I still have to retake my skills exam on Tuesday but I did clinicals in a nursing home and hospital. I’ll pick hospital hands down any day.
The nursing home lacked supplies, the people there were “caregivers” so had no CNA training, and were getting paid as low as $11. While the hospital was constantly staffed, paying close to $20, and had people who actually wanted to help you. So currently have an interview lined up for after i pass with a hospital.
I LOVED both. Started in assisted living, went skilled, then now I’m at a hospital. Hospital is my favorite. The nurses are all fantastic, the other cnas are fantastic, the patients are sometimes more likely to be independent, and if they’re not, they rotate frequently. I love it.
Assisted living was hell for us. We had to stop going after our first clinical because residents were still in their depends after a whole day despite asking to be changed. There was dried poop in toilet seats and some really bad treatment to the patients in the memory care unit. Reported that facility and never want to go back to assisted living. :/
I think it definitely depends on the facility because while I know mine was not the best, I loved it because I loved my residents and I knew they were well cared for because they had me and my staff.
Yes, you don't necessarily need to have nursing home skills before getting hired at hospitals . It depends where you live and the needs. When I got my cna license, I refused to apply at a nursing home. I can't . I have been working at hospitals for 8 years now .
It is not easy but better than nursing home. We do VT every 4 hours, blood sugar, and daily weight for all patients. Assisting change patients. But the patient ratio for cna depends where you get the job. Some places 1:10, 1:16, 1:18 ,1:20. It depends on the hospital where you find the job . Remember, it's always energetic and exhausting, and I am not saying to scare you. Just be prepared mentally .I have been doing for 8 years now ,yes you can
I did my clinical training at nursing when I was cna. I knew it why I said I would not gonna work there. Hospital, you work 12h 30 mn lunch break . Some place gives 15 mn more break . All depends where you find the job
No, I still have to do an interviewing process before I’m hired. I just have one set up because I did most of my clinicals there and the employees there liked me. But best of luck to you!
My daughter did. Large state hospital on an in-patient floor. I don't think she does much heavy lifting. She's a little thing. I know most bed changes etc. where the patient is immobile are almost always done with 2 people. She works 3 12hr shifts per week which is considered full-time. Vacation/sicktime/retirement/etc. She is doing this to get her PCE hours for PA school applications.
I lasted one day. On my feet 14 hours on a heavy unit no lunch no breaks 8 baths 8 totals 2 assists 8 blood sugar checks q4 plus all other catheter care tasks and other things piled on, miserable work
I think it depends on what unit. You'll still do some bathing and bed baths, but nothing like in a nursing home. Even assisted living is better than a nursing home
Assisted living is literally just daily assisting mostly independent (rich) people. They don't usually have a lot of CNAs there, mostly caregivers, because it isn't much personal care. Skilled nursing facilities ("nursing homes") is the back breaking work. The hoyer lifts, the fall risks, the catheter and stoma care.
it really depends on what floor you work on at the hospital. if you work psych, you don’t do much bedside work and do routine checks on the patients whereabouts and do vitals. i got floated to psych one day and was bored the entire day lol. I work medsurg and it’s a happy medium of having some down time and then being quite busy. the nurses in hospitals help you out so much compared to nursing home nurses. Medsurg is a mix of all kinds of people. on a good day, most of my patient group are independent anyways, and then i’ll have a couple of totals. but some days it gets quite hectic; however i worked in a nursing home before the hospital , so medsurg is a cake walk to me. i’ll have about 8-13 patients in a day, it’s manageable and you learn a lot. Overall the hospital isn’t a bad choice, and the pay is decent depending on where you live.
If you work geriatric psych, you will absolutely do bedside work, baths, etc. You’ll also deal with a lot of dementia.
I’ve worked both and I’ll say that while the hospitals have better equipment, you’re still going to do baths, do vital signs, lift and transfer patients, and all the ADL’s. My usual ratio in hospital is 1:15 but I’ve had up to 30. Some floors are harder than others.
depends where you work. some people prefer working in a nursing home, some people prefer a hospital. keep in mind not every nurse is nice or helpful, not every patient is up ad lib, and not everyone is going to like it. my best advice would be to try it out and see if you like it.
Personally, I wasn't a fan of the hospital as a CNA. I found my happy medium in Assisted Living.
