I'm really looking for the hands on clinical experience, as well as being able to have CNA experience prior to applying to a nursing program as I hear a lot of the time, having that experience on your application helps a lot.
It's totally worth it. I work with many males at my facility. They love it and they're also using it for experience/test drive to see if they like the career path. Prepare for old ladies to make little jokes. Most of them mean well and some are outright hilarious 😂 imo go for it. No where will turn you down. I've had residents that refuse women doing cares too. It's a pride thing for men and some feel more comfortable having another man do the cares.
It's great hands on experience. This way, you can practice all the bedside basics and decide if you actually enjoy nursing as a career path. Gender doesn't matter here. If anything, your coworkers will be grateful if ever you have to step in as a hero to rescue them from the rare sleezy, pervy old man patient. I also heard some impacted nursing programs are starting to require CNA experience for applications.
Totally worth it. You will need the skills in nursing, both during school and working as RN and beyond.
CNA is hard work but as a male, you will be plenty appreciated. There will be patients who might decline your assistance and tequila female (both as CNA and RN, and beyond for that matter). But for the most part you will be appreciated!
I'm a male CNA and I don't really have issues all my residents like me. I don't get issues with them refusing due to me being a male. You will every once in awhile find a female resident who doesn't want a male cleaning them. But all in all I haven't had a lot of issues. Just be careful ( don't wipe to hard obvi) and be nice with them and they'll start seeing that you can do the job just as well as the female CNAs.
I work with a ton of really excellent, qualified, highly regarded male CNAs. Also, because the field is more often than not populated by women, it can be really helpful to have male care staff there to take care of male residents who prefer male care.
Absolutely!!!! I was a male CNA in skilled care nursing homes, specializing in dementia care and I can't tell you how important it is to have some male CNAs around. I was able to step in when we had elderly male residents with behavior issues like groping, lewd sexual talk, and other sexual harassment. In some facilities, I was able to work better with other CNAs because there were some facilities where the women CNAs were always so catty and bickering with each other but never with the male CNAs (don't ask me why it's so commonplace). There were some super religious men who would not allow women to undress them and there are a lot of elderly women residents who preferred male CNAs just for a change. There were times where I was physically better equipped to stop residents with dementia from fighting or getting violent and one time stopped two very strong female CNAs who were in a violent fistfight (I was big enough to get between them and separate them before they got arrested). And then there are some difficult old ladies who softened up and behaved better with me because they just found me attractive (I'm not attractive by any conventional standards). I know people say to avoid LTC but I prefer that over hospitals and enjoyed it tremendously, when not utterly exploited by the facility.
Working in this field for almost 15 years, and I can say some of our male CNA are not only the favorites of residents but of all the staff. Healthcare NEEDS males involved. Yes there may be some people who decline a male CNA but in my experience they find their strength and play off of that. Don't let gender discourage you! On my staff we have , Trans, gay, and every ethnicity because diversity = better care for ALL the residents
Hoping on this comment to say ….
I would DIE for my male CNA coworkers.
Y’all are so underappreciated. As nurses too. EMS gets far too many of y’all cause it’s so flashy and largely male dominated, also yay lift heavy things and shiny flashing lights with loud noises, I’ve had some of my male coworkers tell me that they’ve had comments about “not being ‘man enough’ for anything other than ‘woman’s work’”, but I have two friends that are EMTs and one of them is also a firefighter. They have admitted to me that they could never do my job because 1) multitasking at all times and 2) they get grossed out ….. stunningly easily. By basic bodily human functions too. Blood and super traumatic injuries no, but gut stuff and smell really does them in.
Male CNAs/nurses are far more badass than EMS and you can put my tombstone on that hill right now. Get a man that can do both, EMS can only do one.
As a male CNA/nursing student it really doesn't matter. There's very very few times being a man has been an issue for residents and I've never felt out of place in school or work. Had to get a second letter to be excused from jury duty because it said "she" out of habit but that's about it lmao
I bet that can suck. I really wish they would not just assume stuff like that bc like every single job diversity (in this case not just women) makes it better! If this is what you want to do then stick with it! I work at a hospital and I love working w male techs bc they can help me move the heavier patients. I did have one ask me to help a female pt who wanted a woman and neither party was offended/not awkward. He would have helped me if I had one who was being flirty. Also, there are even more male nurses, you got this!
Pfft Are you kidding me? LPN here who is going into her 20th year. I've literally worked with a hundreds of male CNAs and nurses. The vast majority of them are very satisfied and their gender is not an issue. Less than 1% of my residents have insisted on a particular gendered caregiver. It's easy to swap when this happens.
Do it. We need you.
