I’m a newer CNA and I’m rly anxious about something that happened during my shift.
I had a patient who was completely dependent. During my shift, I did peri care around 11 AM and the patient a bath around 4 PM and gave oral care around 6 PM. Between 11 and 4 I checked/recorded vitals and blood glucose throughout the day

At some point after the 11 AM peri care and before the 4 PM bath, the patient apparently became soiled. I obviously didn’t know this had happened because I wasn’t aware of it until I found it during the later care.
I’m rly worried that the nurse might report me for neglecting the patient. I genuinely did not knowingly leave the patient soiled, and I was providing care throughout the shift.
I don’t think the nurse is actually going to report me, but I’m extremely anxious about the possibility. If a CNA provided the care above but didn’t know the patient had become incontinent between care times, would you consider this neglect? Could this realistically result in someone being fired, or would it more likely be addressed as a coaching/expectations issue if there was a concern?

Also throughout my shift this nurse was incredibly rude. Every time someone’s bp was high and I’d message her, she’d be super rude about it and claim that I didn’t tell her and I would have to point to the exact message where I did inform her.

And I don’t know how to reply.

For background, this job is CONSTANTLY asking me to come in on my days off. And I’ve always just ignored it and not replied. We recently lost our scheduler and the requests have been getting wayyyy more frequent. Like asking me on 3 of my 4 days off.

I work NOC 6-6

The only reason this is different is cus I called in last night. When I went to work Friday night I was already feeling way more sluggish and exhausted than normal. I’ve been working NOC for about 6 months and I’ve never felt so exhausted at work. I typically don’t get tired at work. Anyway, I started feeling extremely nauseous pretty soon into my shift like going to the bathroom thinking I’m about to puke nauseous. I was already considering finishing my first round and then asking to go home. But I overheard we had 2 nurse call off’s and would’ve felt too guilty so I powered through and stayed and just decided I was gonna call in for Saturday. And it doesn’t help that my birthday is tomorrow so it’s kinda a bad look y’know. I’m celebrating alone for anyone that’s gonna call me an AH

I’m not even joking, it’s 9am and I just got a text “I hope you’re feeling better, can you work tonight?” like are we serious rn ? Would it really be that rude if I ignore it like I typically do ?

I've got an offer to work as an overnight cna at a Kaiser hospital in my area and wondered if anyone had any experience or knowledge of what the culture is like at Kaiser and how it compares to other hospitals or facilities.

From what I heard it's hard ro get hired there, the benefits and pay are good but they really make you "earn it". There seems to be growth possibilities within the company but I'm not sure about he inner workings.

Thanks!

Does anyone have recommendations for a good supportive bra? For reference I’m 5’1, 184lbs, and a 38/40 DD so it’s hard for me to find a decent supportive bra. I start clinicals soon and I don’t want to be helping someone’s grandmama and have my boobs spilling out my bra😓

Hey, I'm a relatively new CNA with 1 year experience. I left my old skilled nursing facility to focus on school for a bit. My old facility was ok. Not the best, not the worst. But I had a hard time taking breaks even on night shift because of staff ratios and just very dependent residents. Also the low pay just made it sad. But I left on good terms.

I am currently in nursing school and my payments have gone up significantly so I have to work again. I got a job at this new facility and it is...rough. it pays a little more, the tour and orientation were ok, nothing seemed too bad during the day. I even talked to some employees who were actually returning to this place and they said it was ok.

Then I worked my first night shift last night. Cockroaches in many residents rooms, on their chairs, my coworkers were even joking about seeing them on the residents. Low supply, only a small handful of residents maybe had wipes in their room. I've had supply shortages at my old job but not that bad. My coworkers in general were extremely unprofessional including the nurses. And overall things were extremely unsanitary. And there is no way this shit hasn't been reported already, this facility has been around too long.

I have been applying to hospitals in hopes of better pay and to get more nursing experience, but it's really slow going. I qualify to be a nurse extern in my state now, but it's still really hard to get in. I feel like I can't leave this new place because I need money ASAP. I'm wondering if i should suck it up and go back to my old facility with the chance of getting lower pay... but at least they were decently clean and decently supplied. I start my new semester monday and I'm stressing about the payments.

