Where did you start out working as a new CNA?

archangel31 · Aug 31, 2012

CONGRATS ON PASSING YOUR EXAM!! I started out at a nursing home as an NA and they paid for my schooling to become certified. Yes, nursing home work can be very trying and sometimes discouraging, BUT you can hone your bedside manner while you are working. Maybe I said that wrong because you need a bedside manner, I think, to even consider nursing. What I mean is that you can explore what it means to do more for your patient than just give meds or chart. You will sometimes be a confidant or a best friend or a sounding board to your patient. You learn how to LISTEN to your patient and sometimes that is what can make or break their recovery. I have an Associate degree in Medical Assisting, but I do not work as one due to not finding a job either. I work as a receptionist in a credit union. BUT I have made the decision to go for my RN, it is where my heart is. ANYWAY, it is probably not what you want to hear, but go where you can get the experience and try your hardest to make the best of your situation, it will make a difference later, I can attest to that. I have a feeling that you will always do your best and work hard no matter what! Blessings!!! Let us know how you are, message me if you want to talk:)

CapeCodDreamer · Sep 1, 2012

Hey! I am a new CNA, just passed the exam last week. I am currently trying to find a job so I can save up money to start nursing school in January. I am finding it very difficult to find a job without having experience. I also can't decide what type of setting I want to work in. I would rather not work in a nursing home. I did my clinicals at a nursing home and it was very discouraging. The CNAs I shadowed there all seemed to hate their jobs and seemed to have more of a workload than they could handle. I have been thinking about applying to a home health agency, but I don't know if that would be a wise thing to do with no experience. Ideally, I would like to work in a doctor's office or a hospital but I can't seem to find any jobs like that in my area. I really want to do the best job I can as a CNA, so I am worried about choosing the right setting for me. My question to you all is where did you start out working as a new CNA? Also, where do you think someone who has no experience in health care should start out? If you worked in home health, what was it like exactly? I really have no idea how working as a home health aide works. Are you working under a nurse? A friend of my mom's works as a home health aide but she works independently because she said she didn't make enough money working for an agency. How does that work? I thought that in order to renew your CNA certification, you had to work under a nurse? I feel so clueless about all of this stuff but I just don't want to start working at a place and end up hating my job you know? I know that this is not an easy job by any means and that the pay is not that great, but that is not why I chose to make this my career. I am fine with working hard for little pay as long as I am taking good care of my patients and doing the best possible job I can for them.

I recently got my first NA job before taking my Red Cross test. I work at a high-acuity, 100% dependent residential pediatric long-term care facility. This past week was my orientation, and I absolutely L-O-V-E it!!!! I was hired for nights, which I'll start this week, but orientation was days. By then end, I'll have been cross-trained for 7-3 and 11-7 so that I can pick up extra shifts (and be prepared for them) if I so desire.

The people are friendly and HELPFUL, the pay and benefits are generous (extremely so for someone who has never worked as a CNA before and was hired and started before passing the CNA exam), you can tell everyone loves their jobs (from RN to CNA to Management to Maintenance to Housekeeping), and the orientation is very thorough (you're never left hanging). Working with this population can be a little intimidating and challenging given their nature (orthopedic equipment, trachs, O2, g-tubes, nonverbal, etc), but I'm definitely getting experience I would never have seen in geriatric long-term care (and probably not in a hospital setting, either, as a new CNA). As a planned future-nurse, this is just a bonus! Plus, it's only 8 miles from my house, so the commute isn't too bad, either.

I was having a hard time finding a hospital who would hired without experience. If you do end up working LTC, I highly recommend researching the facility (its ratings, etc) before applying to make sure it's somewhere you even want to consider working. I did my clinical at a not-so-savory geriatric LTC facility, and almost quit right then and there. I'm so happy a position opened up at where I am now!

WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN · Sep 1, 2012

My first job was in home health care. We have so many agencies in my area that many of them will hire just about anybody, and it was impossible for me to get a NH job without prior experience. HH jobs are easy to get, will improve your interpersonal skills and are generally very pleasant, but let me warn you, they DO NOT prepare you to work in a LTC, skilled nursing, or acute setting. There's definitely a big learning curve if you go from HH to LTC, and it may be discouraging. If you can, try to get your first job in LTC or SN. From there anything else will be pie.

funtimes · Sep 2, 2012

Like most CNAs I started out in a Nursing home where we were understaffed and overworked and turnover was high. Unfortunately those are the jobs that are available to inexperienced CNAs, and sometimes even those jobs are hard to find.

I dont see anything wrong with starting out in LTC, so long as you protect your back. You only have one back, so dont give it to the first place that employs you. If you are expected to do things which are obviously unsafe, find another job.

LifesAJourney · Sep 2, 2012

I got a job in a nursing home based off my 40hr checklist before my can license came in the mail 3 weeks later. From there, I worked in LTC for about 4 months. Then, I accepted an offer at a hospital on a med/surg floor. The time management skills I learned from LTC helped me transition to the floor smoothly.

LifesAJourney · Sep 2, 2012

After spending a year on the floor, I wanted to see more of the hospital and accepted a float pool position. After a couple a months I accepted a position in our icu. My goal is to be an icu nurse, so I am happy to be in this position til I graduate school next year. My advice is take every job as a learning experience and an opportunity to get to your goal.

FutureC.N.A · Sep 4, 2012

Thank you all for the responses! A couple questions, though - what is a float pool position and SN? Also, what was it like starting out working for a home health agency, SuperMeghan91? What was a typical day like?

WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN · Sep 4, 2012

Thank you all for the responses! A couple questions, though - what is a float pool position and SN? Also, what was it like starting out working for a home health agency, SuperMeghan91? What was a typical day like?

SN is a skilled nursing unit or a rehab unit.

I was trained in a nursing home by an LPN who thought that Home health was awful, so starting out in home health was very foreign and frightening to me. I began working with a single patient, for whom I had real training because she needed very specialized care, the parent told me exactly what to do for the patient, and when I didn't know what to do there were family members that could help me out. After I worked with that patient for a month or two I was given other assignments where I was not trained because the patients didn't need as much care. For the most part the patients or family members will tell you what they want done. If you're there in the morning you often get the patient up, washed, and then breakfasted. After breakfast, if they want you to stick around you clean up a bit and maybe watch TV or read the paper with them and then you might give them lunch. As I said before, it's very low stress. I would advise you to brush up on your cooking and cleaning abilities if you plan on going into home health as many patients expect you to just be their maid. I've actually been taken off of assignments because the patient didn't like the way I cooked. I would also think of some conversation starters if you're an introvert...it can be pretty awkward hanging out with somebody for hours on end when you don't have anything to talk about.

I truly enjoyed working home health, but the hours were never consistent. If a patient you're taking care of dies, the agency doesn't always have another one lined up for you. There are some dangerous practices that you have to contend with in working home health. Hoyer Lifts for example, are supposed to be used with 2 people, in home health care it's usually just you and your patient, if you're lucky there's a family member there to stand by and make sure the pt doesn't fall. There's a lot of improvisation involved in home health since a bedroom in a home is very different from a bedroom in a nursing home. I've thrown my back out 3 times in 2 years of home care because it's very difficult to work in a patients home and always use proper body mechanics. Some places just aren't set up for total care patients.

Working in home health is considered working under a nurse, so your certification should be fine unless your state has some weird rules. Everything that happens is reported in one way or another to the nurse.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, just ask!

joshsmother · Sep 5, 2012

I did EXACTLY what Life's A Journey did! I worked AL for 4 months and am now on a Med Surg floor. It is hard work but the benefits are great and the learning is hands on. It is going to make nursing school so much easier and less intimidating! Get some experience and then apply at hospitals.