hookyarnandblanket

In Kansas, you can get a CNA cert at 16 but you cannot operate patient lifting equipment.

To be honest? You really need the LTC experience before working in a hospital. I have rarely seen a brand new CNA come into the hospital setting and handle it well. I can think of one situation where it worked out.

My clinical instructor was a no nonsense, old school RN who was by the book. By the end of my clinicals, I appreciated her more than I could express. She made me a good CNA. Maybe that is what your instructors are doing. They probably see too many lazy students who aren't doing this because they feel called to do it but because it is their only option. You can't motivate people like that, but you can motivate and home those who want to be good. Yes, tasks can get to the point it feels repetitive, but keep in mind, even RNs have to perform those tasks, too. They don't go away after you become a RN.

I did, but that is because I am that type of person. I know many who never eve cracked the book open or purchased the book. It is all individual preference.

You probably need to look at being a home health aide instead. Most facilities are not going to let you come in or leave at a time convenient for you. In fact, there would be times you wouldn't be able to leave at 0630 because the next shift could be running late or they called in. If there isn't someone available to come in after you, you are essentially mandated to stay until someone does come in to take over.

It would probably be best to make what you can of your current position. Going to an administrator and saying you don't feel the current position is a good fit will likely be interpreted as you saying you're quitting. With your hiring being so new, there is no solid reason for them to move you unless that was the only option available. You will still gain knowledge in things related to acute care, bit just not as much. Don't lock yourself down into one area of nursing; make yourself valuable by being open to all different kinds of nursing. The nurses where I work do a huge variety of roles; They are ED nurses, acute nurses, skilled nurses, intermediate nurses, and staff nurses because we have no other option or staff. I say give it time because.you never know when you may find yourself in a position where you need to change mindsets in a hurry.

There is no easy answer to this, unfortunately. If the nurses are relaxed about not helping, and one is notorious for sleeping and not helping out, management likely already knows and won't do anything to correct it. The only solution I would do in that situation would be to not pick up any more shifts in that department. It's highly disturbing that the RN didn't come in to help with the admission to do a cursory assessment and get some sort of brief report from transport.

I started in a nursing home and moved into hospital work. I can't say it's much different for me because they limit our scope of practice in our hospital. As far difference, there are more moments for equipment to get in the way, more opportunities for patient status to go south in a hurry, more exposure to infectious disease, and probably the biggest for me: The goal for the majority is discharge to home, so the emphasis on getting the patient to do their own ADLs and be compliant with Dr.'s orders is highly emphasized.

I was in full blown HTN and untreated when both my CNA jobs hired me. You should have nothing to worry about.

You need to contact the program director and ask. Every clinical site and class provider is going to be different.

If your supervisor isn't willing to do anything about it, and the facility is always chronically understaffed, I think you know what the answer is. You can't panic and try to put out a fire someone else started. I can understand the benefits of the job; I had great benefits at my previous job, too. I also ran myself practically into a nervous breakdown trying to compensate for the choices of the higher ups. I never complained to them when I was punished for the actions of the administration pets. I took on extra shifts, gave up my days off, stayed late, came in early, and only called in once in 2 years because my stomach hurt so bad, I had to crawl across the floor to call them. I did all that because the CNAs who did the same as me and the residents needed me. The nurses there needed me, too, but in the end, I had no choice but to leave before I put myself in the hospital. The administration didn't care that I worked twice as hard as anyone else there on the floor as a CNA. They only worried about keeping the ones who didn't do anything happy and at the job. It was my mental health or the job. Now things are better, I don't commute to work, but I am valued as an employee and I work with RNs and CNAs who care about their jobs and help out no matter the letters behind their names. You probably know deep down what to do. Just food for thought.

It will largely depend on where you live and the cost of living in your area. I live in a rural area of Kansas and base wage at the hospital where I work is $9.25 per hour. The nursing home 13 miles away pays $10 per hour base wage.

If you feel like she is neglecting residents (I would consider not wiping them neglect) or she is jeopardizing resident safety, report her. Otherwise, try to get through orientation and steer clear of this CNA.

This sadly is commonplace. Waiting it out for the six months was a good idea to get the experience. This sounds like a place that needs management overhaul and to get their priorities straight. Good luck finding the right fit. It's out there waiting for you.

