:angryfire I am desperately trying to get a job in a hospital right now. I just can't stand the NH anymore! Every shift I work, I'm disgusted at the lack of care our residents get. If you get on to the CNA's, they go to the supervisor, who backs them up. I'm sorry, but if you had time to be on the phone every time I saw you during an 8 hour shift, you had time to get that brief out of the floor and/or at least return some of the 20+ resident trays that were left on the unit instead of going back to the kitchen after the meal like they were supposed to. Caked on dried up poop that I have to scrub off to change a dsg, residents left in the bed all weekend that normally are up in a chair qd, g tubes that obviously weren't flushed after meds given. Poop left in the shower floor until all showers are done, gracious the list goes on! Had a very lucid resident tell me that the cna's told him they couldn't put him back to bed because they were short. Excuse me? They were short the first 2 hours of the shift, not the whole thing. Not to mention one group of residents got no care at all for several hours because they had them broken up into 4 groups and the 4th person was coming in late. :angryfire Is it like this everywhere? I've considered applying at other LTC's, but I'm afraid it'll be the same.
They did nothing! all they had to do was feed breakfast. They had the nerve to have me get up the three people I had left and rechange residents's briefs. I thought I did good to get that many up! The funny thing is when I was in orientation I was thinking how cool it was 7-3 did not have to get people up. they had eight techs on days including shower techs. But if no shower techs we haad to do some showers. We called the DON and her response was she couldn't pull the CNA's out of her butt!
so, if I had called the state board would they have done anything? I have had 22 patients before at another facility, is there a limit on the ratio? why aren't facilities required to use agency? Hell, why doesn't the DON get her butt out of bed and come help us?
Eight techs on days that didn't have to get people up or bed bathe Your DON didn't need to pull CNAs out of her butt, she had eight on days, just to feed meals (yeah like that takes eight hours or 12 hours). CRNASOMEDAY, there is a wide spread belief among some who have never worked midnights, that all the night staff does is sit with their feet up drinking coffee and eating bon-bons because once the patients are all nestled in bed, they sleep all night long :roll :roll :roll :roll . Unfortunately you had a DON and enough day shift staff that suscribed to this belief.
You know I do believe there should be laws to limit the caregiver to patient ratio and they should have some basis in reality.
Hey, another thing, why does breakfast have to come at 7freaking o'clock anyway, how about 8:30 or 9:00.
It is the facilities responsibility to staff adequately, not mine. I feel as though if three people were staffed and I was the only one to show up if I did three people's job I think I should get their pay in the form of a bonus. No one thanks me for working under hellish conditions. I'm sorry but my job doesn't include being treated like a slave. Don't get me wrong, I will keep everyone clean, but it's not right at all. :angryfire :angryfire
I couldn't agree more. I understand that us CNAs are supposed to care for the residents, but it IS impossible to expect us to take on the work of other CNAs who call out, and do the exact same job as before the callouts. I think having one CNA for 15 residents is too much, and it bothers me that there are no laws (at least as far as I know) that mandate specific ratios of CNAs to residents. I wonder if family members of residents are aware of how short staffed many nursing homes are. It is definitely the nursing home's fault that they are unable to staff properly, as many only pay CNAs less than $8 per hour, for a job that is so physically and emotionally exhausting. However, these same facilities are able to cough up $15 to $20 per hour for agency CNAs. :angryfire It is unfair to expect CNAs to take on extra residents, or float off the floor, and not offer any extra compensation for their efforts.
I agree NR, we all need to calm down and take a deep breath. After seeing years of short staffing which never seems to get any better, you eventually come to realize that we're only human and we are not miracle workers. You do your job the best you can and that's ALL you can do. There's no sense in getting our bp's at stroke level because after the stroke, the residents will still be there and the staff will be even more short. You'll be in another facility on the other side of the bed rail thinking, "Was it worth getting this upset over??" Of course not. What we can do is our job to the best of our ability. If the next shift wants to moan and groan because something wasn't done and you were so short that it was impossible to do, let them complain all they want, it's their choice and their right, but they have to realize that sometimes things won't be perfect when they come on duty and that's why we have continuity of care, 24 hour service around the clock. What one can't do, the others can and with more help. Our residents are counting on us to be there for them and we will be. We are all angels in their eyes.
i was wondering if pictures would be ok to take? they do have problems with linens not being changed etc. i remember a few months back, i was repositioning a resident's pillow (under his head) and it was mildewed. same cna's that did this junk this weekend.
i don't know if this has been discussed any more, but if you do decide to take pictures, use film, not digital to document. it can be said that digital pics can be manipulated. with film, you have the negatives and can't be manipulated as easily as digital.
as far as the hipaa things goes, if you have a black marker, cross out the resident's eyes and any other identifying features.
