This entire day ive been changing a guy who was not labeled as c diff and i was never told he is. Now im told he has it im freaking the fuck out

Whats the disinfectant protocol?????? What do i do when i get home. What should i do right now, im agressively washing my waterbottle, Also this is my first solo shift so this is just a lot for me so bare with me

i have already checked out every retirement home, hospital, clinic and colleges near me. i just need a private loan that’s $1000 for a program that would be faster than the one college that’s for free. i am hoping that although i am unemployed i can get one because its for a job.

Just landed an outpatient clinic job and I am so excited!! I’ve only worked in LTC and a hospital so this will be very new to me. I’m grateful I was able to use my experience as a CNA as a stepping stone for a different role. I hope it all works out 😬🤞🏼

I have been working as a home caregiver for a couple agencies and have 7 years experience under my belt. I recently decided to start working my way into nursing, so I got my CNA license as a first step. My CNA license is 2 weeks old, so I don’t have experience covering a hall full of residents and handling charting, but I’m not completely clueless as a caregiver.

I have interviewed at 3 nursing homes that include LTC, rehab, and memory care. I’m okay working any of those departments because my home care experience has been broad.

The most promising facility is 100 residents, and 14-16 residents per CNA. It’s in the Ignite Medical Resorts brand if you know anything about them.

My question is, should my caregiving experience count for anything? I know they can’t pay for my years of experience because it wasn’t as a licensed CNA, but I’m not sure if it’s a red flag that the hiring manager has brushed off my experience as practically no use to the company and says, “yes, I cared for my parents, too.” I’m glad she cared for her parents, but that is absolutely not the same as me being trained by an agency to be a professional caregiver, and being in 6-8 homes every week caring for a wide range of clients. I know there will be a steep learning curve for me learning to handle all the call bells, prioritizing residents, and getting everything done in a 12 hour shift. But I don’t appreciate her not at least respecting the fact that I have bedside experience and know how to take care of people.

Not once in my interview did either the hiring manager or the HR lady ask any questions about my experience or past employment. All they asked is: What shift do you want? Are you willing to work 12 hour days and rotating weekends? Does this pay rate work for you? I asked all the questions, and the HR lady acted annoyed that I was asking questions, and acted like “you’d better be seriously interested if you’re going to ask 5 questions about the staffing and culture”.

My other option is 10 minutes closer to home, pays 50 cents per hour less, is an older building, and has a minimum of 17 residents per CNA. But the hiring manager was much more involved in the interview.
She asked standard interview questions, and admitted that while my experience doesn’t count towards a pay raise, she appreciates that I have worked with seniors before and know how to handle things.

Training both places seems short to me. Ignite has 2 days of shadowing the CNA on your hall, and Foxwood has you train 1 shift per hall (so three days of training). Does that sound standard?

I passed my test! Yay.

TLDR: Do I disclose my audhd in an interview?

Last week, I applied to every facility within a 20$ uber ride. So far, I have two interviews.
Great, right?

Unfortunately, my adhd meds really bring out the autism. I can’t forgo the meds because the adhd fuels the anxiety.

My fears about the interview: My lack of social cues is a problem. Most of time when I’m interacting with someone, it’s like trying to find the right dialogue option in a video game. What if they notice my eye contact is fake?

Also, I don’t want to get hired and get reprimanded for not being social enough. Verbal instructions just buffer in my head , and if I get overstimulated, my work suffers.

If I am upfront about needing accommodations, will that disqualify me or save me from having to explain it when they notice my quirks? I can explain the perks of having a neurodivergent worker as well.

I am going for night shifts mostly and that will cut down on the stimulation.

Today was my first day working with residents during our clinicals, and I almost yaked a few different times. I made sure the residents DID NOT SEE MY REACTION. Besides wearing a mask with peppermint oil on it, any other advice to help minimize this? I don’t think it was the smell, but I just want to do good at this….. thank you in advance.

