work shifts

Evening shift. 3-11pm. All of the hard work is up front; most of your residents are in bed for the last half of the shift. Working evenings as a new CNA lets you practice your skills and get in a routine. If you're slow or late, it's not as big of a deal. Day shift is just too fast-paced for new CNAs, and night shift doesn't allow them to develop their "people" skills as much as other shifts.

Evening shift. 3-11pm. All of the hard work is up front; most of your residents are in bed for the last half of the shift. Working evenings as a new CNA lets you practice your skills and get in a routine. If you're slow or late, it's not as big of a deal. Day shift is just too fast-paced for new CNAs, and night shift doesn't allow them to develop their "people" skills as much as other shifts.

Icompletely agree with this.

Also- night shift tends to slow people down. They get used to the slower pace- then can't handle things when it gets busy- or when they need to switch shifts for some reason.

I worked 5 yrs night shift in LTC. I started on days...and it was brutal- but I managed. When I switched to nights I was shocked. It was hard work, and they tend to deal with the confusion/dementia etc more, but the pace was slower. The CNA's I worked with worked much slower because they weren't used to having to work in chaos.

I personally like evening shift, then nights, then days. I am not a morning person, but at our facility day shift people are out to get one another, they do not work as a team and forget about them helping you out if you need help! Evening help works as a TEAM! It rocks. I also like working when there are not so many bosses and supervisors and family members around, lets you focus on what really matters--the residents!

I actually prefer 7a-3p. Right now I'm working 3p-11p becuase it works better with my school schedule.

I prefer 2-10.

I've seen people on here saying that the 2nd half of your night is less busy on evening shifts. However, in my experience, it's the FIRST half of your shift that is less busy, not the 2nd. From 2 til dinner, you just have showers and preparing your rooms. From 7-10, you're busy putting your residents to bed, at least you are if you have 15 total care residents a night like I do. We rarely get done early at my facility, it takes those 3 hours to put so many to bed.

When I worked 3-11 you'd be moderately busy doing your first rounds (no showers allowed during this time). Then around 430 things would get slow. Trays would come up at 5. You're busy feeding until 6, then you'd rush around like a maniac doing HS care and throwing people in bed, plus showers. Around 830 you'd finish with that and do a set of rounds, hand out your drinks, and do paperwork. Then a little more downtime- if my "shower" was really a bed bath, I'd do it then- and then a final set of rounds. The only really busy time was from 5-9, right in the middle of the shift. On days, there's no downtime at all until, like, 2:55. Which is why nobody trains on first shift in my facility.

I think that 3-11 is a decent pace for new cna's. You learn to cope with family members/friends, plus time management with showers and dinner on top of charting and rounds.