u/crumblcoochies

i don't know if my post belongs here! but here's a little story from my CNA (certified nursing assistant) clinicals when i was 18.

for anyone unfamiliar with clinicals, you do them for a lot of healthcare professions. basically you apply what you learn from the classroom to real people. there's only so much you can and can't do so a few of you are kind of just following CNAs from room to room, trying to follow along with what they're doing.
in my state, you have to do 3 clinicals, 24 hours total (not in one day obvi)

this clinical in particular was from 6-3 at a nursing home. us students had just helped passed lunch trays to the residents, so it's around 1pm, and most of us haven't sat down all day. we figure we could sit since nobody needed anything at the moment.

our clinical instructor comes over and says "instead of sitting and waiting for call lights, you guys should be introducing yourselves to the residents and seeing if they need anything". which was a great idea, maybe these nursing home residents are lonely and some positive interaction would be good for them!

nope. some residents were very sweet but most of these people were not thrilled to have a bunch of students coming into their rooms while they were just trying to eat lunch. it was worth a try, however.

anywho, one room i walk into, the lady has her daughter and grandchild there. i say someone among the lines of "hi i'm a CNA student, are you doing ok? is there anything i can get for you?" she says no so i turn around to walk out. her daughter goes "excuse me?? she was talking to you!" i instantly come back in and sweetly ask what she needed, she hands me her dinner menu.

i ask everyone i run into what to do with this menu. basically i couldn't find anyone who worked there who could tell me who to give this to, and i wanted to make sure this lady got what she wanted to have for dinner. the nurse there tells me "i don't know i don't deal with those things" (nursing home nurses can be strange at times, not all of them though)

i got my CNA certification in July last year and started working in August. it's had it's up and downs but i surely don't miss clinicals, spending my Saturday walking around like a lost puppy and not getting paid for it

i became a CNA last July and began working in August. my first job was a SNF that called me back FIVE MINUTES after applying in Indeed (totally not a red flag right) i lasted 5 weeks there (put in my 2 weeks after 3 weeks working) i could write a book on what a shitshow that place was. we were all baby CNAs who got overwhelmed easily and took it out on each other.

then i worked at another SNF for 4.5 months. at first it was great, i had way more support and had (mostly) great coworkers. but then things changed and there was less support, my favorite coworkers were quitting, they were clearly trying to push me out and kept putting me on harder halls on my own. it killed me to leave that place, i knew all the residents like the back of my hand but i was becoming resentful. i still keep in touch with some of my coworkers from that place.

for a while i was working at 2 senior living places, one was a senior living facility that had mostly assisted living but there was also a memory care unit. i worked both parts, one day a week each. i adored the assisted living side but quickly learned memory care was not for me. i get it, they can't always control their behaviors but i did everything they tell you to do to help someone with dementia, but it didn't work when i did it. i'd toilet a resident and they'd say "i'm not dirty! i'm not using the toilet" then get blamed that they were soaked. additionally, there was a new lady who liked to pretend to be a 2-3 person assist for attention, threw out the back of one of my coworkers, but could clearly walk on her own with her walker.

the other place i was working, where i currently work is a senior living group home, where i get to pass meds. most residents there are independent. half of my shift, i'm on my own so i change our 2 total care residents, and help 2 others into their pullups and into bed. it's so much easier and i can devote more time to the residents instead of feeling like a machine.

i could never go back to LTC/SNFs unless i was paid like $30 an hour, which would never happen. what's weird is that i don't mind cleaning poop. no i don't enjoy it but it doesn't phase me, i have to deal with it even in assisted living. i'm starting nursing school soon, i know what i'm getting into.

what i most certainly don't miss about LTC is passing trays (iykyk, i worked 6a-6p so we did every meal) using the hoyer (hate that mf, if the hoyer lift has 0 haters i'm dead) and deadweight residents wanting to be up and down after EVERY meal. like i get it but after working 3+ days in a row, my body was killing me. not to mention residents who needed 2+ people for changes/transfers and not being able to find another person bc everyone was busy. even the nurses who wanted to help.