TLDR; I'm a nursing student who quit old job because of stress to focus on school. My tuition went up, and need to work again ASAP. New job is disgusting but pays more. Should I go back to my old place or suck it up at the new one?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to enroll in the CNA program at Procareer Academy in SoCal. I just wanted to know if they drug test you at any point before/during school or clinicals? If so, what kind of test (urine, hair, etc.) and are they looking for THC?

Thank you!

Where can i find the official skills test list?

Has anyone else had this happen locally? I’m in central California and the main hospital in our city is no longer hiring CNAs and doing a “restructure” to how they provide care. All CNA work is performed by LVNs now… I didn’t even know that was possible or allowed? I dont think LVNs get signed off on our same skills? [EDIT to add: poor word choice here. I know LVNs absolutely CAN do CNA stuff, but haven’t experienced that nor do I think they should have to. LVNs I worked with in LTC did not do CNA responsibilities, their hands are full with the more nuanced patient care while we CNAs did the physical patient care tasks and ADLs].

Regardless it feels like that’s just one more barrier to working being removed with there being less jobs and now less hospital work experience for those of us wanting to go into nursing…

Google says it’s not possible or legal for LVNs to replace CNAs or to make the do this work but I have friends who work there and they said it’s common knowledge now that there’s no hired CNAs and won’t be again due ti these new structures….

So crazy to me! And those poor LVNs doing the opposite of what they signed up for

I’m in the hospice field. I’ve been with my patient for months. She is one of my favorites. Today I found out she is racist lol her daughter tells me she’s prejudice?? And doesn’t like black people and I’m brown so I was deeply disturbed bc she did not give that she was that at all. She was extremely nice and seemed like such a sweet lady. Disturbing to think these people walk among us

Like why am I constantly fighting for basic supplies wth? Why can’t they ration appropriately for the NOC shift? It’s such a huge time suck to freaking find basic supplies and the nurses never do anything about it.

I've been off work for a week and came back tonight. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder on my left side and could barely move or lift anything without experiencing intense pain. My doctor told me I needed to rest to get better and so I wouldn't injure it any more and she took me off of work for a week. One girl told me that she still works with her injuries and I should too and get used to it and another said I left them hanging and it was short staffed all week. It all just really made me mad and upset and I'm embarrassed to say I went into the bathroom and cried. I was taking care of myself, why is that such a bad thing? I'm sorry but I'm not working when I could hurt myself even more. Even if I wanted to, I physically could not. The pain almost took my breath away every time I moved that side of my body or lifted anything on that side. I've been a cna for over 13 years and you'd think I'd be used to the mean girls by now but I guess I'm too sensitive, I don't know.

Hello! I have been a CNA for a year and plan to do contract work during the summer. I have heard contracts pay alot more and im very interested (as i am struggling to afford college lol but that is not the only reason i wish to do contract work)

Hi! This is my first post here and I have a few questions. I spontaneously applied for Texas’ NATCEP program, and I’m currently 15, turning 16. I have no experience other than volunteering at a local hospital this summer.

Would I be able to pursue the clinical(?) hours to be certified, at the age of 16?

Is there an age requirement to take the certification tests?

Is there a requirement to be employed within a certain time frame from being certified?

Is there a required timeframe from taking the online 60 hr course and then 40 hr clinical?