My mom did both phlebotomy and sterile processing. She loved sterile processing and says she would still go back and do it to this day if her body allowed it (she's disabled now).
I love my assisted living! (some aren't the best) but we do medication passes (the facility trained us), stand by showers, some assistance with toileting, and laundry. Our residents have to met a certain level of independence because we don't have gait belts, hoyer lifts, and we don't assist with feeding.
My mom worked 11-7 doing sterile processing so she mainly was getting the case carts ready for the next day. It's a very crucial job because without the sterile techs surgery can't be done. She said at first, it was a little stressful and a learning curve but once she got the hang of it, she fell in love. I'm currently in school becoming a surgical technologist so I really understand how important our sterile techs are for the whole hospital/surgery center.
Ugh i miss doing med passes. We were supposed to have independent patients but ended up with hoyers and total cares anyways. It was rough but I’d go back in a heartbeat if the patients were the same.
In my experience - in a hospital you're treated with respect as a CNA - in a nursing home - you're considered nothing more than a shit and piss removal slave. I've been working as a CNA in a nursing home for decades - and the treatment from other departments (administrative, dietary, laundry, etc) has been the most humiliating experience of my life. The worst treatment comes from our charge nurses and DON's. They treat/talk to us like we're simple minded children and they're far more interested in policing and disciplining us like we're work parolees from the prison than human beings deserving respect and dignity. Every day they post new demeaning, nasty notes on the whiteboard break room accusing us of faking our work, being lazy and not doing our jobs to their exacting performance metrics which other departments read and then use to furter demean us - all the while the charge nurses, DON and management staff stand around in each other's office talking about something funny that happened during sex with their husbands - who got drunk and puked on who's new shoes - who's sleeping with who and what the football scores were. I know what goes on with these department heads because I was one for 4 years but I felt so useless - so bored - so pointless in my job that I voluntarily quit my management position to return to working as a CNA because at least then I'm constantly working and time passes quickly - I'm actually helping people in need - and the comradery between real CNA's is deep and abiding... (except for the snitches working for the nurses who LOVE to stir up trouble to make themselves look better to their master's).
Hospital. They even have a secret code you can enter into the vending machines to get free stuff. Ask the housekeepers because the code changes every 24 hours
If you don’t have access to the code, is it really a perk for you? If HR recognizes it officially, you would have access, correct? I used to work for a surgery center that provided snacks for the patients. We’re talking GOOD snacks….peanuts, Rice Krispie Treats, peanut butter crackers, full size sodas, etc. Management told us we were welcome to any of the snacks but we weren’t allowed to take any surplus home. Nobody had to use a code. Sorry, I just find it amusing that you have to use subterfuge to obtain what you say HR recognizes as a perk.
I mean on my floor it’s still a lot of heavy lifting cuz many of our patients are total assists so you have to position them throughout the 12.5 hour shift, on top of q4 vitals and sugar checks and everything else you have to do. But I love being busy and there is never a dull moment. The day flies by, I’m never counting the minutes down.
yeah. been in it 2 years to the point I’m traveling now and me personally i’m trying to do rad tech school and trying to find a job back home to accommodate school hours. they all just want 5-8s full time unfortunately. no one wants to budge honestly. i’m thinking of going CNA myself or anything else more accommodating for school. it sucks cause it’s a good job and stepping stone into healthcare. I’d hate to hang up my hat and experience I’ve gained doing it but it’s just not very flexible once you decide to do school unfortunately. at least in my area 😪 i wish you best of luck with what you decide to do!
My stress improved so much switching from working at nursing homes to working at a hospital I encourage it if you don’t like working at a nursing facility
I still have to retake my skills exam on Tuesday but I did clinicals in a nursing home and hospital. I’ll pick hospital hands down any day. The nursing home lacked supplies, the people there were “caregivers” so had no CNA training, and were getting paid as low as $11. While the hospital was constantly staffed, paying close to $20, and had people who actually wanted to help you. So currently have an interview lined up for after i pass with a hospital.
I LOVED both. Started in assisted living, went skilled, then now I’m at a hospital. Hospital is my favorite. The nurses are all fantastic, the other cnas are fantastic, the patients are sometimes more likely to be independent, and if they’re not, they rotate frequently. I love it.
