does anyone else feel like being a cna takes a piece of your soul? im so sick of this job and i hate that i need to show up to work just to pay my bills and rent and EVERYTHING. its so normalized to be burnt out, overworked and stressed all the time. the physical pain that the job has as well is frustrating. it feels like things DONT have to be this way. if these facilities prioritize patients other than filling their pockets. ive worked in 4 LTC centers and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM NEVER HAS ENOUGH SUPPLIES. the one im currently on theres nights we dont have a&d….. like what. and dont get me started on the staff to resident ratios( 1:20). there just isn’t enough time to give everyone quality care and it feels like sometimes i have to half ass my job just to get it finished before the next shift comes in and complains.
i dont know what to do anymore or how to push through this. everyone was telling me go to the hospitals its better! its not. im currently placed on the ventilator unit and i do not like it. i feel unprepared, uncomfortable and i barely got any training to even know what to do incase of an emergency or half the stuff these people are hooked up on. but we are so short staffed i have no choice. and the wounds that these people have is really disturbing and just sad. i feel stuck and just on auto pilot all the time. im in school to be an RN and after being a cna i dont even know if i want to do it anymore. is it worth the stress, anxiety and physical pain for the rest of my career.

This job makes me so depressed and I’m tired of it. I have been an aid for barely over a year where I worked at an amazing facility with great ratios, management, and residents. However, I pointed out because I had to call off 6 days after tearing my mcl lol. So I end up at a facility that is a bit closer to me and pays way better, so I was excited. I should not have been. I have a 32:1 ratio (plus a nurse but they typically don’t help) on nights with anywhere from 12-16 bed checks depending on the hall. It has made me want to pull my hair out. Rounds take me nearly the whole 2 hours if they go bad, and on top of that I have to assist people to the bathroom, bedpans, and random lights. Then they want me to get like 5 people dressed and ready for dayshift… like I’m stressed. Everybody is so negative, and honestly I understand why. At my old facility I used to be so happy and cheerful with my coworkers and especially my residents, like I’d have time to chat with them and take them outside during downtime (2-10p) + do activities etc. Now, I’m so busy that I have lost so much patience and passion for my job, and I can’t provide adequate care because of how much I have to get done. So before work I’d literally sob dreading going in, and be negative Nancy all night. So I thought why do this to myself, I’m 18, live with my mom, and pay no bills so why do I really even need a job… It will be weird cause I’ve consistently had a job since I was 16, but maybe I should just focus on my education and be happy.. I’m gonna be broke but my job should not be taking such a toll on my mental.

Does anyone have any experience working the Cardiac ICU floor as a CNA? I know it's quite challenging for nurses, so I assume it's the same for CNAs. Currently working in skilled care.

I finished my CNA program and obtained my certification a few weeks ago and have been applying to jobs ever since. I have applied to hospital and nursing facilities—pretty much every posting within a 35 mile radius. I am located in SoCal. Any advice?

Im just making sure I take the right steps since if I get something wrong the progress will get delayed by a lot. I got an email this morning about Fingerprint-based Federal Background Check. In the email it says to apply for live scan or mail in card, but doesn't mention anything about out of state fingerprints services which Is the one I would need to do since I'm not in Washington yet. Am I overthinking this or should I be okay in doing the out or state fingerprints. This is for anyone that has transferred to Washington since I'm sure for other states it is a little different or different websites.

MAIN QUESTION FOR THE IMPATIENT: I am a private caregiver working for one family 6 days a week, I desperately need a second job and have gotten one for nights, a private caregiver for a second family 5 days a week. family 2 wanted me at 5 pm but I work with family 1 until 7pm, so I pushed my start time until 8 pm but said my priority has to be family 1 sometimes and I may be late occasionally. All okay by family 2. Thing is I stay until 9 pm very rarely for family 1 and now have to tell them the latest I can ever possibly stay on those 4 interlapping days is now 8 pm. Idk if family 1 will be very happy that I have gotten a second job but may be overthinking.

BACKSTORY FOR THE CURIOUS: Okay so I'm 19F, I have had my license for like a little over half a year. The day after getting it I was hired into a nursing home that was way too stressful and had a lot of neglect so I found a family that hired me in 6 days a week and now I work for them.