BRAVO to all the CNA's that do their jobs. I am a brand new LPN student and so I have limited knowledge, I drove an ambulance before and worked as an EKG tech (both years ago) so I really never knew what exactly was entailed in full patient care. I just finished my first clinical rotation at a very very upscale NH and found out that its not how much money these people pay to stay there, its the attitude of the staff. Even at this facility you could see a huge difference between the CNA's that just wanted a paycheck and those that were dedicated and enjoyed their profession. NEVER be ashamed of your profession, everyone is on a team with one goal "the patients holistic health". People might say "oh she/he's just a CNA" but what they don't realize is that CNA's are the residents friends/confidants/mothers/caretakers. YOU CNA"s have a hard job and bravo to you who do it well and with compassion.
I am dealing with the "uhhh, yeah, I know its just a LPN liscence" but dagnabit,we all play our part as I'm finding out. I'm proud that I'm going to school to help others, and as soon as I can find one without a year long/must promise first born RN school I'll become one of them, and hopefully never forget the importance of a really good team.
So everyone take a moment, pat yourselves on your back...YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
"The best way to find yourself is to loose yourself in the service of others" Mahatma Gandhi
Thank you! That is a very nice thing for you to say. :icon_hug:
i don't know if this has been discussed any more, but if you do decide to take pictures, use film, not digital to document. it can be said that digital pics can be manipulated. with film, you have the negatives and can't be manipulated as easily as digital.
as far as the hipaa things goes, if you have a black marker, cross out the resident's eyes and any other identifying features.
i believe that would be ok.
but the problem is, who's going to be processing the film? i doubt every hospital has a photo lab, and taking it to wal-mart would violate the patients' right to confidentiality. also, manipulating digital photos takes some skill.
I finally gave in and quit. I loved my residents, but I feel like the job was just sucking the life out of me. I have two interviews at non-LTC places next week.
I finally gave in and quit. I loved my residents, but I feel like the job was just sucking the life out of me. I have two interviews at non-LTC places next week.
I don't blame you.....I've been there and done that, too.
I worked a part time NH job for 2 years for extra income,
and the care was just awful that the residents received.
The aides didn't turn people, trays left in the rooms,
bedside tables/nightstands were dirty, dirty linens on the floor,
BM left on the shower room floor from the day shift showers.
Aides hiding in rooms, sleeping, and not telling me they needed a break
so I would at least know where they were....they would just go hide,
sleep, and when I needed someone I had to hunt them,
therefore wasting my time.
Then we had aides that would only work on one hall, and wouldn't go to the
other side when they were short on that side.
I was loaded down with meds to pass to a full hall of about 40-45 people,
varying at times. It took me a long time to pass the meds,
and I couldn't follow the aides around constantly to see to it
that they did their job and get mine done, too.
Then all the call ins we had, and working short all the time.
Since I worked nights, when aides for the dayshift started calling
in they expected me to get on the phone and call someone in.....
knowing I had an early morning med pass, fingersticks and insulins to give.
I didn't have time to get on the phone and call people who didn't want to be called, wouldn't answer their phone and wouldn't come in anyway.
And management just ignored my complaints and writeups. Didn't do one bit of good to say anything.
Staff with good work ethics in that nursing home were few and far between.
And the sad thing is this NH is just a couple of blocks from me.
The facility is gorgeous. I could work there part time and enjoy it, and
make a little extra money, but the stress is just too much.
I still have my state job in a facility for the mentally and physically challenged......the care there is great, people with good work ethics.
This job is a hundred times better than the nursing home.
I finally gave in and quit. I loved my residents, but I feel like the job was just sucking the life out of me. I have two interviews at non-LTC places next week.
Good luck to you, and I wish you the best. I hope that nursing home you were at will get fined or receive some kind of punishment for allowing residents to be neglected like that. Perhaps you could report it?