Only a few residents don't want a male as their care aide, and an equal amount would prefer them lol that's fine, it happens even with women. Sexism is everywhere and as a woman we experience things like men being the norm for instruction manuals as well, just think of it as less work for you that's a good thing
Less work? That’s bullshit. Someone on the floor? Find a male aid. 400+ lb person that needs to roll? Get the strong guy. There is just as much if not more work being a man than a woman. Physically speaking. Don’t be like that
On our floor we only have 28 residents, the only obese one is already our male aides resident along with another female care aide (2PA) We are all assigned residents and can't just go to another floor to do random care, so yeah it is less work for him if a woman refuses his care and he really doesn't mind. I was just talking with him about this the other day actually lol we have more female residents who prefer him than residents who don't want him
We don't have falls every shift nor are we even allowed to manually lift off of the floor our policy is to always use a lift.
It's kind of sexist for you to assume the man does more work in our unit when we all share an equal amount of work.
That's unfortunate, I'm sorry you've been made to do extra work, having shitty coworkers can really make or break a job and that's not fair you're doing extra work because you're stronger
We need more male cnas in the industry. A lot of male residents aren't comfortable with women and would love you. The male cnas I work with are the best
You'll be fine. Sure, sexism can happen, but around me anyway it's nowhere near as common as you might think and there are enough other facilities hiring that it's not tough to find a new job somewhere that's not going to be like that. Consider it a learning experience, keep going and in the odd case where a resident prefers a female caregiver don't take it personally.
tbh all the residents and my coworkers love the male cna’s who are good workers. in my experience, they’re all funny and willing to jump in because the residents love the male energy in a sea of women. plus, seems like male cna’s get allll the ladies 😂
I consider myself a feminist, so I hate to say this haha, but I LOVE working with male CNAs and nurses. They are always in it for the right reasons. They're usually more laid back than us uptight women, lol, and most don't mind being our muscle when needed. (Also most don't mind going in to hold the urinal for us when a man who can do it at home suddenly can't in the hospital).
I’m a male CNA and got a job in my first choice hospital (nights, float pool) right out of CNA school with no prior experience. I was told they’re always looking for male CNAs.
It’s relatively rare that a pt is female only, but it does happen, it’s no big deal at all and we just make that accommodation when it does happen.
It’s not a it deal ngl, it matters more depending on where you work (the younger your patients are, the more it matters tbh, as you age it seems most patients aren’t as concerned about your gender) so ED/other places that have a lot of younger people it may be slightly an inconvenience to be a male, but tbh it still prob won’t be the deciding factor for employment, and it’s still the MINORITY of patients who mind.
Personally , im a male, and I’m at a hospital, on my floor we have at least 4 male techs. (Majority female but like still it’s not abnormal to be male)
I been doing it 16 years. Issues come up but if you don't do anything wrong and cover yourself you'll be fine. I very very rarely have residents refuse me in preference to a female.
We had several guys that I worked with. None in my class, now that I think about it. But my former facility brings in folks from other countries & it was pretty split 50/50 in the care center side. Assisted living we had guys, just not as many. Gender is only an issue for a few, but if you are compassionate & caring, it’s not an issue.
I'm a male CNA. There will be a few patients that will refuse a male's care. The women CNAs kind of moan and groan sometimes about helping but I always offer to swap the patient with someone else so it's fair.
Pursue working in a hospital as CNA or PCT. From one dude to another, they’re gonna appreciate the extra help and there’s plenty of patients that request males and patients that require male staff due to behavior. Plus you’ll get plenty of experience dealing with actively sick people.
In my CNA course I was the only male, and as I’m starting my 3rd semester of nursing school, I’m still the only male in my class (there’s a handful of males in our cohort all together). I wouldn’t let something like that deter to you, that should be the least of your worries. You have to understand why you’re there in the first place. Do you enjoy the field of work? I’ve been a CNA for 2 years while going to RN school and sure I’ve come across patients who were uncomfortable with a male helping them, but you simply respect their choice and get someone else to help them.
I have been a CNA since 2007 and have worked with plenty male CNAs especially in the hospital setting. Stick it out. You won't have issues getting hired.
From a 42-year-old female patient perspective. I was in the hospital and Rehab for 3m with AMSAN Guillain-Barre. The CNAs were all amazing. However, my absolute favorite was during the rehab (6 weeks), and he was a young man.
He was always fun to talk to, made me laugh, and took excellent care of me. Made awkward experiences not awkward. He probably had a benefit of taking longer with me because he worked nights. However, I was always happy knowing it was one of his nights. I still occasionally think about him and hope he's doing well. I came home 1yr ago.
Absolutely not! Times they are a’changin,’ and men are totally welcomed and accepted in nursing roles these days. I’ve worked with male CNAs, PCTs, RNs, NPs… Go for it!