At the time this was more commonplace, the parents, the state, and whomever held custody of the individual made the choice as the thinking was that anyone who had some sort of mental impairment wasn't capable of making their own decisions, even if they were mostly cogent. We have come a very long way in autonomy for those with special needs, but there is still a long way to go. This is actually a matter my husband and I are struggling with currently. My youngest step daughter is 16, autistic, intellectually disabled to a mild extent which makes her comprehension level somewhere close to the age of 13. Legally, he can still make the decision for her to be on depo, and we have done it. However, when she turns 18, we will have to make the decision to either file for permanent guardianship or file for financial and medical power of attorney due to the fact she can't make those decisions on her own since her mental disabilities impair her ability to make choices even with informed consent.

Point noted. It was commonplace to force sterility on people with special needs without their consent even when their cognition was enough they could have cared for children, though. In the early 20th century, authorities often sterilized repeat criminal offenders as young as 14 because they believed that criminal behavior was genetic.

In the mid 20th century, people with special needs were looked upon, for lack of better terminology, as freaks of nature who were either shuffled off to institutions where they were starved and neglected or sterilized and hidden from society. It was considered shameful to have a child who needed extra care. Not all families could afford to institutionalize their children with special needs so they resorted to what they could afford, and using a vet to sterilize the child would have been the cheapest route to go, as bizarre as it may seem. The Unite States has a very ugly history of eugenics which many are either unaware of or too embarrassed to admit knowing. It's worth researching.

It wouldn't surprise me. If a family had a child with Down Syndrome and little income, they probably would have resorted to using a vet.

I've wondered about this, too. Going on the presumption that these are young people, this is an example of false perception in that once you're certified and hired, you know exactly what to do when you walk on to the floor and it will all be easy. To the OP, and the others who have posted similar: Hard work is hard work. To get to where others are, you have to do grunt work, make mistakes, fail, get up, start again, and work harder than the person next to you. One of the best pieces of advice my dad has said to me is this: Nothing worth doing is ever easy. Once it is easy, you need to focus on advancing to the next level. Being complacent leads to stagnation and burnout. Set some goals and work hard to achieve them.

Everyone has felt this way just starting out. The only thing you can do is take things one resident/patient at a time. Take notes, ask for help, take your time and don't worry about shortcuts, ask for help, read the care plans, watch what the experienced CNAs are doing and see if their tips and tricks will work for you, ask for help.

We can't dispense legal advisement here. However, I have been told that refusing to care for a specific patient could be construed as abandonment of assignment. Perhaps contacting your state board of nursing would yield better results.

Talk to the HR department and the DON. Be honest with them and flexible and they probably will be flexible with you.

7-3 is an extremely difficult shift to learn as a brand new CNA. I've watched several at my hospital struggle with managing all that is required during our shift. One moved on, and two never caught on for reasons not related to not being able to do the work. The best approach is to create a game plan with your coworkers. I work with 2 other CNAs on the floor so we go over who gets tub baths, who gets partials, who needs to be up first, etc. We then plan out who is taking what patient to the tub first and coordinate amongst us how we think the day will go. If I have a full list of baths, I go to each room and put all the things I will need for their bath in one place that is inconspicuous but easily accessable so that when it's my turn, I have everything ready to go. We work together to get patients up for breakfast and lunch, and we work together to get them back to their rooms and laid down after lunch. We help one another with linen changes, transfers, and toileting patients. Everyone has felt incompetent when first starting. Sometimes you just have to fake it until you make it.

You're still new enough that you are still developing a routine. It comes with practice and experience. It may be helpful for you to write down the routines which are confusing and study them on your meal breaks and keep them in your locker. Without knowing your shift, it's difficult for me to make many suggestions beyond the basics such as keeping a roll of trash bags in your pocket, along with gloves, a pen, a piece of paper, and a gait belt if assigned to you. I know many places have individual gait belt for each patient. Keep working hard and celebrate the successful days.

It's natural to be nervous and slow when you first start out. No one walks into this position completely confident in what he or she is doing. If someone does, it's a matter of faking it until you make it, and really, that is what it takes to get good at this. It comes with time. Your coworkers are doing you a huge disservice by not allowing you to care for patients who use some sort of lift. You will never gain skill and competence if you aren't going the task and building skill. When caring for a patient, slow down, take it one step at a time, think ahead to the next step, and double check everything before beginning care. Ask the patient how he or she feels in a certain position and adjust as needed. Efficiency and speed come only after you learn think and plan ahead and gain confidence in skill, which only comes with practice on the floor. As far as your coworkers talking about you behind your back? That happens in every industry; you can't let it affect you. You have to learn to push it aside, ignore it, and prove them wrong. They felt the same way when they started out, too. I don't know what your ultimate goal is here, whether or not you are looking to go to nursing school, etc., but if you are thinking of becoming a nurse, experience in LTC is a must. Hang in there. It DOES get better with time, effort, and practice.