:angryfire I am desperately trying to get a job in a hospital right now. I just can't stand the NH anymore! Every shift I work, I'm disgusted at the lack of care our residents get. If you get on to the CNA's, they go to the supervisor, who backs them up. I'm sorry, but if you had time to be on the phone every time I saw you during an 8 hour shift, you had time to get that brief out of the floor and/or at least return some of the 20+ resident trays that were left on the unit instead of going back to the kitchen after the meal like they were supposed to. Caked on dried up poop that I have to scrub off to change a dsg, residents left in the bed all weekend that normally are up in a chair qd, g tubes that obviously weren't flushed after meds given. Poop left in the shower floor until all showers are done, gracious the list goes on! Had a very lucid resident tell me that the cna's told him they couldn't put him back to bed because they were short. Excuse me? They were short the first 2 hours of the shift, not the whole thing. Not to mention one group of residents got no care at all for several hours because they had them broken up into 4 groups and the 4th person was coming in late. :angryfire Is it like this everywhere? I've considered applying at other LTC's, but I'm afraid it'll be the same.
My last position was in a VA Medical Center Nrsg Home and what you experienced was commonplace on my floor(substandard care-the assts. had a practice I never saw before-they would, at the start of their tour, put double diapers on a patient so they would not have to change thier pt. until the end of their shift, sometimes these diapers would weigh TEN POUNDS-Soaked with Urine, ever see this one ??). I complained many times to administration about these NAs(don't have to be a cna in the va system) and usually I ended up the one in trouble. 2 other Nurse friends at this VA Center also wrote up the Nursing assts. for disciplnary action and ended up in HOT water as well !! In the VA, many times these Nursing Assts. were very well payed($35,000-$38000 yearly) as they were long time federal employees at the top of their GS Scale.Now they are up to $40,000 probably. Better money then some new Graduate Nurses make! I finally became tired of fighting these people and work in Home Health Care doing Visits(home), make more money, am happier and deal with only one patient at a time.I could never go back to Staff Nursing! They would carry me out in a straight jacket!
Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.
I don't blame you.....I've been there and done that, too.
I worked a part time NH job for 2 years for extra income,
and the care was just awful that the residents received.
The aides didn't turn people, trays left in the rooms,
bedside tables/nightstands were dirty, dirty linens on the floor,
BM left on the shower room floor from the day shift showers.
Aides hiding in rooms, sleeping, and not telling me they needed a break
so I would at least know where they were....they would just go hide,
sleep, and when I needed someone I had to hunt them,
therefore wasting my time.
Then we had aides that would only work on one hall, and wouldn't go to the
other side when they were short on that side.
I was loaded down with meds to pass to a full hall of about 40-45 people,
varying at times. It took me a long time to pass the meds,
and I couldn't follow the aides around constantly to see to it
that they did their job and get mine done, too.
Then all the call ins we had, and working short all the time.
Since I worked nights, when aides for the dayshift started calling
in they expected me to get on the phone and call someone in.....
knowing I had an early morning med pass, fingersticks and insulins to give.
I didn't have time to get on the phone and call people who didn't want to be called, wouldn't answer their phone and wouldn't come in anyway.
And management just ignored my complaints and writeups. Didn't do one bit of good to say anything.
Staff with good work ethics in that nursing home were few and far between.
And the sad thing is this NH is just a couple of blocks from me.
The facility is gorgeous. I could work there part time and enjoy it, and
make a little extra money, but the stress is just too much.
I still have my state job in a facility for the mentally and physically challenged......the care there is great, people with good work ethics.
This job is a hundred times better than the nursing home.
Stuff like that makes me fuming mad:devil: These people deserve so much better, and if a person's sense of decency can't be appealed to, how about the fact that they pay more than three times my monthly income to get crappy care like that. I believe in the cattle prod for that kind of CNA.
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DusktilDawn
1,119 Posts
Eight techs on days that didn't have to get people up or bed bathe
Your DON didn't need to pull CNAs out of her butt, she had eight on days, just to feed meals (yeah like that takes eight hours or 12 hours). CRNASOMEDAY, there is a wide spread belief among some who have never worked midnights, that all the night staff does is sit with their feet up drinking coffee and eating bon-bons because once the patients are all nestled in bed, they sleep all night long :roll :roll :roll :roll . Unfortunately you had a DON and enough day shift staff that suscribed to this belief.
You know I do believe there should be laws to limit the caregiver to patient ratio and they should have some basis in reality.
Hey, another thing, why does breakfast have to come at 7freaking o'clock anyway, how about 8:30 or 9:00.