lightout

According to the social services rules for my state she no longer falls into the criteria for assisted living. I have worked with a few people with dementia and have seen a lot of to much stimulation will make them act out as you have described. It might be worth a try to work with the resident once with the lights low, as little noise as possible, and work slowly. You want everything to be relax full for both of you. I'm sure you will still want someone with you, but tell them before hand what the plan is and have them stand against the wall away from you and the resident. We have one resident with dementia that few people can work with, not as bad as what you have described. I take him to the bath room twice at night and each time it takes about 7 minutes, but I don't have any issues unless someone else has all ready upset him with in the hour. It might be time to redirect her punches and kicks with your hands so the other CNA can do the work. It might be worth trying to play tug of war with a towel to distract her so you can work with her lower body and then work with her upper body last.

I have found a lot of the older southern ladies do not want a younger male or any male doing some things for them. I have also found that a lot of the male residents like having a male working with them. I did get flirted with a lot and it's best to smile and depending on there mental capacity small talk helps a lot, but be careful of what you say. It depends on the residents to how well the female coworkers will like you. If there are a lot of residence that will not let male CNA's help with the bathroom or with showers then it will become a PITA for your coworkers. If you work somewhere that it's not an issue they will love to have a man to help lift all the time. Working around a lot of female staff you will hear a lot of things that you probably will not want to hear about.

I think it depends on where you live. Where I'm at there is a lot of people that want to just work weekends because of the shift differential. The staff that has worked there for years that want the weekends are SOL because they would not be able to cover there off days and keep staffing numbers up to where they want them. I know a lot of people that work through care.com on the weekends or pick up a few 4 hour shifts during the week.

When I read stuff like this I wounder how much nurse like there license? I'm sure they know CNA's work under there license. When it comes down to it anything we do can jeopardize there license.

It depends on how you are normally scheduled. The number of days you work per a week + 3. 1 set for each day of the week you normally work. 1 set in your car at all times from when you get covered in “stuff” and need to change. 2 extra for picking up an extra day of work or if you need to retire a set. I have 12 + sets of scrubs. Where I’m at CNA's can not have any white. LPN, RN, Med Tech's must have on a white top or a lab coat. Nursing staff is not to where the same color tops as housekeeping, food service, or maintenance uniforms. With being a male there is only 2 brands / cuts that I can wear that give me full range of movement with out issues.

I think your right that after a few days with the residence there should no longer be any issues. I defiantly know what it's like to be on the other side. I just need to sit down and think about the questions or comments that will come up so I have good answers for them ready to go. Your right that I only have one back. My physical therapy has had me on the weight machines 3 days a week to slowly build up the mussel mass in my chest and back from where I could not use them. I have talked to my DON about keeping me off the elopement response team and first aid response team (independent living) for the next few months.

IMO the most important part of resident care is to verbalize everything you do. The second most important thing is where and what they think your looking at when doing your job. I do my best to explain what your doing and to try to look at there face as much as possible. If you need to look at what your doing than look, but as soon as your able look back at there face and use your peripheral vision. I find male residents want to be cleaned with the least amount of touching as possible. The less time you spend doing there peri care the more comfortable they will be. For a male resident that is on a bed I find it best to go in with a wet wipe in each hand and be done in 20 to 30 seconds than to use one hand and take a minute or more. With a female resident I often use the excuse that I missed a spot when I go in for the last wipe. If your unsure on how to handle the situation then it might be time to sit down with your manager and talk about it for a few minutes. They might have ideas on a different approach to use or it might be time to say no males or no females can work with that resident.

In my region there is a lack of good CNA's. A few of the top places will come to the class on the second week to talk to the students. They start the hiring process during there week of clinical and can start orientation the week after they get there NA certificate of completion. The make you take the certification test with in 60 days and if you do not pass with in 90 days of being hired you get fired. Where we are at you should be able to get 4 to 5 testing dates in there 90 days. The better places look for new CNA's so they can mold to there higher standard of care. It's hard to make change someone habits and to make someone care after they worked for someone else just to get there paycheck.

I'm in an odd situation and unsure if I want to go back to my job or if it is time to move on. I have worked at my current employer for 7 yeas in there assisted living units as a CNA (I do have my Med Tech, but would rather work as a CNA). A few weeks ago as I started my shift we had an elopement. During the elopement 1 security officer, 1 cop, and myself were hospitalized. I was admitted into the hospital for about 65 hours for 6 broken ribs and internal bleeding. I was transferred from the hospital to the health care unit where I work for rehab. After 12 days I was transferred to assisted living to recover until I could live on my own (no family). After 17 days I was able to go home. After I was home for a week (39 days from getting my butt whipped) my employer brought me back to work as an "office helper". I'm at about 6 weeks from my injury and the doc wants me to go back to my job as a CNA starting the beginning of the month. My employer wants me to return to assisted living on the floor where I had stayed. When I think of working with the residents that I had lived with gives me an uneasy feeling. In the 17 days of living with them I had learned a lot about them and they have learned a lot about me. I think I will be fine with the embarrassment of my coworkers seeing / taking care of me. We did talk about me working on a different floor, but I'll be on light duty and want to put me on the floor with the least amount of assisted transfers. I don't think a lot of people have been in a situation like this before. I could use some advice and thoughts on this.