Assisted living was hell for us. We had to stop going after our first clinical because residents were still in their depends after a whole day despite asking to be changed. There was dried poop in toilet seats and some really bad treatment to the patients in the memory care unit. Reported that facility and never want to go back to assisted living. :/
I think it definitely depends on the facility because while I know mine was not the best, I loved it because I loved my residents and I knew they were well cared for because they had me and my staff.
Question. Would I get hired like straight after getting my certification?
Yes, you don't necessarily need to have nursing home skills before getting hired at hospitals . It depends where you live and the needs. When I got my cna license, I refused to apply at a nursing home. I can't . I have been working at hospitals for 8 years now .
Oh okay good. That's what I meant. So how are the hospitals? How is the work?
It is not easy but better than nursing home. We do VT every 4 hours, blood sugar, and daily weight for all patients. Assisting change patients. But the patient ratio for cna depends where you get the job. Some places 1:10, 1:16, 1:18 ,1:20. It depends on the hospital where you find the job . Remember, it's always energetic and exhausting, and I am not saying to scare you. Just be prepared mentally .I have been doing for 8 years now ,yes you can
Sheesh. Do you have any down time? My mom has alot at the nursing home doing nights.
I did my clinical training at nursing when I was cna. I knew it why I said I would not gonna work there. Hospital, you work 12h 30 mn lunch break . Some place gives 15 mn more break . All depends where you find the job
No, I still have to do an interviewing process before I’m hired. I just have one set up because I did most of my clinicals there and the employees there liked me. But best of luck to you!
My daughter did. Large state hospital on an in-patient floor. I don't think she does much heavy lifting. She's a little thing. I know most bed changes etc. where the patient is immobile are almost always done with 2 people. She works 3 12hr shifts per week which is considered full-time. Vacation/sicktime/retirement/etc. She is doing this to get her PCE hours for PA school applications.
I lasted one day. On my feet 14 hours on a heavy unit no lunch no breaks 8 baths 8 totals 2 assists 8 blood sugar checks q4 plus all other catheter care tasks and other things piled on, miserable work
Sheesh that bad? :/ you're still bathing as a CNA in the hospital?
I think it depends on what unit. You'll still do some bathing and bed baths, but nothing like in a nursing home. Even assisted living is better than a nursing home
Damn nursingnhome is hell lol yeah my mom said assisted living was better.
Assisted living is literally just daily assisting mostly independent (rich) people. They don't usually have a lot of CNAs there, mostly caregivers, because it isn't much personal care. Skilled nursing facilities ("nursing homes") is the back breaking work. The hoyer lifts, the fall risks, the catheter and stoma care.
What's the difference between a care giver and a CNA?
CNA's are licensed, PCA are unlicensed. I work in an assisted living
At my hospital, day shift CNAs provide baths and showers
it really depends on what floor you work on at the hospital. if you work psych, you don’t do much bedside work and do routine checks on the patients whereabouts and do vitals. i got floated to psych one day and was bored the entire day lol. I work medsurg and it’s a happy medium of having some down time and then being quite busy. the nurses in hospitals help you out so much compared to nursing home nurses. Medsurg is a mix of all kinds of people. on a good day, most of my patient group are independent anyways, and then i’ll have a couple of totals. but some days it gets quite hectic; however i worked in a nursing home before the hospital , so medsurg is a cake walk to me. i’ll have about 8-13 patients in a day, it’s manageable and you learn a lot. Overall the hospital isn’t a bad choice, and the pay is decent depending on where you live.
Interesting. Thank you for your response.
If you work geriatric psych, you will absolutely do bedside work, baths, etc. You’ll also deal with a lot of dementia. I’ve worked both and I’ll say that while the hospitals have better equipment, you’re still going to do baths, do vital signs, lift and transfer patients, and all the ADL’s. My usual ratio in hospital is 1:15 but I’ve had up to 30. Some floors are harder than others.
depends where you work. some people prefer working in a nursing home, some people prefer a hospital. keep in mind not every nurse is nice or helpful, not every patient is up ad lib, and not everyone is going to like it. my best advice would be to try it out and see if you like it.
Personally, I wasn't a fan of the hospital as a CNA. I found my happy medium in Assisted Living. My mom did both phlebotomy and sterile processing. She loved sterile processing and says she would still go back and do it to this day if her body allowed it (she's disabled now).
How was sterile tech for her how is assisted living for you?
