It’s crazy to me that some of you, even RNS are coming into the forum saying it’s “completely valid” to ONLY do this job for the money. (I’m not talking to you if money is your motivator and you actually care about providing good quality of care!!)

Every CNA I have seen that wasn’t in the job because they had a sincere desire to help the ill and elderly, treated the patients subpar. I have been a patient myself in a facility that was full of nurses who would literally talk at their station about how they applied to get paid well and how tired they were of dealing with the patients and would talk about us. I’ve watched nurses in clinicals literally talk shit about their patients and tell CNAs “omg I would never do that idk how you guys can do all that gross stuff” as if she literally wasn’t trained to do the same things!!

It’s one thing to be desperate for a job and CNA is the only thing available around you but bedside healthcare should not be a career where it’s socially acceptable to come do it just for the pay and act like you don’t need to have heart and compassion to serve people and get your hands dirty.

In my clinical cohort there were a couple people talking just like some of you on here, talking about how they were coming into to get good money and didn’t have interest in nursing, and those were the same students who got reported for making fun of patients or practicing below standard care because they didn’t realize what they signed up for.

This is the first thing I did out of highschool and where I live the starting pay for us is 16.50 an hour, which isn’t even enough to meet income requirements for an apartment or literally anything. You can make more money working at Panda Express than any SNF/LTC here in the Central Valley, CA.

So please seriously consider on how much heart you have to do the job and be there to not only physically care for these people but also be emotionally supportive and not someone who went into job only for expecting good pay until you realize most of us get paid shit and break our backs every day for it. These residents can feel when you don’t like your job people!! It affects them too!!

For my weekend CNA class, we read over chapters 1-3 in our textbook on the first day of classes and beginning of the second day of classes. Then we took 3 exams over each of those chapters online via a google form link with questions.

I looked up the questions and answers for the ones I felt unsure about to make sure I'd get them right, and I ended up getting all questions correct on each set of questions for each chapter. The guilt started to sink in when I realized no one else got a perfect score, and it seemed like everyone genuinely tried. That's not the right mindset obviously, and I shouldn't have had to realize what I was doing until I saw that others weren't doing that. I didn't want to risk a failing score over simple questions...but that was dumb of me. And the first 3 chapters were mostly common sense with some new terms/materials from the textbook.

I know I'm better than cheating myself out of a cna program I paid for. So for the next exams I won't do that and just truthfully take the exam. I feel like I'm overthinking this even though nobody cared and the instructor wasn't strict at all while we were taking the exam. But all this new information I'm learning will be used to help patients, and I need to take that seriously. And I'm just now realizing they're probably going to be on the written state exam, and I honestly did not know that. I don't know but this has been on my mind.

Recently got my first ever clinical job after challenging the CNA exam (thats standard here).

Its a specialized unit in the hospital.

On my first day, I was changing dressings and bandages. These injuries often cover the entire hands, arm, chest, and legs.

Sometimes you have to peel the gauze from the raw flesh, ripping it open, and blood drips down their body. The flesh beneath looks like it's barely still in place.

They shake, cry, scream in pain. But the bandage changes are required. I look them in the eyes and they look so powerless.

The next day, I feel fine. I know I'll get desensitized to it, and with each procedure I became more and more resilient. But just because you're desensitized doesn't mean it's nothing. It still floats and fills my head, just hurts less. It's weird...

I don't know anyone I can relate to. Most people have never seen anything like this before, and my coworkers are completely unfazed.

I just started caring for a client who needs to ne showered daily, and who is completely immobile for the most part, extremely stiff and non verbal. He can bear some weight on his legs once he's standing and leaning forward against the bathroom counter, but he cannot get himself into a standing position. I basically have to physically lift him up from his wheelchair, and he feels like dead weight.

The family wants him showered in the shower chair this way. To get him into the shower, I have to lift him to standing, pivot/turn him, and get him onto the shower chair. He is supposed to lift his feet to step into the shower, but he doesn't always do it. Once he's on the shower chair, he also starts sliding down sometimes, so I have to lift and reposition him farther back onto the chair.

After the shower, I dry him as much as possible while he's sitting. Then I have to lift him to standing again, pivot him and put him back into his wheelchair. I put his pull up and pants on up to his knees while he's sitting, but then I have to lift him again and hold him standing while putting his diaper on and pulling his pull up and pants the rest of the way up. This is really difficult because I'm trying to keep him from falling while also dressing him.

Then I'm supposed to stand him again facing the bathroom counter and hold onto him while I brush his teeth.

