Sundance327

Hmm, your company sounds exactly how my first home health company did I will start off by saying, there is absolutely nothing wrong with home health. It can be a great learning experience. Just in my case (most likely due to my company), it wasn't. Of the many clients I had, there were only a handful in which I got to use my actual CNA skills. The rest were just companionship and cleaning someone's house. While I did enjoy those past two scenarios, they aren't why I became certified. I had done home health for about a year until I decided to go work in a facility. By the time I started working in a facility, my CNA skills were really, really rusty from not being able to use them. So in short, it really could be a great learning experience, or it could be the exact opposite. But a facility is really the place where I was always able to use the knowledge I was trained to do. Hopefully yours will be a good experience, good luck!

Absolutely don't start working "less carefully and less cleanly". That's how accidents and injuries happen. When I started working as a CNA, I was the exact same way. I was terrified to touch my residents because I was so nervous that I would break them. I was horribly slow! I promise, it will get better and you will become faster. Now, this isn't to say to rush through your residents and just to think of them as a number until you're done, but it is possible to provide them with quality care and not take 20 minutes to do so (now, if there is a case where there is BM everywhere and all over a catheter, it is entirely expected to take longer than if you were cleaning someone up who had only voided). And as for the nurses and other CNAs who say that you take too long, they clearly don't remember what it's like to be brand new at a job. Ignore any remarks they have about how long it takes you to do something, take a deep breath, and just keep getting the hang of it. You WILL get better!

I've been a CNA for 2 years and have cared for countless hospice residents. Basically, they will have their good days and they will have their bad days. The good days are where they are alert and oriented and can communicate, help roll side to side/with transfers, and be able to express their pain and discomfort. Their bad days are where they are verbally unresponsive, can't assist at all with with turns and transfers, etc. As for if this work is back breaking, yes it very well can be. When someone is close to passing and can't help at all, always make sure they have a draw sheet underneath them to help you roll them, and have someone help you (you will especially need someone else if they are a larger). In my experience, when they are in the active process of death, they stay in bed. When they are in this state and are moaning or groaning when caring for them, just rub and hold their hand and let them know it is okay. We use swabs and dip them in water to help them drink and to keep their mouths moist. It is hard work both physically and emotionally but it is so rewarding!

Hahaha yes the next night they gave her something to help her relax and sleep and it worked really well! Much to mine and her nurses' suprise, the next morning she even remembered her husband was in the hospital without asking!

I will try that tonight, thank you!

On Monday I was called in to care for a woman whose husband had to be admitted into the hospital. She has dementia and isn't too worried during the daytime (I've been taking her to the hospital to visit him). This is my first 12hr night shift with her and she hasn't been able to sleep due to worrying about where he is and why she has had random CNAs in her living room for the past few nights. I've explained what happened, where he is, when he's coming home, etc; but she forgets 2 mins later and goes back to being worried sick and confused about it all. Maybe I am not going about this the correct way, I haven't had a resident with dementia yet so I'm still working on the best way to explain things to her to get her to not stress about it too much. Any tips on what to say/do to calm her down and help her be able to get some sleep? Thanks!

Hello, I have been a home health CNA for 7 months now. It's had its ups and downs but with my most recent client, the household hazards just were not very well worth my time or safety. Recently I have been considering either moving to a different HH agency (my current one isn't very good) or working at a facility. I know it varies from agency to facility, but in your experience, which is a better place to work in as a CNA? Thanks!

I would think that they likely would not call you back for an interview. See it from their point of view, why would they hire someone for a healthcare job when the person felt the need to cheat in order to succeed in it? Although you apologized, they may be too afraid to hire someone who doesn't/didn't fully know how to do their job.

Thank you, I spoke to my boss the next day and she said he was way out of line to ask for that kind of info. From there he was harassing both her and me, so the company dropped him as a client.

I'm a CNA for a home care agency in northern Arizona and if a client pays through insurance, I make $8.50/hr. If they are private pay (which are few and far between), we make $10/hr.

I am a home care CNA, and for clients that have insurance, I only make $8.50/hr. For the private pay clients (not very many), it is $10/hr. It was very easy for me to find a job, because it seems like home care companies are always looking for CNAs.

I am a home care CNA and on Friday I was bitten by a friend's dog (off the clock). I went to the doctor to get it cleaned out and they gave me antibiotics and said I am fine to work. We also checked the dog's shot records and everything was up to date. Because these are close friends and they paid for all of the medical bills, we saw no reason in reporting it to animal control. Well today when I was on the phone with my client discussing what time he wanted me to come in tomorrow, I made the mistake of telling him that I had a minor injury and would just need to take it a little slower, but that my work would not be affected by it. He kept pressing me for more info until I told him it was a dog bite. He then called our 24/7 out of state office and told them he would not allow me back to work without a doctor's note and unless I faxed the dog's shot records to my company. I am only hesitant to do so because if I go to the doctor's office (which is far from my house so it is not convenient to go get one), I am fearful that they will report the bite. He keeps telling me I should have reported it to the company on Friday after it happened. I would never put my client at risk, but am I legally even required to inform my company of an off the job injury that I've already dealt with? I do not want to give him or anyone there info that they have no business of knowing. Also, while I am on the topic of health liability, this client has a very big mouse issue. For the past 3 months that I have been his CNA, I have literally had to clean up mouse droppings every day. About a month into it, my company told me I need to clean a part of his house that had *hundreds* of mouse droppings. I did it with no complaints because I was not aware of how sick I could get from just breathing around them. He still catches a mouse maybe once or twice a week and I am still cleaning these droppings every day (not nearly as much as there was when I first got here, but there are still some). My question is, am I even legally allowed to be made to clean up mouse poop every single day? Now that I know how ill it can make me, I am just questioning why they even made me to do it in the first place. Sorry it's so much but any input would be greatly appreciated!