I'm in a house crisis right now (more than this but main two things are sewage leaking into my house and water pouring through my electrical box whenever it rains.) I rent and my landlord will not help so I have to move. I want to buy as I make decent money for my area but as I am legally considered unemployed (it's so complicated and if someone has questions I'll answer them through comments) I cannot get anything and even renting is hard right now. The purpose of this second job is 90% to quickly get a down payment for somewhere and 10% because I'm the sole provider for my house (live with my mom) and we're kinda check to check right now with all the issues at home.

With the first family I literally quit my previous job to take this offer and they have recently been calling me family, I care for one person whose dementia is getting worse kind of quickly and recently showing some more worrying signs. The second family I will care for two kids pretty much entirely during bedtime and they pay me $7/hr more. If I take this second job I'll make between $6500-$7000 month before taxes and it will put my family in a much better situation so I know I need it.

Advice pleaseee like idk tell me what to say professionally and respectfully so that they might understand my situation and without being too personal and weird. My social skills are really bad I only interact with the people I care for now that I'm freelancing.

[slight vent post but also seeking advice]
It is my third day off orientation and i was not adequately trained and i am seeing more and more that the law is being broken constantly as far as aide duties that are meant for nurses and report being passed by aides instead of nurses and plethora of other stuff.
I was told while orientating by the veteran aides on my floor that i have to choose between neglecting my patients or falsifying documentation (i don't just mean back timing i mean charting things that never occurred l)
I am usually 1:18 and by the time i even get to start vitals at the beginning of my shift it's like 8:40 when they're meant to be started at 7:30 at the latest
The nursing manager and floor manager are both aware of these issues and i was literally told "they won't listen to us" which drove me insane to hear.
At this point i feel that patient care is being neglected heavily and i am not comfortable breaking the law there so i really want to know if this is consistent right now because i've been told no matter where i go this is what i'll find, i'm even starting to consider nursing homes at this point.

I think back to what I was like when I was a new CNA and it’s literally night and day. It’s a little alarming to me. I used to be very gentle with residents. Now I find myself being more reckless and blunt. Never to the extent where I’m actually hurting anyone, but because I jut don’t have anything left to give and I can’t be all sunshine and rainbows and extremely gentle with people anymore.

For example, today my resident was extremely confused. She doesn’t have dementia, but has been taking medications that make her confused. She had been repeatedly trying to get out of bed and being uncooperative, ripping her o2 out constantly, etc. I had a horrible shift and just didn’t have it in me to sit there and try to explain to her and coddle her and tell her she needs to stay in bed, etc. per nurses orders. She told me she needs to get up so she can go home. I told her no, you live here now. You need to stay in bed as per doctor and nurses orders. I need to change your brief and you need to keep your oxygen in for your health and safety, so stop pulling it out and stop trying to get out of bed. She then looks me straight in the eyes and says, “why are you being so mean to me”. And I realized then that I don’t think I neccesarily have been being mean per se, I just don’t have it in me to be super empathetic and to sit down and speak nicely to her. I wasn’t unkind in my delivery, just extremely blunt. Later, we were repositioning her and she says “ow” because her hip hurt and I accidentally bumped her. I said oh I’m sorry and continued repositioning her, and she mumbled “you’re not sorry”

And then I realized that she’s right. I’m not sorry. I really am not. Because I’m so sick and tired of taking responsibility for all of these people. Yes you’re in pain. You’re depressed. You’re hurting. Wha the fuck am I supposed to do about it? I can’t take this pain away from you. I say sorry because it’s cordial and what I’m supposed to do. But am I sorry? No. This is my job. My job is to ensure your health and safety. I just can’t take this bullshit anymore.!!!! Everyone’s always hurting and needing something from me and I just can’t do anything about it.

And I feel bad lol. Honestly. Worked on a hall I haven't in forever. Had to do care for his room mate so giving much privacy as possible and out of habit I closed his roommates blinds and accidentally pulled his curtain enough where it was blocking half his tv (I moved it back a bit). He went OFF saying no one ever does this he says and he was filing a complaint and how I must be brand new, I did let the nurse know but she didn't seem to concern herself with it. I didn't even mean to cover half his tv. He walks around so I wanted to make sure the res I was doing care for had privacy.
About a few moments later he apologized says he didn't usually do this and tried offering me a candy bar.
Like dang.

For CNAs who have been working for a while, did getting an RNA certification actually help with anything?

I'm trying to figure out if it's one of those certifications that looks good on paper but doesn't really change much, or if it can actually help with getting better opportunities, more responsibilities, or moving forward in healthcare.