but i feel like less of a CNA bc i don't work in nursing homes anymore? it sounds stupid and i know most people couldn't last a day working in a nursing home, i don't blame them at all but i did do it for 6 months. 36+ hours a week while doing nursing prereqs. sometimes i feel like i'm losing CNA skills even though i still change briefs.

ok so i've only been a CNA for 9 months now, 6 of those were in long-term care (never again i'm sorry), so i feel like i've seen a lot. my first facility was so fucked i could right a book (3 baby CNAs for a hall of 55 people, most of which were max/total assist/2 person and most just needed to get up for whatever reason)

back in August, i was that baby CNA who did my clinicals + walked in on my first day bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to help. i wondered why other CNAs seemed to hate the job and why the ones i had seen seemed a little apathetic. i made a post in this very subreddit the night before my first day, so excited, i can't but think "oh sweet summer child" reading it now 😭

my first day, i was working 6a-6p, around 1pm we go on break and i'm already DONE. i knew the job entailed a lot of poop but i was quickly realizing that was just the easy part! one of the girls orientating me warned me about a resident we were going to change during final rounds who's change took TWO hours. wtf? i was just told she's "very particular".

4:30 comes and we go to change her. she was definitely younger than i was expecting (not young but def not geriatric) i was also expecting a morbidly obese woman, no she's tiny. she's not even wearing a brief, she has a catheter and has a chuck under her to shit on. she has a bunch of pillows under, a bunch of shit in her room we have to move around.

it takes 30 mins just to remove her pillows. idk how. one person has to hold up her legs while she's turned on her side, she decided she's going to have a BM right now. it takes a good while the other CNA to wipe her to her satisfaction, the whole time i'm holding her legs in the air. and i can't move my arms at all because if her legs touch, she freaks out. she even has the audacity to tell me "pay attention to what she's doing" referring to the other CNA.

before we even put her pillows back, we have to move every linen centimeter by centimeter until she's satisfied. each linen individually. sheet, draw sheet, chuck. then we have to put her multiple pillows back, exactly where she wants them. if the pillow under her is off by a centimeter, she needs to be turned again and have it fixed, then put back down. rinse and repeat.

it's past 6:20 and the other CNA tells me to go, she's got the rest. i've been here over 12 hours now. i didn't even get to see how post-shift report is done.

i find out later that my boyfriend's mom (an LPN) used to work at this same facility and was FIRED because of this resident! admin catered to her, her family was super protective of her. one day, this resident called the nurse's station phone because CNAs were to busy to make her noodle concoction (did i forget to mention the resident fridge was 90% her food and she'd demand these concoctions?) my bf's mom, the nurse told them to just ignore her. she was then fired for putting this resident in an "unsafe situation" wtf?? luckily SNFs in our area are always short staffed so she just got another job.

i lasted just 5 weeks at this place, i put my 2 weeks in after 3 weeks. we were already dangerously understaffed, it took 2 staff off the floor for 2 hours to change her, so the remaining 2 CNAs who were lucky enough to not be stuck in there had to complete final rounds for everyone else. mind you, most of these people were incontinent/max assist and some needed to be up for dinner.

anyone who has worked at that facility knows exactly who she is and how bad she is. she's completely alert and oriented, but takes great pleasure in getting her way and knows she's going to get it, as MULTIPLE staff have been fired over her. in fact, multiple facilities have been offered money to take her in, and since nearly every person working in a SNF has worked at this facility, they won't dare take her.

my LTC days are over for now, but god i could write a book 🫠

i find out May 19 and literally all i can think about is finding out whether or not i got in. if i didn't, my backup is too retake some classes since my nursing GPA would be the only thing holding me back (3.12) i got a 90 on the HESI, 99 volunteer hours, and i've worked as a CNA since August. the only other class i need is pathophys and i'm taking that this summer.

they take 48 per semester but idk how many apply. i worked with 2 girls who planned to apply but out of the 3 of us, i was the only one who applied, so that gives me some hope. one of my other coworkers who's already in the program says i should get in.

i love Utah Tech and want to get into the program so badly. yes i can reapply next semester if i don't get in but i desperately want to start nursing school semester. one of my first friends i made at UT applied for this cohort and i'd love for us to do it together!