What is a TYPICAL day as a CNA like?

Ieschia · Aug 17, 2009

Where are you working? Nursing home? hospital? or private duty?

soon2Bcna · Aug 17, 2009

Where are you working? Nursing home? hospital? or private duty?

I'm in the process of completing CNA training. But I was curious about a nursing home setting.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Aug 17, 2009

I work 3-11 in a nursing home and it tends to be hectic. It's hard to describe a "typical" day because I work all the halls, and they're different. But usually I work with 3 other people, and then at 7pm one of them floats to another hall or goes home. We get a report from first shift, pass out linens, and start our first rounds (rounds are basically toileting and repositioning and you dot hem at 4, 6, 8, and 10). Most people are either napping on top of their beds with no pants on, or at the activity. We get all the nappers dressed and up in their wheelchairs for supper. The rest of them get toileted. The nurse gives us a report and a list of vitals to do. Usually one person does the vitals and another fills all the water pitchers. We pull down all the beds as we go along. We're also supposed to walk everybody that can. Then someone drops off the supper trays. The feeds/supervisions eat in the dining room and one of us goes in there while the rest pass out trays to people in their rooms. Then we walk around and make sure no one is choking and pick up the trays as people finish eating. By the time most people are done, we have to start taking our lunch breaks. This is when you start your assignment- the list of people you're supposed to put to bed (the floater usually takes one of them for you). They get a partial bed bath, lotioned, and changed into a gown. At the same time, there are a lot of call bells to answer because all the alert people want to go to the bathroom again. And the rest of them have to be checked/changed for your 6 o'clock rounds. Meanwhile, it's only you and one other person on the floor while the other 2 are on break. So it gets really crazy. You're trying to get your assignment done as fast as possible- either because you have a alert people that want to go to bed RIGHT NOW, or you have a ton of incontinent people that all need to be changed. Once everyone has had their breaks you can take turns giving showers. Normally each CNA only has one shower to do.

Around 8 o'clock you need to do rounds again. That's why you need to rush through PM care- because if you're still doing it at 9 o'clock then you've basically missed out on the 6 o'clock checks for some people and the 8 o'clock checks for the others, and you have to make something up. If all of your assignment is washed and in bed, then you're in good shape. Just change everyone's wet pads, turn them, and do paperwork and pass out snacks. Then at 930 we'll start our 10pm rounds. By this time everyone should definitely be in bed! They all get changed and repositioned again, we make sure the rooms are tidy and alarms are all on, check water pitchers, add up the I&O, do paperwork and chores, and then we have a few minutes of downtime before 3rd shift arrives (they're always late). Oh and all night you're helping people with 2-assists.

CandyGyrl1985 · Aug 17, 2009

well for me, i work day shift- :nurse:

i arrive - get report and pop in on each of my patients. i do basic am care, brush teeth/denture care, get them dressed if they dont have a shower day, wash their hands and face, take vitals and change their brief.

i get ready to serve breakfast. i get the meals ready for each patient and separate the meals for dining room and in room. i pass out the dining trays and head out to the in rooms and feed my patients.

i collect the trays and clean up breakfast. this takes about an hour -depending on how many patients need to be fed in room.

then i get ready to do my showers. i prep my linens and head out again. each of my patients will get a shower, fresh linens, typical adls - if the patient is able to ambulate - this doesnt take to long. but if i work with stroke patients for example - that need the lift - it takes a bit longer.

after the showers i continue on and go round and check all briefs again and change positions depending on the time.

at this point i will document and check with the nurse to see if there are any special duties she needs done. i get ready for lunch and have my patients head to the dining hall again and get ready to feed my patients. after lunch i will check cath bags, take vitals for my hall, and check briefs again. i will also make a round with fluids and push water. if i have patients who smoke - i will offer to take them outside.

by the end of my shift- i am exhausted - that is how i know i did my job. it is amazing how much weight i lose during the week from the work. its better than the gym!

asun21ta · Aug 18, 2009

by the end of my shift- i am exhausted - that is how i know i did my job. it is amazing how much weight i lose during the week from the work. its better than the gym!

i 2nd that! i lost nearly 25 lbs on the "cna diet" lol. you loose weight especially when you first start out as a cna.

Hazel11 · Aug 18, 2009

I work in a nursing home on the 3-11 shift on a dementia unit. Some days I have to float to another unit...but that's a whole different story right there! lol I'll just describe my day if I were on my regular unit.

The first thing I do when I arrive is get my hallway assignment, a toileting sheet, transfer instructions, and sitting assignments. I typically have 8-10 residents, depending on which of the 4 hallways I am on.

Since our residents are here because of their dementia, an STNA is required to sit with the residents in the TV room and dining room, where most are on chair alarms for their safety. If there are 4 of us, I usually sit every 2 hours for 30 minutes at a time. If there are 3 of us, which is rare, we have to sit every hour.