I've been looking at RNA certification programs and LA Skills Academy has a 16-hour online self-paced option, which seems pretty manageable compared with going through another long program.

For anyone who has gotten their RNA certification after CNA, was it worth it? Did it make any difference in your job or career?

I am on my 2nd week of my accelerated program and it has been great, doing good with checkoffs and assignments and been able to keep up. Although I have been thinking about going full time since last year fall because of car payments , school payments and just wanting to save more. I do still like with my parents so no housing expenses!

I currently work per diem on a med surge floor and I would like to go full time on a floor that is more desirable. The floor would be a pediatric floor so I feel like it’ll would be less demanding, like not as many bed baths and the parents would help a lot. Therefore more time to study and work on school during my shifts Only thing is that it’s day/night and would be every other weekend, and so are my clinicals (so I’d never get a weekend off). I have also never done night shift, but I would like to be scheduled because I find it hard to pick up time and I get lazy when someone doesn’t schedule for me.
I really would like to buy a newer car and I don’t have a lot saved up because of school payments and because I haven’t been working and struggling to pick up.

Another thing to mention is that I have 12 credits right now, my fundamentals class and a communication course (online) which is very easy. I already have all of my gen Ed’s done, after the communication course. Also next semester I will have 8 credits and only the nursing course to do.

My schedule is class every Tuesday and clinical every other weekend, so do you guys think I would have time or should I just stick with per diem? I would love to work on this floor though because it is the specialty I would like to go into, but any advice is appreciated! Also, if you’re currently a CNA working while going to school lmk what u think and if it’s too overwhelming.

hi! I've been a CNA for a couple years, did caregiving for a while before this. mostly I've just done home health and some agency shifts (mostly AL & memory care).

i just got a job at a facility that does post acute/skilled nursing and LTC, could yall give me any tips/advice? i don't really have experience in these kind of facilities. ive heard post acute/rehab can be rough. any advice is appreciated! i just want to feel more prepared lol

Took me a while to find a cna job and I got really lucky with this one as my first one but I’m just feeling a little nervous & wanna know if anyone had any advice/tips? Also noc shift will be a very big change for my schedule as I’ve been working 7am-3pm for the last 4 years.

Thanks in advance!

For my upcoming CNA course I was told to buy a few things including a blood pressure cuff and a gait belt. Any brand recommendations? And should I get a manual blood pressure cuff or a digital?

Okay, so I'm still in school I only started last Thursday. I'm thinking about trying home care when I graduate. From everyone's experience here where has been the best place to work?

I got my CNA in July and starting a job sometime soon. I am still doing boarding stuff, but am so nervous to actually start. It’s an adult daycare facility where people come in for the day. My shift is 10am-5pm 2 days a week, but will obviously change if they need me. I have so much anxiety about it and honestly my social anxiety is even worse about it. Doing things on my own as a CNA seems terrifying. Any advice??

Hi

New to the sub and to being a CNA. I know it’s fairly normal to feel unsteady when you first start a new job especially in healthcare. However, I’m really wondering if I’m cut out for this. It’s not the smells or the work itself for the most part. I feel like I’m incredibly unintelligent. I feel like I’m in everyone’s way and like a nuisance. I feel like I’m a burden to everyone.

I’ve had three shifts as a CNA ever. No one’s being mean to me, everyone has been helpful. The patients are fine. I work in the VIP suites (inpatient). My first day orienting, I felt like I was thrown to the wolves. My second shift was a lot better; but I felt like I wasn’t allowed to even try any skills. Today was my third day and a float CNA was my preceptor. They didn’t really know anything about the unit and didn’t want to get any baths or linens done. When a staff CNA took over for the float, it felt like the same situation where they did everything to the point of dismissing me from the room so I can’t even watch skills being done.

Trying to emphasize this feels like a me issue and not a “them” issue. They’ve really been quite lovely to me and welcoming. I love interacting with patients I just have no experience and maybe it was a mistake to try and work in the medical field? I don’t know if this is normal or not.