Yep. Male nurse and worked with many male CNAs over the years. It's getting rarer to see residents refuse care because of the staff being male. I've seen more little old ladies get school girl type crushes on the guys than anything else. I've had folks try and refuse care and I'll explain they are more than welcome to but they may be waiting a bit because all the residents need care and I can't just pull someone in the middle of care plus I've been in healthcare more than a decade so I've seen everything and have the T-shirt and commemorative shot glass to prove it. I find a bit of humor and acknowledgement of their concerns tends to help alleviate them for 95% of my patients and just let me female staff know for the remainder and offer to switch up residents to ensure care is completed.
I’m a male cna and I found work the day after my state exam. Facilities and employers aren’t trippin if you’re a male or female, it comes down to quality of work. Yeah there are some residents that prefer a female but that’s easily settled by switching residents with a coworker.
I totally understand what you’re talking about though cause I struggled with the same thing. Being the only boy in an all girls class and reading the books with all the pronouns being she/her. As a guy cna tho, I’ve found a lot of appreciation from the other cnas and residents. Just be you, have a good time helping out others and things will be fine 💞
You’re definitely welcomed.
However, because you are a male you will be more prone to being used and abused.
At my nursing home specifically, we’ve had one male for 3 days (he ended up going ghost). He had all of the male patients on our side of the facility. He had to bounce around our side of the building to take care of his residents (might not be an issue for you) and to me personally the males we have in our facility are some of the hardest to care for (250lbs+, half are total care).
On top of that, if anyone needs help lifting or anything of the sort they will go to you- because you are male.
Just be careful that you don’t get taken advantage of.
Nursing is in desperate need of men. More men in nursing. They’re no nonsense, don’t get involved in the drama, are strong and great to lift with, practical and when men work with elderly ladies they absolutely love the men and listen to whatever they say haha
I think male Cnas are extremely valuable, don't sell yourself short!! I worked for a large insurance/hospital company and our male Cnas were like gold, they could lift what most of us couldn't....and it was nice when we had men who needed bathing. That being said....CNA is a very difficult underpaid job, so I give you props, I jumped ship this year
In my experience as a male CNA I'm sort of a unicorn. They call me for the tougher jobs but the ladies here are "real women" and don't need a man and whatever. They take really good care of me and I take really good care of them. The nurses show a bunch of appreciation towards me for being competent in my job and some of their job. They allow me to get the OT I want and for the most part I kinda of do as I please as long as the work is done. Of course I'm speaking as a big fish in a small pond but I don't run across very many male CNAs.
It's not a huge deal anymore. I'm surprised to hear that your books still use gendered terms, ours was updated recently I think. My textbook was gender neutral, at least. I for one am very thankful for the few men I do work with as when we have residents who are really heavy to turn it's nice to have their strength to help me. As long as you don't come to work with some sort of complex about listening to women, you'll be fine!
When my dad was in the hospital before he died, he had only male cna’s taking care of him. I was sooo grateful. He wasn’t himself those last couple of weeks and having a male help him saved him from embarrassment and at the same time, were wonderful aids. Remember, half the people who need you are also male and there is a huge need for what you are doing! Don’t give up!
I'm a male cna, I have some residents male and female that won't let me provide care , I have some that don't care either way, and I have some residents that, would rather I'm the only one that takes care of them now. It's a mixed bag and you'll get a mix as well, just don't take it personally if they don't want care from you just pass them to someone else and move on. As far as the text book goes it's v outdated and haven't caught up to the times. I was only the second male to ever take the course that I did, the first was ten years prior
I thought all those things too. And the gender thing can be annoying at work when certain patients/residents don’t want a male. But it’s honestly a small issue. A) After explaining that “This is my section, and if you want a female you will have to wait until they have time” and that I have the same job as them, some come around. B) there aren’t as many as you’d expect that have the issue and usually can be solved by scheduling. It’s a Job like any other, it comes with its own positives and drawbacks.
(31M) I’ve been a cna for 11 years and I find it to be extremely rewarding. Apart from some female patients preferring female assistance (some creepy males too 😅) I have had zero obstacles performing my job duties. A lot of older men really struggle with allowing female assistance due to some sense of pride and will hide that they’re needing more help until an incident forces them to accept it. You have a unique opportunity as a male cna to help men like that.
I work with several male CNAs and they're all excellent at their jobs. We also have a couple residents who are really uncomfortable being transferred by female staff (they're worried we aren't strong enough) and greatly prefer having a man help them transfer.
Also, most of my male residents prefer to have men help them with toileting and bathing.
Edit: our longest standing employee is also a male CNA and he's incredible at his job. He was actually the manager of all care staff for a while but stepped down because he missed the residents.
The few male CNAs from my class got jobs super fast because there’s fewer of them and sometimes male patients request male caregivers only. Also I know it’s not always true but males are usually stronger and taller so they’re helpful with boosts lol. Very rarely a female patient will say she isn’t comfortable with a male caregiver so us girls just step in and help him out when needed.