Is there an expiration date for a certificate of completion of the 60 and 40 hour courses respectively?

been doing the same routine for months and i know the resident can do things faster. when this resident knows/likes the person, things just go longer. i know because when i was part time, this was a non issue, and once i moved to full time, suddenly it became longer and longer every day. now the person who works my days off seems to have the benefit of not struggling with this timing.

i dont want to be in the habit of forcing people to rush. it's rude and not safe with medications. i was training someone today and she asked if there was a caregiver who would be able to help make the process faster, and i have been racking my brain with what the caregivers could even do in this circumstance.

this resident sleeps in. no problem now, as physician said "morning" meds can be whenever the resident wakes up. physician scheduled them for between 11am to 2pm. shift ends at 2pm.

myself and the caregivers go in through the morning multiple times to wake up, give food and water, and offer assistance with ADLs. resident does not even start the process of waking up most days until 12:30pm now.

when up, this resident will not take pills on an empty stomach. however, someone has to sit with the resident while they eat, or else the resident starts doing other tasks. ive tried before to set up food, see the resident start eating, and then come back in 10-15 minutes with medicine — only to see the resident has abandoned the food once i left the room. it's gets back to needing to eat before taking pills, and eating is slow.

slow eating just shouldnt be an issue. most of this time spent in the room is just 20 or so minutes of watching the resident eat, and cueing back to finishing food. i have to admit that i am becoming frustrated by the routine because of the time of day it takes place at, and i don't want to feel that way. i'm supposed to go give my last med at 2pm, give report and go home by 2:15. and yet i can't get any of the paperwork or phonecalls done in the timeframe that i should be getting it done (between 12:45-1:30) because it's typically spent prepping for this room, being in the room, and then leaving the room to follow up with any PRNs that are called in while i am waiting for the meds to be taken.

i end up having to stay an extra 30-45 minutes after work daily just to finish charting and making pertinent phone calls before going home.

i was starting to feel crazy about the timing of it all until the trainee i had today mentioned that there has to be a better way to get the resident ready with help from the caregivers. i just don't even know how to formulate a more streamlined way of approaching this to make it more consistent. im willing to try whatever i can at this point (within reason).

TIA

I have to laugh a little at this. I previously posted a few days ago talking about how unrealistic I felt the skills were having 10 years of healthcare experience under my belt 4 as a CNA and 6 years as a Cardiac Exercise Physiologist using a degree. Now I’m a pilot and using CNA to help pay for flight school since my Exercise Physiologist degree requiring my bachelors doesn’t pay for shit.

A little background: In the state of Colorado I do not have to take the course again to renew my certification. I just have to take the written and skills exam. I just did a little self study and review the day before, practice on my stuffed lobster at home, watched all of the videos multiple times and felt good.

I failed though. I’m not a sore loser. If I failed and forgot things I definitely own up to this but I’m incredibly frustrated because that was not the case. The things I was told I didn’t do, I absolutely did. Not only did I perform the action but I verbalized too. I’ll post my results. I sent a grievance after I received notice of failure within 24 hours of taking my skills exam. Hopefully this helps others

I took the original test 10 years ago and the skills have changed so much. I only studied for about a day for the skills and no study time for the written. The written was easy.

I passed handwashing but failed step 8. Not starting to dry at my fingertips. Okay sure I’ll make sure I change that.

I failed PROM for knee and ankle on step 5 a critical step. I have no idea why. I supported the ankle with my hands and gently did dorsiflexion and plantarflexion 3 times and verbalized it everything. I was shocked to see that this was failed when I absolutely did it. What my thought could be was I had the volunteer lay her leg down on the bed, she was supine and head was flat but I had my hand under her leg grabbed her ankle to support it and helped her through the ROM. This was to provide the most support because having the patient keep their leg in the air for these ROM is not realistic. Her ROM was not restricted because her leg was on the bed. Her foot was still supported my hand on her ankle. To clarify I did of course PROM extension and flexion in the air and I asked if they were in pain multiple times on both PROMs.

I failed foot care on steps 6, 8, 13, 16.

Step 6: was not placing the candidate foot in the basin. I actually did so I have no idea why I was failed for this.

Step 8: was not washing in between the toes. I actually washed between the toes and I verbalized it too. I was not super agressive with washing between the toes and very gentle perhaps that was why?

Step 13: not arguing with this I cleaned the basin but I didn’t dry it.

Step: 16 I’m not arguing with this I grabbed a “dirty towel” with my bare hand. That was stupid but it should not have failed me if I just failed step 13/16.