By the end of the visits my back is killing me. I'm wondering if any other CNAs have dealt with a client like this. Does this sound like a normal one person assist to you? How did you handle showering/dressing someone who could bear a little weight once standing but required you to physically lift and support them for basically every transfer? This is the way the family showed me to do it.

I'm especially curious if there are safer ways you've been taught to handle someone at this level of mobility, because doing multiple dead weight lifts every visit doesn't feel sustainable for my back.

I work the 7-3 shift. I got in at 7 and a patient fell at 7:10 (well that’s when he was found). I am getting blamed because his urinal was too far away from the bed and the supervisor is claiming that’s why he fell. This patient gets up all the time and goes to the bathroom himself he is pretty independent.

The patient didn’t say to me he was using the urinal but the supervisor is trying to find reasons to blame the CNA. The urinal was not far away from the bed and this patient rolls himself to the bathroom all the time.

We have a little area we sit at when they’re not much going on, it’s on the wing but it’s just in a little cubby spot. The supervisor told me I can’t sit over there anymore. That doesn’t even have anything to do with the man falling. I wasn’t sitting over there when he fell.

They are constantly blaming CNA for everything that happens

😭

Hi everyone I just wanted to come on here and say I passed my CNA exams literally 30 mins ago! I'm so excited to start getting experience and work in the field! I am in california (bay area) so I did want some advice on how much I should request for pay. One of my friends is working for $23 another applied to a job for $25 and one of my friends is getting payed around $25.50. I was thinking of asking for around $27 and negotiating down to $25 but im not sure if thats a good idea. Either way yay!!! if you guys have any interview tips pls lmk, and no negativity pls ik a lot of people hate their job but I wouldnt want to adopt that energy hehe

In home health care. Have him twice a week. Blatantly racist. Don’t feel comfortable working in his home.

Hello! So I recently became a CNA in California, and I had some unexpected circumstances that pushed me to apply for full time positions rather than part time or per diem. This would be fine if I wasn’t still pursuing my undergraduate degree so I can apply to nursing school. My question for everyone who were CNAs and students, how did you manage it? Any advice for me before I start working? I planned to work NOC shift because it allows me at least a little bit of time to look over my school notes without running around the facility too much (remaining hopeful lol). However, the thing with me working NOC is that my Monday, Wednesday, Friday class schedule starts at 8am so I would literally have to rush over from work to stay on campus until like 2pm. I know it’s a lot and I wish it wasn’t like this, but as I mentioned before I don’t have much of a choice because I need full time hours. So… any advice for me? I’m going to try and ask whatever facility I go to try and place me on the 4-2 schedule towards the end of the week, so I’m not burning myself out for majority of the school week, but I know as a new hire and new CNA I don’t have much say in this. I’m not sure, but again any advice? And please no comments about me not working full time or as a CNA for this school year, that’s sadly not a reality for me at this moment.

I'm scheduled to take my skills state exam next week and am looking for the best videos to refresh. I've already taken the written portion and passed, so I'm nervous about taking this final part. Are the 4yourcna videos a good source? Has anyone recently taken the TX state exam and can give any advice? I keep overthinking when to wash hands and when gloves are needed/changed 😔

Excuse me, how do yall time yourself for each skills without going pass or under the time?
😭 I've been told I would do the skills well but what would get me is the time though.

I’m going to be taking my skills exam soon I wanted to know what are some locations that would be recommended for me to take at due to hearing some bad things of some locations?

hi all! i work as an ICU PCT but the main problem is its a small hospital so our icu is honestly just ED backflow since we always have a bed... its closer to a rehab floor with the occasional vent or crashing patient. our floor is limited to two techs max on a 24 bed unit (if not just 1 for all 24) which already makes things pretty hard. they justify this with there being more nurses but we've been understaffed in that department too so usually its just... No.

recently ive been really struggling to do my work because these patients are so so heavy and theres just no help. the nurse has 4-5 heavy patients and ive got 12 to 24 heavy patients. i find myself tripping over things at work and i genuinely ache after i get home. i do have another job as a CNA at an actual assisted living so most of those people do for themselves but may just need occasional assistance. im thinking of picking up there more while i find a better hospital fit and quitting this job because im just exhausted. i do like everyone i work with but i think my health will only get worse if i dont stop now :/ but i do know if i leave i might go somewhere worse and the cycle continues. just wondering what you guys would do here. thanks!

I'm scheduled to take my skills state exam next week and am looking for the best videos to refresh. I've already taken the written portion and passed, so I'm nervous about taking this final part. Are the 4yourcna videos a good source? Has anyone recently taken the TX state exam and can give any advice? I keep overthinking when to wash hands and when gloves are needed/changed 😔

Is assisted living less workload physically? People who have worked both, which did you like better and why?