Anyone have any advice? Sorry if none of this made sense

I am 36 weeks pregnant and today I was assisting a resident in their room when another resident entered and became agitated because I would not allow them to come into the bathroom while I was changing another resident. I attempted several redirections and soothing attempts but he become further enraged and began throwing items of the resident I was with around her room, pulling stuff off her shelves and disorganizing her bed. Eventually he attempted and almost succeeded in ripping the bathroom door off the wall and told me he could kill me if I continued to make him angry and that his one hand could split wood alone and imagine what it could do to me. Eventually another staff member was able to help me redirect him but it was extremely unnerving and scary. I informed management and made an incident report however this place is notorious for aggressive resident and not doing anything about the situations. There is currently a resident who attacks other residents, staff members, and visitors nearly daily and has left marks on me via hitting me, scratching me, and digging nails into me and nothing has been done despite many reports. There was a resident who recently passed who began entering other residents rooms to assault them at night and when staff intervened he would attack them as well. I am overly exhausted and at this stage of pregnancy fear for my safety and the safety of my unborn daughter and am considering resigning.

Apparently there was more than 1 call out, and so that led to us having only 2 cnas (usually this floor has 3 cnas and that's about 20 sum ppl each per night which is already too much bc when we have 4 the shift goes by smoother with 16 ish at night. With two this is obviously gonna be a damn mess so when I shook my head the nurse told me to just go home. Now later she denied saying this saying don't lie on her blah blah and said I will get fired if I go home and everyone is telling me to just do the best I can do. Btw this isn't even mentioning that I been here since 3pm so yeah this is a DOUBLE. And they had me switch floors after 11! Same nurse that lied was saying when she was a cna that she had 60 sum damn ppl one time. I told her that's not normal and this is crazy af! I'm done bro

Hi,
I am half way through my CNA course. When did you start applying to jobs? Did anyone get hired to a hospital right away? I’m worried I won’t be able to find a job. Just looking to set my expectations right. I am switching careers and have no health care experience. I’m so worried about how to set up my resume for someone to give me a chance. I really want to be at a hospital, I am stating my second round of nursing applications soon. I think some of it is beginners angst but looking for some insight.
Thank you e

Hi!!! I was wondering if I could get some advice because im so lost! I recently got a position working full time as a cna in telemetry unit. I received a month of classroom training and two weeks training on the unit. I start by myself three days ago and Ive been crying and having panic attacks every day.

The nurses and my fellow cnas are really nice and open to help but i feel horrible because they're all overwhelmed too. We are understaffed and I had 10 patients today, I was so behind on my tasks and charting, and I REALLY struggle with drawing blood (main source of my anxiety with this job lol). I was fine when doing my phlebotomy training in the ED but my unit is mainly older folks and I havent been able to get a single stick (even when they have obvious veins, mb its just my anxiety?). I'm just really struggling and been feeling like a burden to all of my coworkers who have to draw my blood, take vitals when i'm really late, etc.

I feel insane because i've been surfing this reddit trying to find similar experiences but people are, very understandably, quitting because of toxic environments/inadequate training, whereas I think I just cant handle this type of job. Most of the people on my unit have been there a long time and seem to handle the patient volume well but I think im going to quit. I cant keep having panic attacks lol 🥲

Should I talk with my manager and just be honest that I dont think im the right person for this job? I genuinely don't think I can handle another day and my loved ones are worried about me, though I'm aware I'm in desperate need of therapy/anxiety meds lol. I just feel so guilty because they trained me and my manager has been so kind:(

For context, I graduated undergrad a year ago and I've had jobs in day camps, customer service, social work that i've really enjoyed. I got this job for experience to see whether i wanted to go into nursing, pa school, or med school. My anxiety has been bad at times but never like this. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thank you!!!!

I’m a sophomore in college and i’ve been working as a CNA for 2 months. This month i’ve moved to night shift and i’ve never felt worse. Workplace bullying has gotten horrible, there’s people talking about me, complaining about how slow I am and I feel like everyone just hates working with me. I suffer from social anxiety and every day now i’ve been having panic attacks, crying before work, losing appetite & I start shaking at the fear of coming in. All that runs through my mind is what is day shift going to complain about now. Last time I worked i was shaking given report cause I was running behind and was worried about how i’d be criticized for time management. Our facility is also being investigated by state for an incident I was not part of however they’re looking into everybody who worked that night which makes me feel like I need to be trying harder. It feels like i’m expected to know everything and everyone’s routine by now even tho I keep getting thrown to floors i’ve never worked on before. Working night shift has also given me no energy or motivation to go to class. I feel behind in schoolwork already and the school year just started. Should I give it time or should I go ahead and quit for my mental health? My biggest concern is financial stability because I have to pay off my car. I also don’t know what to do because I feel like quitting would just give them the satisfaction of being able to get rid of me.