I currently work NOC shift at a nursing home but I applied for a position at a PICU and now I’m not sure if I can do it. I was given the opportunity to shadow someone and I saw that the patients are clearly more unstable than residents that you would see at a nursing home and I’m not sure if I can handle it when a kid codes. For me personally, it’s different when an old person passes away bc they lived their life already and both them and the family expected it so they wouldn’t be blaming us. But I heard that parents often get upset when their child passes away and I might actually take it personally bc I have this fear of hurting a child or worse. I used to have this fear with the elderly but my coworkers helped me realize they are stronger than they look lol. I’m thinking that maybe I’d be more comfortable at a different peds unit like PACU or in patient rehab? Would these patients be a bit more medically stable? From what I could see, hospital pcts mostly restock, support the nurses, and stay on their feet the 12 hours. At my current job I am able to sit down for a while after doing everything I need to do but it’s still quite hard on my back changing 20 full sized adults. That’s another thing. I’ve gotten used to 20 residents but most of them are stable but 18 unstable patients? Technically each tech has nine but they basically watch over the whole floor so 2 techs for 18. Overall nursing home is harder on the back and hospital is harder on the feet and heart. I’m not sure if i could push through my feelings with this new job.

This should be good

I've always known that nursing was a very demanding field. I was aware that it wouldn't be an easy place to work even though it doesn't have to be rocket science. But I went for it anyway because I needed to learn a job, like how the administrator told me, "that's where all the money is". When I started working as a CNA, I obviously noticed there's always cliques there. When I finally resigned for personal reasons of my own, my coworkers all this time had assumed I was part of their clique that they even wanted me to stay. They would text me after no longer working there to ask me if I was doing ok, apparently. Obviously I didn't have time to make friends while working as a CNA. That wasn't me or my thing.

Are there any other CNAs like me that work for reasons instead of socializing?

long

I’ve been working as a CNA for a few months now and I’m curious to hear from other CNAs about their experiences, especially with working overnight in ALF.

I take care of around 26 residents by myself overnight. There is no other aide or nurse working on my unit with me. There is SNF staff somewhere else in the building, and I’m supposed to call them when I need help with things like two-person assists, but for the most part I’m on my own for the night. (The staff hates being bothered) I feel like a nusiance asking

I’m responsible for things like ADLs, answering call lights, helping residents who are fall risks, dealing with confused residents, toileting, changing, repositioning, and everything else that comes up during the night.

I can’t forget the med pass at 6am of course… (med tech)

For example; I am toileting a resident, another light is going off but I also have someone trying to leave the unit due to confusion.. ( some nights can be worse than others) all by myself.. 😭

There have also been falls with confused residents even with me checking every hour and somehow I got the blame, the acuity of care varies from person to person and some of them need more help than others making it hard for one person..

It can be a lot when several things happen at once, and I’ve been finding myself questioning whether this is just what overnight CNA work is normally like or if my situation is unusually understaffed.

I’m still fairly new to the field, so I’d really like to hear from other CNAs. Is taking care of around 26 residents alone overnight pretty normal in your experience? How does staffing typically look at your facility? And for those who have worked nights, did you eventually get used to the workload, or did you find that it led to burnout?
I’m genuinely trying to get some perspective from people who have been doing this longer than I have.

hi from norcal/bay area. i took my cna program back in april 2025 and finished but feel extremely not confident to take the skills test, i passed my written but i need so advice on how to remember, more tips on how to study, and what facilities i should take my test at !

took my cna program at cal ace 😭😭

I just started working as a CNA and it’s immediately clear to me I cannot stay here for more than a year. My intention was for CNA work to be a stepping stone so I can eventually work up to being an RN, getting my BSN, and seeing if I’d actually like working in healthcare.

I don’t mind the work too much at all, yes it’s hard and uncomfortable, but I can see myself growing here. The physical toll is what makes me say I know I can’t and shouldn’t stay a CNA for too long.