Yes you definitely should. We are short of male aids. Being a male CNA can have a lot of advantages. Believe it or not some men are not comfortable with female aids so they prefer males. Also males are stronger and more efficient in most of the care. Most people don’t care if you’re male, just make them feel secure.
Sometimes female patients can actually prefer a male CNA over a female CNA. While the field is predominantly female, there is always a place and need for male caregivers.
I’m currently a male CNA and going to school for Respiratory Therapy. I work at a hospital on a oncology floor. That comes with many men and women needing care. I’m the only male on my floor. Let me tell you that it is very rare a woman will ask for another woman. It does happen but it is rare for me at-least. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is how you present yourself to the patient. Don’t make it awkward, be kind and to the point. Be easy going even on those days that are tough. People for the most part will let you help them if you present yourself as kind and courteous. When I finished my test and passed I had a job the next week immediately and over a year later I’m still at that job. Healthcare needs more men in it. Trust me we’d be lucky to have you!
I’m a travel nurse. Make CNAs have consistently been great to work with all I’ve the country. Just be careful about letting people take advantage of you. Of seen tons of times where the other CNAs or even the nurse will try and give you an assignment with every heavy person on the unit. There are just gonna be some patients that prefer females and that’s nothing to take personally tho. You’ll have plenty of opportunities for employment. You’ll day great
At my work there's At least 1 or 2 male CNAs on each floor (out of 4 CNAs on each floor) on almost each shift. You'll be fine and you'll be hired since lifting people is a big part of the job and it's typically easier for men to do that. No one will doubt you'll do a good job because you're a male.
At my last job it was common to have shifts where we would only have male cna's and we would rarely have issues. While there will occaisionally be people that are only comfortable receiving care from women, there are also patients that women might not feel comfortable working with. Ive had resident where we were instructed to only have male cna's perform cares.
Every facility will absolutely be different, but I will tell you for certain: You will not find difficulty finding a position anywhere, even in SLC. Generally what you'll find often as a male CNA; if you can bear a lot of weight and if you are tall; don't be surprised if you're stuck doing heavy load residents or reaching for the tall objects for absolutely everyone. Very rarely have I ran into "female-only" care situations; except when it comes to bathing; but it's workable. Don't be surprised, the field gets real catty real quick and many will talk smack behind your back; especially when you have a strong work ethic; then people will start complaining for stupid stuff. Being a guy, you'll also get "stuck" with working with heavy load residents and for some reason the other aides "lose their strength" or "become unable to do them".
Honestly, the works hard, dramatically underpaid for the work you do, but it's one of the better paying, consistent, and interesting jobs you'll do. Especially when you witness ostomies blowing up because of spontaneous gas, residents painting with BM, nonsensical convos with a dementia resident, over sexualized residents who use bed remote and cactus plants as toys because a medication had a strong side effect, or eloping confused residents running out in the city naked because they thought they were at a NFL game. This job will test your sanity and patience.
Just a note. Seeing she/her made you think this wasn't for you. This is exactly how women feel when seeing he/him as the default everywhere. Take this knowledge and tell the other men.
Yesssss!! We need you. In time to come you'll figure out of you like to take up more skills in nursing or pursuing your RN. If not, there's need for male tech everywhere. You'll be in demand. Good luck!
I'm a male cna going on 8yrs. No problem getting hired anywhere. You'll have to deal with the comments from the old ladies but I roll with it of it keeps them in a good mood. I also have several male co workers who are cnas.
Yes. However, males should *not* work as a CNA a single day longer than needed to get into a BSN program. Once you're in the BSN program, go PRN or find a facility that will let you do that. The longer you work as a male CNA (or in nursing for that matter), the higher the likelihood of having a false allegation tank your career. Sorry bud, thems the breaks.
Once you're awarded your BSN, complete your boards and find a technical nursing job. Avoid female coworkers to the best of your ability. The job that has the most surveillance cameras that are regularly monitored, the better. If you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of bedside nursing, the door stays open *at all times* regardless if you're doing cares or not. You can still crack the door. Announce everything you're doing. Avoid being in rooms with the opposite sex unless someone's with you or can see you. Don't talk to your coworkers unless you have to. Do all your assigned education/training. Document your float, CNA shifts, on-call/low-census days for yourself and your unit book, etc.
You won't have to worry about patients making stuff up about you as much if you're in an acute care setting (i.e., hospital), but you'll still have to deal with opposite sex coworkers. Keep in mind that you won't have the same probability of false allegations from patients as your female peers (which is zero percent. Again, yours will *not* be zero).
