing to do with no experience. Ideally, I would like to work in a doctor's office or a hospital but I can't seem to find any jobs like that in my area. I really want to do the best job I can as a CNA, so I am worried about choosing the right setting for me. My question to you all is where did you start out working as a new CNA? Also, where do you think someone who has no experience in health care should start out? If you worked in home health, what was it like exactly? I really have no idea how working as a home health aide works. Are you working under a nurse? A friend of my mom's works as a home health aide but she works independently because she said she didn't make enough money working for an agency. How does that work? I thought that in order to renew your CNA certification, you had to work under a nurse? I feel so clueless about all of this stuff but I just don't want to start working at a place and end up hating my job you know? I know that this is not an easy job by any means and that the pay is not that great, but that is not why I chose to make this my career. I am fine with working hard for little pay as long as I am taking good care of my patients and doing the best possible job I can for them.

I passed mine today in Georgia! The skills I got were - hand washing, blood pressure, nail care on one hand, ambulate with a gait belt and range of motion exercises for knee and ankle.

That's awesome! Congrats! I completed my CNA program on 7/31 and sent in my application for the exam last Monday so I am still waiting to hear what day they schedule my exam. Anyways, did you wear scrubs to the exam? Because I was just wondering if I should wear mine or not.

I would love to hear about your experience and good luck! I hope your clinicals go well and you have a better experience than me.

Thank you all for the comments! I just got done with my fourth day, still have two days to go! I got to just shadow a lot more and did a few things like feeding and making beds on my own, but I still don't feel comfortable with any other skills besides those and I mean skills like transferring patients, bathing them, changing their briefs and their clothes...basically all of the really personal things. Did they tell you what your patient's condition was or anything about the patient during your clinicals? Because they don't do that at the place I'm at. The only thing they tell us is their name and their room number. I know that a lot of the skills are pretty much common sense but they are difficult to do when you don't know anything about the patient like their limitations, illness, routines and preferences. I don't really feel like I'm learning any more than I did in the book except for how this place is ran basically and a day in the life of a CNA, but I just feel like I'm aways in the way and I feel stupid all the time. I wait for the CNA to tell me what to do and I ask her all the time what she needs me to do but it's never anything other than feeding or making beds and when I'm not doing that, I'm following her around the whole time and watching her do everything. I even told the one I was shadowing today that I still had some skills left that I needed to check off on and she was like "ok we can do those after lunch break" and then I never saw her again after that.... There is also only five of us in my class, so we don't have a partner and even if we wanted them to help us they can't because they are busy following their CNA around. I don't know if this is what clinicals is supposed to be or not but I feel like it's not supposed to be like this. I wish I had just one patient or even a few...or even a section of the hall (Which is 12 patients at this place) that I could get to know during the week but we go all over the facility and there are about 60 patients there.I also wish I had one of my classmates as a partner I know that would make this a much better experience. There is also a lot of drama between the workers there that we get put in the middle of and have to listen to everyone constantly talking **** about each other and complaining about how much they hate their job and want can't wait to leave. I feel like they care more about being *******s to each other than they do about the patients.

I started my clinicals at a nursing home Thursday and have to go back all week next week. I was told by my teacher that we would never be left alone in the facility and that we were never supposed to provide any kind of care or do anything with the residents by ourselves. However, the CNA I was assigned to follow around either didn't know this or didn't care. The first thing she had me do was go into a resident's room by myself to get her vital signs and then to two other rooms to make beds. I did because I know how to get vital signs, but I didn't know which resident she was talking about because there was two to a room and I also didn't really know how to work the equipment because it was digital and I never learned how to use those because we learned how to use the manual ones in school. I had to ask her and I felt like an idiot. Anyways I have to go back there tomorrow and I was just wondering if she tries to get me to do anything by myself again - do I have the right to say that I am not yet comfortable doing it by myself and if I can just watch her do it? I felt like asking that would just cause drama - but even a fellow student made the comment that it seemed like this CNA was trying to get me to do her job for her. I know how to do all of my skills and I checked off on all of them during lab in class - but I had never done them on an actual patient and I am extremely nervous to just have to jump in there and do it by myself. We also did not have a lot of time in class to practice some skills and some of them we only got to do on the mannequins once! I'm the type of person who learns better by seeing it done a few times and then when I am confident enough, jumping in and assisting. So, tomorrow when I go back to clinicals and a CNA tries to get me to do something by myself again, do you think I should just tell her that?