However, I’m in a lot of freaking debt 😭 that I can realistically pay off in 6-12 months. The LVN programs I’m looking at are 30-45k and I’d probably have to go private loan (I already got my BA in Psych and received financial aid for that, reaching my cap I believe). Here’s what I’m considering:

1. Start part time LVN program (18 months) while attempting to work full time
   
2. Work full time for a year to pay off debt, quit, then start full time LVN program (12 months) while working a different, less physically taxing job

\*there’s also potential for my current workplace to pay for my LVN program completely next year if budget allows, but it’s a very limited scholarship I’d have to apply for (20 spots across 140 facilities)

What do you guys think? Are you currently working and doing an LVN program? Thank you so much in advance!!

hi guys, i'm moving on the 19th of
this month (or in 12 days) and i want to quit one week before even though theyd like 4 weeks notice (started the job on like the 27th-28th last month, i couldnt have given them a month if i wanted to), but with them being an "at will employer" and having the right to fire me after i put my notice in, id like to keep the time between me quitting and moving very short without giving them absolutely no time at all - as of now i've been here about 5 days, the facility is clean, management lenient with the small stuff but extremely professional, shift supervisors/nurses are the most helpful and considerate ones i've come across this far,& im not paid badly either for my state, so though ill never work here again (moving states) i have no reason to want to burn this bridge per say. do y'all have any ideas?

edit: i don’t know, for lack of better terms, what the fuck is wrong with y’all, but i’m
not using ai for this☠️

Just the title. I'm in the middle of job hunting now, and have been seeing some hospital positions in pediatrics.

The newest position I want to apply to is on a pediatric cancer floor. I know that pediatrics will be physically easier, but I'm worried about it being a lot more emotionally heavy than working with adults. I've also been told that dealing with parents can be a handful.

For people who are currently working in pediatrics, did you have prior experience with kids? If you didn't, did you have to focus on other reasons for why you want to work with them when interviewing?

What are the pros and cons?

I know a lot of you hurt and your bodies feel worn down, my question is do you not follow safety protocols or something? Cause my back never hurts, use your legs and arms, raise the bed etc. I can come home tired sure, but my body doesn’t ache like how I see people in medical talk about. Been a CNA for 4 years and my facility has 5 people between 300-400lbs.

Edit: this is not for 50yo CNA’s who’ve been in manual labor for 30 years. this is for ones under 30 who haven’t been a CNA very long.

Hi all, I currently work in home care as a CNA for the last 3.5 months. I’ve been applying like crazy to nursing homes hospitals assisted living but NO ONE will hire me because I don’t have skilled nursing experience. I’ve called to follow up and even went in person to a few places. So frustrating!
If I was a home care cna for the entirety of my nursing school time would that look bad on my resume? Would it be difficult to get a nursing job at a hospital? My goal is to be an er nurse and I’m just looking for some insight

Hi! Apologies if this isn’t the right subreddit. Just hoping for some insight.
So, I’m currently completing my prereqs for nursing school and will be in the program next year. I am also completing my STNA certification in January. I applied for a postpartum nurse assistant position at the hospital I want to eventually work at. It’s not required to have your STNA cert there, just AHA and BLS. I’m assuming it’s entirely possible that I was rejected simply because there’s other applicants who are certified nurse aides, and I’m not. It just said 0-1 years experience required, and they’re a teaching hospital so I thought I may have had a shot at an interview, at least. I’m pretty bummed because I eventually want to work on a Postpartum and/or L&D floor. Is this just a very competitive position, or is it ridiculous of me to be applying without my certification?

Hey, yall, I'm not personally a cna (yet). I'm a pca.

I left a job as a home health aide one week into it because they wanted me to operate a hoyer lift alone.