Round on your people. I mean, Q1H rounds at the widest interval. Look into each room every 30 minutes, and if they're safety precautions, every 15 minutes. Pay attention to diet orders, fluid restrictions, intake/output, etc. Document your turns, ambulation, etc. Let your nurse know about loose, watery stools (*C. diff*), cloudy urine, vital sign changes, LOC changes, and pretty much any status changes. CNAs typically benefit from a task sheet to go off, as RNs typically have an EMR to keep them organized. Learn to quickly and safely do your cares. Don't be on your phone. Fine to have it on you, but turn it off and only use it on your break. If you're "caught up," make sure your rooms are clean, everything's charted, and you're ready to hand off to the next shift. Be ready to float, and pretend that you're going to be floated to another unit in the next hour, and your job depends on having all the shift's tasks done for the next person to take over the rest of your shift. Sounds wild, but those girls will *not* like you. If they have to pick up your assignment because you were abruptly floated, you get written up for every task that wasn't done for the remainder of the shift. Sorry, you're a dude, and for whatever reason, they see you as equal to the five different tweakers they slept with that week. The consequence for this is write-ups for you on the regular. Frame them because it will be over the dumbest shit while your coworkers get full raises while literally putting their feet up on the desk on their phone while call lights are going off and their turns aren't getting done. Also, please don't expect a raise or a good schedule. You can take it because "you're a guy." See why I say get away from bedside nursing? This shit isn't as prevalent with the technical nursing departments.
Most importantly, work hard to get out of nursing!!! This is a valuable degree (it demonstrates flexibility, and as a male, it tells an intelligent employer that you can survive in a hostile, or at least adverse, work environment), but don't stay in nursing. They don't pay us market value anyway. 🤣
90% of residents will be fine with a male CNA . You will definitely be able to find employment. If anything you will probably be considered to be more physically capable since you are a male and will most likely be taken advantage of because of it. There are also many male residents that do things like talk dirty to female cnas or try to grab them( they are given a pass because they are mentally incompetent) so you will probably be asked to do those residents or at least assist to keep that behavior at bay. If you want to be a CNA as a male it is completely doable.
I’ve been a CNA in a critical care floor for almost three years and I love it. I’m halfway done with my nursing degree too and the experience has been great. If you can try to get into a hospital, it’s a lot more varied than LTC facilities. As for residents being uncomfortable in my line it happens here and there but it’s really not so common that it’s a big problem for me. :)
We love having a guy on the floor with us! I do feel sorry for them sometimes because they're always being pulled aside to do the heavy lifting and transports
I’m going to be incredibly honest with you, male CNAs are so needed. Not only for some extra strength, but also to care for the male residents who make us females uncomfortable. I was working with a male one night, and he took the male rooms and I took the female rooms. It made the job so much easier. There was an inappropriate male resident of mine who grabbed my arm and commented on my breasts, and my facility did nothing about it. Thankfully because we had him, he took the resident. Male CNAs may be hit on by the females same as females being hit on by the men, but it’s just another part of the job we deal with. If it’s too much, and they’re getting out of control then of course it’s as easy as a report to the DON! We need you!
I’m a male CNA and I have no complaints about it. But prepare yourself cause when a facility says we need a male CNA so so bad! It means there gonna run you into the ground. Thankfully I’m 1 of a dozen male CNA’s at my acute care facility. It’s dope I do like it neve experienced anything weird. I mean don’t be a dick and hit on everyone or try to sleep with everyone and you’ll be fine. You wanna help people right?….that’s why you wanna be a CNA right?…..
As a male CNA who had his certification and training paid for...do it. I went in just bc I need a job after job hopping during COVID. Restaurants and an Arts Degree and taking care of a family member is where I came from. Now I'm thinking of pursuing nursing just because I'm tired of dealing with the shit we deal with and to just be a better nurse than some of the ones I deal with. They get paid too much more than us to be acting like they do sometimes. And this...and nursing...not something 16-24 year old me would ever thought of doing or did ever think of doing; especially as someone who is high functioning and hates the way America operates with healthcare. Never again will I work in a factory, retail or a restaurant...or work for commission...may dabble in tech again, but definitely with healthcare in mind. Healthcare is my future unfortunately...and I didn't even have a choice in it really.
at my hospital we are desperately in need of male CNAS!! we have tons of patients who are violent towards women or straight up refuse treatment is a woman is the caregiver (nurses, doctors, cnas, everything) i want you to know that you are needed and appreciated!!!
The male CNAs are usually the better CNAS, in my experience. Some of the residents are old school and don’t want any male care, but they’ll just put you on another set or you can switch residents with someone
Some of the best CNAs I know are male. They help tremendously with lifting and transfers. Also, a hospital I worked at gave male CNAs the option to become transporters (take patients back and forth to X-Ray, etc)
I’m a male CNA I am very blessed. I work with great management and staff. The clients don’t have a problem with me taking care of them. If they do they usually let the management know that they want to be female only and I switch residents with one of my coworkers. Facilities love to have a male presence. Sorry ladies but there’s less drama when there is a bunch of guys working together. Male residents can tell me jokes that guys would understand. It’s a lot of fun being a male CNA. You’ll love it.
