Rant

I just have to blow off some steam here so.....

I have been working as a CNA for the past 2 weeks. I work at a county facility. I am scheduled to take my test on the 10th of Jan and right now plan on canceling the test appointment. Last friday we got a new admit. He was in my room and is the type that as soon as he hits the call bell he expects someone to appear before he releases the button. I explained to him numerous times that I have other residents to care for so it may take a few minutes to get to him. He still feels that we should jump as soon as he hits the button but thankfully he is not mine anymore as he is in another section. Well this same individual claimed on the day of his admit that he received no care. I was called on the carpet and they investigated and found his claim unfounded. I was informed that this same individual was admitted to another facility 3 times and each time made the same accusation. His wife informed us that he likes to make claims of mistreatment and neglect. Than GOD I don't have him anymore.

Now for tonight. In my section I have a number of 2 assists and a few mechanical lifts and our facility requires that with mech lifts 2 cna's must be there. There are 4 of us on the floor and one is great at helping as needed if she is not real busy. The other two when I ask for help get an attitude and mumble under their breath. I get my residents set up that all we have to do is the lift or transfer prior to asking for help. Tonight I had one lady set up got the help I needed to lift and transfer her to her bed so I could do her care. Now this lady likes to climb OOB and is a fall risk so she sleeps in a fallout chair. Well I completed her PM care asked for help placing her in the fallout chair. I had to wait 45 minutes before someone would help me. With her on the bed I could not leave her alone if I would have I would have had to fill out an incident report because she would have climbed out of bed and fallen. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR now I had another resident who was a mechanical lift all hooked up and ready to lift. I asked for help. It took 1 hour before someone came to help me. In that time she fell asleep. While waiting I was able to do the PM care on some other residents. Needless to say I fell way behind. Now I can physically do the lifts and some of the transfers myself but I REFUSE to jeopardize my job by doing things against policy. The two girls on with me were extremely upset with me because I fell behind. And when I opened my mouth about having to wait for help that really set them off. Also the way they treat the residents appalls me. The roll them around like sacks of potatoes. The residents really have no say in their care. I am not talking about demented or mentally impaired residents either. If the don't want to eat they are forced to eat. I was taught that the residents are the boss and if the don't want to do something they don't have to.

I made the decision that I am not retuning to that facility. I may be way off base here and still have that newbie mentality but come on. Sorry this got long winded but I needed to blow off steam. Thanks for letting me.