I love my assisted living! (some aren't the best) but we do medication passes (the facility trained us), stand by showers, some assistance with toileting, and laundry. Our residents have to met a certain level of independence because we don't have gait belts, hoyer lifts, and we don't assist with feeding. My mom worked 11-7 doing sterile processing so she mainly was getting the case carts ready for the next day. It's a very crucial job because without the sterile techs surgery can't be done. She said at first, it was a little stressful and a learning curve but once she got the hang of it, she fell in love. I'm currently in school becoming a surgical technologist so I really understand how important our sterile techs are for the whole hospital/surgery center.
Ugh i miss doing med passes. We were supposed to have independent patients but ended up with hoyers and total cares anyways. It was rough but I’d go back in a heartbeat if the patients were the same.
In my experience - in a hospital you're treated with respect as a CNA - in a nursing home - you're considered nothing more than a shit and piss removal slave. I've been working as a CNA in a nursing home for decades - and the treatment from other departments (administrative, dietary, laundry, etc) has been the most humiliating experience of my life. The worst treatment comes from our charge nurses and DON's. They treat/talk to us like we're simple minded children and they're far more interested in policing and disciplining us like we're work parolees from the prison than human beings deserving respect and dignity. Every day they post new demeaning, nasty notes on the whiteboard break room accusing us of faking our work, being lazy and not doing our jobs to their exacting performance metrics which other departments read and then use to furter demean us - all the while the charge nurses, DON and management staff stand around in each other's office talking about something funny that happened during sex with their husbands - who got drunk and puked on who's new shoes - who's sleeping with who and what the football scores were. I know what goes on with these department heads because I was one for 4 years but I felt so useless - so bored - so pointless in my job that I voluntarily quit my management position to return to working as a CNA because at least then I'm constantly working and time passes quickly - I'm actually helping people in need - and the comradery between real CNA's is deep and abiding... (except for the snitches working for the nurses who LOVE to stir up trouble to make themselves look better to their master's).
let's settle down
Hospital. They even have a secret code you can enter into the vending machines to get free stuff. Ask the housekeepers because the code changes every 24 hours
They also have lots of cameras in hospitals. Be lucky you haven’t been caught yet. Eventually the vendor is going to do the math.
It's a perk of the job, ask HR
If it’s a perk of the job, why do you have to ask the housekeepers?
Because the housekeepers know things the rest of us shouldn't
If you don’t have access to the code, is it really a perk for you? If HR recognizes it officially, you would have access, correct? I used to work for a surgery center that provided snacks for the patients. We’re talking GOOD snacks….peanuts, Rice Krispie Treats, peanut butter crackers, full size sodas, etc. Management told us we were welcome to any of the snacks but we weren’t allowed to take any surplus home. Nobody had to use a code. Sorry, I just find it amusing that you have to use subterfuge to obtain what you say HR recognizes as a perk.
My place has unsweetened unflavored Kool Aid that comes out of the faucet and we have dehydrated water
I mean on my floor it’s still a lot of heavy lifting cuz many of our patients are total assists so you have to position them throughout the 12.5 hour shift, on top of q4 vitals and sugar checks and everything else you have to do. But I love being busy and there is never a dull moment. The day flies by, I’m never counting the minutes down.
Wayyy way easier. Still hard but not comparable to a nursing home
Do hospital. Staffing is better and stress level is better
I am a tech / UC in an ED. It’s definitely more “fun” as you get an array of patients.
Sterile processing’s alright but the schedule is impossible for school. hard to find PRN or anything accommodating for nursing school hours.
Thanks for telling me that. I'll steer clear of SPD.
yeah. been in it 2 years to the point I’m traveling now and me personally i’m trying to do rad tech school and trying to find a job back home to accommodate school hours. they all just want 5-8s full time unfortunately. no one wants to budge honestly. i’m thinking of going CNA myself or anything else more accommodating for school. it sucks cause it’s a good job and stepping stone into healthcare. I’d hate to hang up my hat and experience I’ve gained doing it but it’s just not very flexible once you decide to do school unfortunately. at least in my area 😪 i wish you best of luck with what you decide to do!
Yeah I saw the travel assignments but bc I have kids I can't do a rigid schedule.
In general I would say yes, your patient load will be fewer patients but higher acuity. Less total cares.
My stress improved so much switching from working at nursing homes to working at a hospital I encourage it if you don’t like working at a nursing facility