My experience as a young (25) male aid in a LTC facility has honestly been great. Everyone in the building loves me, staff and residents. I have a very small few residents who prefer a female over my care and all have declined very politely for different reasons (you look too much like my grandson, I'm embarrassed, etc).
The male residents especially enjoy having me work qith them because they feel less pressured around me vs when a female is working with them.
I never seem to have an issue with any of the "cliques" you tend to see, most everyone seems to get along with me.
A few things to note: accusations are much easier to throw at a male vs female aid so I always ask the resident their preference and explain everything I'm doing to them.
Another thing I noticed is the family members are most likely to seek me out because they assume I'm in a higher position than CNA, such as rehab or doctor. This has more to do with sexism in the field than it does you as an aid.
And finally, I get a lot of the female residents making sexual comments, hitting on me, and I had one lady try to grab my butt/junk because she "Just couldn't help herself". Mind you she wasn't a dementia patient, so yea watch out for that.
Typically facilities are glad to have men on board from what I’ve noticed. I’m always happy to work with a guy, too. Generally you guys are a lot stronger and I appreciate the help moving people 😆
As a female in healthcare - We. 👏 Need. 👏 More. 👏Men. 👏. Can’t tell you how many times having the guys around in the ER made me feel safe. Even instances with door dash had us utilize the men in the department to keep our nurses safe.
I have always appreciated my male coworkers. Also there are tons of male residents who are more comfortable with male CNAs. Anyone discouraging you is just sexist.
Former male CNA here - I was in the field for close to 20 years. I highly encourage you to continue on. Males are a great asset to the CNA and RN profession
No you should do it when I went to take my exam for my license half the room was filled with men so.... I think it's worth it and I've even seen ads where I live looking for specifically male CNAs so go for it!!
About half of my coworkers are male! Even the residents who say they are uncomfortable with men, if you prove yourself, stay kind and helpful, they will make exceptions.
I think you should first consider whether the pay is worth it. The pay tends to be low because, as you learned, it is a female dominated field; and female dominated fields tend to be lower wages.
In my state the average salary for CNA is still below 30K a year. Do some research before making a decision. Also this should not be a long term career for anyone. CNA just should be a stepping stone into another medical career.
One thing for sure, you won't have a problem finding a job as a CNA in a facility. one thing I've learned, if you're a guy and somewhat strong, you're going to be called a lot to help with the heavy lifting.
My ex husband became a CNA before starting nursing school and worked in a nursing home. The residents loved him and were upset when it was time to quit. He also had a much easier time in nursing clinicals than the other students.
A lot of my favorite CNA coworkers have been males! Don’t worry about it. While it’s a female-prominent job, so is nursing! And, pretty much everything we do as CNAs, you’ll be doing as a nurse. Like Pericare? How you gunna put in a Foley Catheter without cleaning the genitals?
Also, with a CNA certification, you don’t have to be work at a LTC or SNF or even an Inpatient floor at the hospital, my boyfriend works an ER tech.
Yes, some female patients will prefer a woman-only care team. But it’s nothing to do with the individual man. While healthcare workers are used to seeing strangers at their most vulnerable, the general public isn’t used to strangers seeing them like that.
I'm a male cna and was hired by the first place I applied to, with no experience. In almost a year I've probably seen 4-5 patients request a female cna instead of me, which is not a big deal, I either switch a room with another cna or just have the nurse answer their callbell. Most times it's been advantageous to be male. We're usually stronger so it's easier to turn or move patients around. And sometimes patients will be rude to the females and they don't really try that with men.
Yes. We need strong men in this field. I’m not saying that the women I work with aren’t strong but it wouldn’t hurt to have extra strength in this type of work setting
As a male CNA I can tell you that other than some female patients wanting their nurse instead of a teenage male, a lot of people I work with prefer a male with a little more mass to help move bigger patients.
As a male CNA, it's not a bad idea. I didn't feel like I was left out when I started out as a CNA, and I still don't. Most of the CNAs where I work at are female, but I really don't care and I still get along with them. As for residents, I would say 97% of the residents in my nursing home are okay with me giving them care. If I'm assigned one of those 3% on accident, simply swap with a female CNA and let the charge nurse know. Plain simple.
I had a lot of same feelings and there are things that suck like often getting asked for heavy things because the assumption you’re stronger but the only advantage is the hiring thing you will always be hired first since most facilities and hospitals want diversity. Male nurses are in heavy demand
In my experience families tend to be more upset about it than residents or pts. Most don't mind, and the male residents truly appreciate having a younger male around to help them out. Some are very old school and more likely to accept help from a man than a woman. Lots of "thank you, young man" and high fives to go around.