After I gather my papers, I make rounds with the day shift and the oncoming nurse and sign off that I have seen the residents; sometimes they are at activities but I HAVE to make sure I mark down that they are off the unit. If I don't have a sitting assignment at 3, I prepare my linen cart with 1 plastic bag for regular linen, and 1 for disposable briefs. I also help with filling out the appliance record because we have to make sure every resident has their respective hearing aides, glasses, and dentures. We have NOSH around 3:45 and I help pass out the snacks and drinks. Then I toilet my people around 4 or later. Depending on the day, we might have Bingo, watch a movie, or participate in chair exercises.

Around 4:45, the STNAs need to help transfer residents from the TV room to the dining room. Then we all help do vital signs for the nurse while we prepare for dinner around 5:45-6. Most of the residents are independent with eating, and all they need is for us to do is bring them their tray, cut up their food, and pass out their drinks. Around 6:20, one of the STNAs needs to write down the intake in the Nutritional book and all of us take finished trays back to the food cart. After that, we transfer everyone back to the TV room. When I'm done transferring, I gather my blue linen cart and pass my linen, including footies, gowns, waterproof pads, and soakers and make sure the bed alarms are working properly. If a resident has to urgently use the toilet, I will take them around this time.

Starting around 7 or 7:30, I give my baths. Our unit requires that we divide the baths up evenly between STNAs, so some days I will have one bath, but I never have more than two. I tend to ask the residents when they want their baths, so some days I will take a few people to bed that I know like to go early before I give someone else a bath that is more independent. After I am done giving a bath, I need to pull the call bell to alert the charge nurse that I am finished so she can conduct a skin assessment. I will later write down what she told me on my skin sheet to turn in later.

For the residents who don't receive baths I help them go to the toilet before bed, dress them in a gown and footies, take off Ted hose if need be, brush their teeth or wash their dentures, and do peri care. After I help them into bed, I put down mattresses or mats if the nurse requires it to prevent falls. I then put their hearing aides, glasses, and dentures into the clean utility room to lock up for the next day. Every resident has their own cubby, so we are able to keep track of them. In addition, I go back into the room and put their clothes in my plastic bagged linen cart, and I come back for their disposable briefs later (infection control! ) I also try to make sure that I have given all my unmedicated creams to the residents who need them.

Our unit requires that we have cleaning assignments as well, so I tend to do my cleaning after I know everyone is in bed. I either clean the TV room, the dining room, or the kitchen or restock Ensure in the fridge. I then do my rounds around 10 and make sure that the residents are comfortable and dry (you know what I mean ).

After rounds, I complete my documentation. This includes bath sheets and bowel records, bed alarm records, rounds sheets, skin sheets from baths, toileting sheets, transfer sheets, and our hallway assignment sheets. These all need to be turned into the charge nurse by 10:30, and after that I take my linen cart and throw each bag down their respective laundry chutes. If my blue linen cart is getting empty, I try to restock it with whatever items are needed. Throughout the night, call lights will flash so I go in the room to see what the resident needs.

Night shift comes in around 10:50-11, so I conduct my rounds with them and sign off on their assignment sheets and the round sheet in the nurses' station. The rest of the STNAs and I wait until 11:20 so the night shift STNAs are able to get prepared in a timely fashion. Then I clock out and go home!

Wow...that was a lot of explanation! :chuckle I love where I work, and even though it seems confusing, I was able to get into the swing of things with how the unit operates. My co-workers and I help each other out when necessary, and I'm also glad the unit supervisor is supportive and organized. I hope I thoroughly described what a typical day for me is like at a nursing home.

luckystarr · Aug 18, 2009

I 2nd that! I lost nearly 25 lbs on the "CNA Diet" lol. You loose weight especially when you first start out as a CNA.

Holy cow! I can't wait. I have been a SAHM for about 3 1/2 years now and I need the CNA diet!

~Belle~ · Aug 20, 2009

I work the day shift (12 hrs) in a PCU unit at the hospital. I start my morning off with getting report from the night shift, then I make rounds, pass water, pass trays to contact pts. and answer call lights. I do VS from 9-10, chart and then do a few baths... and answer call lights prn. Then I get accuchecks and do rounds (and pass water) again at 11. I get a few more linens and baths done before lunch. Then I start VS again. When I get back from lunch, if there are more baths/linens I try to get them done... if not, I empty linen bags and foleys and do 3pm rounds (still answering call lights). I start VS again at 5 and make sure the pt rooms are clean, foleys and bedside comodes are empty, pts in briefs are clean, etc. I give report to night shift and do charting at the end of shift.

It depends on how many total care pts and techs we have. The days we have three techs... ah, I'm in heaven! But, some days you want to just fall flat on your face...

All in all, I love my job and most of my patients.

qhjumper · Aug 20, 2009

I can tell you that you must love people and be able to handle the 3 P's! Poop, Pee & Puke! You will be very tired but you end your day knowing that you're needed! I have worked all shifts and I think 2nd or 2-10p is the hardest. Basically in a nursing home what everyone has already posted is about what it's like everywhere. I think the big thing is to make sure you work somewhere that doesn't run on minimum staff as far as CNA's are concerned because it makes it really exhausting!