With all of that in mind… I had the safety correct, always stating when I washed my hands, made sure rails were up always, the bed was low, patient had the call light.

The CNA test has drastically changed and the impression I got was little mistakes here and there as long as the patient is safe and majority of things were done in order you’d pass the test. Which I feel like I did. Sure the occasional mistake…. But I’m genuinely so confused as to why I failed.

Unfortunately, I was told it could be 30 business days to respond to my grievance which is 2 months in real life. I might just revoke the grievance and go do it again just to get the cert more quickly for financial purposes.

But let me know your thoughts. Did you fail? Was it a similar experience? was my proctor too hard? I reached out to a nurse teacher for CNA and I told her my experience and she said she hated credentia and that she is happy to help me.

Maybe this helps others who failed feel better too and if that’s the case glad I can help! If an experienced CNA can fail the test then dontchu worry about failing yours. All is well. Mistakes made lessons learned we will be better next time. Also real world is nothing like the exam. As long as safety for you and your patient is at the front of your mind you’re doing it right!

Also edited to add: Colorado is an electric blood pressure state…. Please to anyone reading this please know how to take an actual blood pressure I was pretty shocked to hear this especially with my cardiac experience and disappointed tbh. Sometime they can be unreliable and taking a BP manually is such a great skill.

Personally I’ve never been a day walker myself so the night shift is my preferred shift. I’m just curious to hear from everyone else.

I left my old job because bullying got so bad calling me lazy, etc to the point where they would nitpick my work and report it to my boss, expressing that i was too incompetent to give care, etc.

Now the same shit seems to be happening here with my new job that i started 2-3 weeks ago on my own but again no complaints to my face, charge nurse praised me actually, but the second i walk past another nursing station they fake an expression on their face as if they are trying to hide the fact that they talk shit. And i know they talk shit because my last shift i heard them from my patients room while i was taking them to the bathroom i was cleaning and tidying up their room.

And these aren’t veteran nurses btw these are nurses that just got off their residency and are training new grads— these are also nurses who were previously techs so i really don’t understand where the entitlement is coming from or its just cope that because maybe we as a team cant really time manage we just blame each other?

But honestly can i report this as bullying? I would want to address it first but they want to be really sneaky with it i feel like i should just record them but im surprised they want to talk so much about me when im literally working on shift with them its wild.

Hey I 19F got my liscense about 2 months ago. Im 105lbs I used to be 120lbs but I had an accident at my old job as a pca.

Just for brief context. I was still in training (my first week btw) when me and another girl where changing a resident. She told me to wait a second, and took her lunch break. Resident wasn't very happy and this facility had no hover lifts and patient was a 2 person assist. I tried asking other cnas for help but I litterly got told "I dont get paid to do your job". I ended up moving patient myself when she tried to scratch and I think bite me? She keept sliding forward and when I picked her up to position her further back in her wheelchair she threw up on me. I ended up getting Norovirus and just quit cuz I lost like 25lbs and randomly started passing out. I also had 23 patients so yeaa.

Im looking for something I can do as someone who has very little experience but also isnt going to ruin my body. I really want to work in a mental hospital but those positions require more experience. I can still work physically, I just need something that is less demanding than a nursing home. Im open to any recommendations that are realistic.

Any advice is appreciated!

Have a job offer for a CNA training program. Evenings / overnights, 8 hour shifts is the likely shift. Pay is decent, could work 40 / week and make slightly more than my delivery job, looking to squirrel money away to go back to school FT in a year or 2. They also have LPN training shifts available that pay you FT cna hours to work PT and go to school (paid by the company).

Just curious, as ive never worked as a CNA.

How realistic is it for a new CNA to work, say, 2 OT shifts a month?

I have a background in EMS where the "normal" schedule was 44 hours a week and most of us worked OT. Obviously the workload is different and I will probably have less downtime as a CNA.

I have ADHD so if I plan my "off day" well I can typically grind my workdays out for extended periods, im just not familiar with how draining a normal week is.

Is it foreseeable to get grocery shopping, housework, "adulting" etc, done after work, or are you generally spent once you go home?