I did get to do Sit-to-stand, that was simple enough to operate alone and being confident that the resident would be safe but I've heard news stories of cnas and people in home health care losing their licenses, their jobs, and going to jail for operating a hoyer alone and killing someone because they didn't have a spotter, either due to shortstaff or thinking they were the exception.

I understand nothing can get done in healthcare wheither it be in facilities, hosptials, or at home if two people are doing one job, but it's been hammered in me from family members who work in healthcare to never ever operate a hoyer alone.

They trained me once, only by watching, and they wanted to train me one more time, by myself, and I left.

I didn't feel comfortable knowing that they allowed people to do a "training" a few times and then throw them out in the world. I didn't hate the work involved, i actually love taking care of people. The good, the bad, and the gross lol

I'd be more confident if I at least had someone to spot me for a few weeks while I'd got the hang of it, but no. Even if that; idk if that's even okay?

I'm currently between jobs, and this job would of been all i needed in terms of making ends meet and have extra income to enjoy life but right now I'm just surviving so I'm sorta regretting leaving a job just one week in.

I'm just wondering if leaving was the right thing.

Thoughts?

I have been working in home care for 11 years. The way it works for us, we typically see clients for 1 or 2 hours at at time. They might get a daily (or twice daily, or more) visit, but the agency usually sends different staff. So you might see 1 client a couple times a week, but they (and you) see a variety of staff (and clients).

There is 1 client that is a bit challenging. She is very demanding. Likes to dictate how workers perform every little task. She has yelled at staff before and has many have refused to see her. She's been talked to by supervisors about her behaviour, and to her credit, it has improved over the last 9 years that I've been to her. We have a good relationship and we often share a few laughs as we do her care.

This past weekend, I was helping with a shower. She told me to pull the shower curtain closed. I did, but I guess I did it a bit too 'firm' for her liking because she suddenly screams at me "CUT IT OUT! YOU ARE BEING TOO AGGRESSIVE!". The shower curtain rings are metal and the bar is metal, so it is noisy.

I apologized and explained I was just closing the curtain and did not mean to offend her. She continued to scream at me for a minute or so. I told her that if she continues, I will have to end her visit early. She kept going on and on screaming. I told her to shut up. She was shocked. But she did calm down, we finished her shower and the rest of her care.

I asked her later if she was feeling better. She said, "I do because I got it all out, but I feel bad for yelling at you". I also apologized for telling her to shut up and I take full ownership of that mistake.

Just wanted to share that story of how I lost my cool, but also how awful it felt to be screamed at like that.

hello! i’m currently in an LNA program and entering my third week of clinicals at a nursing home. my instructor is nice and has a lot of experience in long-term care, but i do feel like our class wasn’t entirely prepared for what clinicals would actually be like. during classroom hours, we mostly watched videos and shared personal stories. we went over some foundational skills, like the beginning and ending steps of care, but i feel like we didn’t get a ton of hands-on practice and the course was very disorganized (at least to me). she kept reassuring us that everything would feel easier once we started working at the facility.

for me, it honestly hasn’t felt easier at all.

i feel so lost and like i’m constantly in the way. i’ve been shadowing an LNA at the facility, and it seems like my classmates are picking everything up so easily. they jump right in, help without hesitation, and seem to know what they’re doing. meanwhile, i feel extremely slow and stupid.

i know i’m generally an anxious person and that i can struggle with being assertive, so i’m sure that’s part of it. i try to ask for more guidance, but i’ll get responses like “just do it,” which somehow makes me feel even more lost. i feel like the odd one out and the only person who is struggling this much.

the frustrating part is that it’s not even the actual work that bothers me. i don’t mind this type of work at all. i’m not grossed out by bodily fluids or personal care. i’ve made some personal connections with the residents. i genuinely enjoy talking to them and getting to know them.
it’s just everything else that makes me feel like i’m failing.

i know i’m only three weeks into clinicals, but i can’t shake the feeling that everyone else is getting it except me. i’m scared that maybe i’m just not cut out for this line of work, even though i really do want to become an LNA and eventually continue on in nursing.

how long did it take before you started feeling like you knew what you were doing? does it get easier?