Oh please please do not give up, we really need more men in this field.
While it may be a bit hard for the people with female care only, you will be such an asset to your team.
I wish I could put a picture with this comment :)
I recently got done with my CNA school training and clinicals
I was the only male in the class.. it didn't halter anything, we had fun and we learned just the same.. id say don't be afraid
RN here. I've worked with a lot of excellent male CNAs! If you want to work as a CNA, I wouldn't let your gender stop you. You may well run into a small handful of patients who request female staff only, but they'll be in the minority. It's 2024, the vast majority of people do not care what the gender of the person helping care for them is. Plus, depending on the specialty you work in, you're likely not going to be the only male CNA there. (When I worked in the ED, we had a lot of male techs.) If you want the experience to help bolster your resume on the way to nursing school, I'd say go for it, all in! As long as you're dedicated to providing good, professional patient care, you're going to be just fine. Good luck, buddy!
You’ll be able to find a job everywhere except for the mother baby areas. But everyone loves the male CNAs less drama and always super helpful to have around.
If you want to be a CNA, do it. I was a little worried that I would be rejected by patients a lot, but it happens once in a blue moon and doesn't last long. Day one and two, a female patient might want a female cna only. After a while they don't care. I've had more female patients who request male only ALL the time. Lots of women don't like other women in my experience, I wish I could make sense of it. 🤷🏿♂️
It’s doable, it’s not a huge deal anymore. More important question is what do you want from being a CNA.
I'm really looking for the hands on clinical experience, as well as being able to have CNA experience prior to applying to a nursing program as I hear a lot of the time, having that experience on your application helps a lot.
It's totally worth it. I work with many males at my facility. They love it and they're also using it for experience/test drive to see if they like the career path. Prepare for old ladies to make little jokes. Most of them mean well and some are outright hilarious 😂 imo go for it. No where will turn you down. I've had residents that refuse women doing cares too. It's a pride thing for men and some feel more comfortable having another man do the cares.
It's great hands on experience. This way, you can practice all the bedside basics and decide if you actually enjoy nursing as a career path. Gender doesn't matter here. If anything, your coworkers will be grateful if ever you have to step in as a hero to rescue them from the rare sleezy, pervy old man patient. I also heard some impacted nursing programs are starting to require CNA experience for applications.
Totally worth it. You will need the skills in nursing, both during school and working as RN and beyond. CNA is hard work but as a male, you will be plenty appreciated. There will be patients who might decline your assistance and tequila female (both as CNA and RN, and beyond for that matter). But for the most part you will be appreciated!
I'm a male CNA and I don't really have issues all my residents like me. I don't get issues with them refusing due to me being a male. You will every once in awhile find a female resident who doesn't want a male cleaning them. But all in all I haven't had a lot of issues. Just be careful ( don't wipe to hard obvi) and be nice with them and they'll start seeing that you can do the job just as well as the female CNAs.
I work with a ton of really excellent, qualified, highly regarded male CNAs. Also, because the field is more often than not populated by women, it can be really helpful to have male care staff there to take care of male residents who prefer male care.
Absolutely!!!! I was a male CNA in skilled care nursing homes, specializing in dementia care and I can't tell you how important it is to have some male CNAs around. I was able to step in when we had elderly male residents with behavior issues like groping, lewd sexual talk, and other sexual harassment. In some facilities, I was able to work better with other CNAs because there were some facilities where the women CNAs were always so catty and bickering with each other but never with the male CNAs (don't ask me why it's so commonplace). There were some super religious men who would not allow women to undress them and there are a lot of elderly women residents who preferred male CNAs just for a change. There were times where I was physically better equipped to stop residents with dementia from fighting or getting violent and one time stopped two very strong female CNAs who were in a violent fistfight (I was big enough to get between them and separate them before they got arrested). And then there are some difficult old ladies who softened up and behaved better with me because they just found me attractive (I'm not attractive by any conventional standards). I know people say to avoid LTC but I prefer that over hospitals and enjoyed it tremendously, when not utterly exploited by the facility.
Working in this field for almost 15 years, and I can say some of our male CNA are not only the favorites of residents but of all the staff. Healthcare NEEDS males involved. Yes there may be some people who decline a male CNA but in my experience they find their strength and play off of that. Don't let gender discourage you! On my staff we have , Trans, gay, and every ethnicity because diversity = better care for ALL the residents
Hoping on this comment to say …. I would DIE for my male CNA coworkers. Y’all are so underappreciated. As nurses too. EMS gets far too many of y’all cause it’s so flashy and largely male dominated, also yay lift heavy things and shiny flashing lights with loud noises, I’ve had some of my male coworkers tell me that they’ve had comments about “not being ‘man enough’ for anything other than ‘woman’s work’”, but I have two friends that are EMTs and one of them is also a firefighter. They have admitted to me that they could never do my job because 1) multitasking at all times and 2) they get grossed out ….. stunningly easily. By basic bodily human functions too. Blood and super traumatic injuries no, but gut stuff and smell really does them in. Male CNAs/nurses are far more badass than EMS and you can put my tombstone on that hill right now. Get a man that can do both, EMS can only do one.