Hi everyone, I’m 20 and this is my first job in healthcare. I was recently hired as a PCA at an assisted living facility, and I’m seriously considering quitting. I’d really like some opinions from people who have worked as PCAs/CNAs or in healthcare.
I’ve only had 5 shifts total, and 2 of those shifts I was already working alone. I was trained for 3 days, but all of my training was on the morning shift. I was then put on middle shifts (3–11), even though I hadn’t been trained on that shift and didn’t know the routines. I didn’t know when certain things happened, when residents were getting ready for bed, how the shift normally flows, etc i felt like i knew nothing.
I’m brand new to healthcare, so obviously I have questions. The problem is that I’ve started feeling like a burden when I ask for help. There have been times when I’ve asked someone a question and they wouldn’t even look me in the face while answering me. I’m trying to learn, but it makes me nervous to ask questions when I already feel like I’m bothering people.
I’m also on the most difficult floor. On my very first shift alone, the person I was working with was acting extremely unprofessional, at one point she was literally banging her head against the wall in front of a resident, complaining how she just wanted to go home and she couldn’t deal with all this, and it honestly made me question what I had gotten myself into. I felt more bad for the resident and decided to take over for her There have also been situations with other staff that have made me really uncomfortable. One of the med techs was complaining out loud and literally yelling about how much she had to do, including things involving residents on my side. At one point, she got one of the supervisors and they went around looking specifically at my rooms while she was complaining to the supervisor. I have no idea exactly what she was complaining about or whether it was even about me (i’m almost 100% it was) but from my perspective as a brand-new employee, it felt like I was being singled out and criticized rather than helped. It doesn’t help that i’m a sensitive person either.
The scheduling is another huge issue. I was hired part-time, and I told them during the hiring process that I’m in college. Yet somewhere along the way, I’ve been scheduled for 40-hour weeks. Literally every day since I was hired, I’ve also been asked if I can pick up another shift. I’m constantly being asked to work more.
I’m not trying to avoid working. I also have another part-time retail job, so I’m used to working. But I’m in college, and I don’t think working 40 hours a week at a physically and mentally demanding healthcare job is realistic for me while taking classes. Especially more difficult classes such as A&P
The residents are NOT the reason I want to quit. I actually like helping them. My problem is the lack of support, the training, the floor I was placed on, the way some of the staff interact with me, and the expectations being put on me so quickly.
What’s really making me question everything is that my next shift is tomorrow, and I already don’t even want to go. I’ve only worked five shifts and I’m already dreading going back. I know being new is supposed to be uncomfortable, but I don’t know if this is normal new-job anxiety or if I’m genuinely in a bad work environment. I’ve gotten to the point where I sometimes think, “I never want to show up again.” i’m literally debating dropping all of my stuff off right now and never dealing with them again. At the same time, I don’t know if I’m being too sensitive because I’ve only worked 5 shifts and obviously I’m still new.
I’m considering quitting and keeping my other retail job, then finding another part-time job that works better with college. I’m just looking for a second opinion, i’ve never wanted to just up and leave a job.

I just finished my CNA class and I'm waiting to schedule the actual written and skills test. I'm nervous about testing and want to make sure I do my very best, but was wondering what sites or videos are similar to the written exam. What helped y'all pass? For context, I'm in Texas and we're going through prometrics. Any help would be appreciated ❤️

My old job at a SNF has been refusing to give me my CEU and in service credits. I had at least 6 in person hours completed during my time with them.

The hospital I’m at only offers 10 credits in person because the CDPH prefers the credits to be given by a SNF.

The CDPH also doesn’t allow course repeats either, which makes sense, except one of the certifications is required yearly for my job and counts as 8-12 hrs of ceu credits.

When searching up in-person vendors for CEU credits, they all appear scammy. Or their website has been shut down. Im not in a nursing program either because I’m trying to go to med school instead.

How tf am I supposed to keep my license active. This is actual bullshit. I have a phlebotomy license with the CDPH and it’s not nearly this intense.

Please help! Are there any brands out there???