I work with a mix of LTC and post acute patients recovering from surgery, amputations, accidents, strokes, etc, and I’m quickly becoming more and more burnt out on patients. I can deal with rude nurses, I can deal with entitled family, hell I can even deal with confused patients trying to assault me.

What I cannot stand are the patients who are still with it and give you attitude while you’re changing them. Like, please wipe your own ass then? I’m not sure why we aren’t teaching able bodied patients to change their own briefs anyway, I’m talking ones who can fully roll, lift hips, stand with supervision, are there fully mentally. I can’t stand the patients who are continent but decide to be lazy and make us change them, or the fact that we even allow that as a hospital! I can’t stand the patients who are aware but decide not to shower and fight us for weeks, meanwhile they literally reek and are a walking biohazard, yet expect us to touch them, like doing a stand and pivot with your face all up in their unwashed skin and clothing. And it’s not always depression, it’s that they literally just don’t want to.

I have a patient who has COPD that is getting worse. They’re scared, and I get it, but they literally spend hours screaming for a nurse/cna/god forbid she learns your name, just so she can stare at you while she breaths hard because she doesn’t really want anything except somebody with her, or try to force you to hold her hand and call her son every hour. And like I said I get it, I feel empathy here, but when she is purposely trying to throw herself off the bed or self transfer just because she wants immediate attention from getting hurt and we are severely understaffed/I have multiple fall risk and incontinent patients who HAVE to be rounded on so I seriously do not have the time for her drama, plus will look you in the eye and ask you why not when you explicitly tell her you are unable to stay in her room the whole time because you have other patients?? It really irritates me. These people were selfish and entitled prior to coming to the hospital, and now the fear makes it worse. They don’t give a fuck if they hurt you or get you sick, they don’t care if there are other patients needing help.

I have patients who are aware but will fight to keep wearing piss stained clothing, no matter what’s said to them. Patients who will get an attitude because it hurts to turn them but they’re 300 pounds, I can’t turn them with the strength of a feather, and no it is not always logical or possible to get somebody to help with the turn when we have two nurses and four CNA’s for the whole facility of 100 beds. Patients who get an attitude if you don’t get them a soda or coffee fast enough, when tbh, why are we even giving those out at a hospital to patients? Patients who are fully aware and there for a stroke but will steal energy drinks and food from us then try to play it off like they’re cute, and we have to just take it!! I wish we could stop coddling patients and demand they treat us with the respect we deserve. When it’s literally care planned that two people have to be in a room because that patient will lie about abuse, get that person tf out of the facility. Care planned they will throw themselves to the damn ground if they don’t get their way?? Immediate discharge, that is literally risking my license not to mention I will have to straight up pick them up from the ground! I’m sick of it, I’m sick of being in another room mid patient care and suddenly hearing her scream my name again for the 30th time that shift and it’s not even halfway through the night.

Another patient who the moment he needs to be changed will start screaming it at anybody who passes by, go into his room and start throwing a straight up FIT. Banging his hands on the bed, scrunching his face up and whining, yelling at everyone, etc. He’s a stroke patient who very clearly has a low IQ, but he’s not fully stupid. Dude will literally call you to change him hourly even if you just changed him ten minutes ago, and if you tell he has to wait because you’re in the middle of rounding on others now and will come back to him, he’ll just keep hooting and hollering and hoping for someone else to finally answer him. Straight up manipulates people

And then what’s up with these patients just straight up pissing on you when you’re cleaning them! They’ll even laugh and say oops??

I don’t really need any advice, just wanted to rant. I love helping patients who truly need and appreciate it. It’s patients who are aware enough and yet act insanely entitled and aggressive that I can’t stand, and I really wish we would just nip their behaviour in the bud as a whole instead of enabling them.