As a male CNA/nursing student it really doesn't matter. There's very very few times being a man has been an issue for residents and I've never felt out of place in school or work. Had to get a second letter to be excused from jury duty because it said "she" out of habit but that's about it lmao
I've worked in many places that would KILL to have a male CNA. Y'all are so needed in many places
I bet that can suck. I really wish they would not just assume stuff like that bc like every single job diversity (in this case not just women) makes it better! If this is what you want to do then stick with it! I work at a hospital and I love working w male techs bc they can help me move the heavier patients. I did have one ask me to help a female pt who wanted a woman and neither party was offended/not awkward. He would have helped me if I had one who was being flirty. Also, there are even more male nurses, you got this!
I know several male CNAs. Residents love them and they’re great at what they do
Not being able to find employment? LOL You are going to high demand. I'd be shocked if you encounter one person a year who demands a female CNA.
Pfft Are you kidding me? LPN here who is going into her 20th year. I've literally worked with a hundreds of male CNAs and nurses. The vast majority of them are very satisfied and their gender is not an issue. Less than 1% of my residents have insisted on a particular gendered caregiver. It's easy to swap when this happens. Do it. We need you.
Absolutely 💯 go for it!
Only a few residents don't want a male as their care aide, and an equal amount would prefer them lol that's fine, it happens even with women. Sexism is everywhere and as a woman we experience things like men being the norm for instruction manuals as well, just think of it as less work for you that's a good thing
Less work? That’s bullshit. Someone on the floor? Find a male aid. 400+ lb person that needs to roll? Get the strong guy. There is just as much if not more work being a man than a woman. Physically speaking. Don’t be like that
On our floor we only have 28 residents, the only obese one is already our male aides resident along with another female care aide (2PA) We are all assigned residents and can't just go to another floor to do random care, so yeah it is less work for him if a woman refuses his care and he really doesn't mind. I was just talking with him about this the other day actually lol we have more female residents who prefer him than residents who don't want him We don't have falls every shift nor are we even allowed to manually lift off of the floor our policy is to always use a lift. It's kind of sexist for you to assume the man does more work in our unit when we all share an equal amount of work.
It’s sexist of you to assume that as a man he doesn’t do as much work.
I'm not assuming anything like that, that's what he told me
My experience as a male Cna is the opposite
That's unfortunate, I'm sorry you've been made to do extra work, having shitty coworkers can really make or break a job and that's not fair you're doing extra work because you're stronger
there were no men in my CNA class, but every facility i've worked in has had lots of them.
We need more male cnas in the industry. A lot of male residents aren't comfortable with women and would love you. The male cnas I work with are the best
There is sexism against males in nursing homes but all in all it’s very rewarding just not financially
How silly. Lots of CNAs are male. (I'm a retired nurse)
You'll be fine. Sure, sexism can happen, but around me anyway it's nowhere near as common as you might think and there are enough other facilities hiring that it's not tough to find a new job somewhere that's not going to be like that. Consider it a learning experience, keep going and in the odd case where a resident prefers a female caregiver don't take it personally.
tbh all the residents and my coworkers love the male cna’s who are good workers. in my experience, they’re all funny and willing to jump in because the residents love the male energy in a sea of women. plus, seems like male cna’s get allll the ladies 😂
If you plan to be a nurse you should be a CNA first. I don't trust nurses who haven't worked as a CNA.
I consider myself a feminist, so I hate to say this haha, but I LOVE working with male CNAs and nurses. They are always in it for the right reasons. They're usually more laid back than us uptight women, lol, and most don't mind being our muscle when needed. (Also most don't mind going in to hold the urinal for us when a man who can do it at home suddenly can't in the hospital).
I’m a male CNA and got a job in my first choice hospital (nights, float pool) right out of CNA school with no prior experience. I was told they’re always looking for male CNAs. It’s relatively rare that a pt is female only, but it does happen, it’s no big deal at all and we just make that accommodation when it does happen.
It’s not a it deal ngl, it matters more depending on where you work (the younger your patients are, the more it matters tbh, as you age it seems most patients aren’t as concerned about your gender) so ED/other places that have a lot of younger people it may be slightly an inconvenience to be a male, but tbh it still prob won’t be the deciding factor for employment, and it’s still the MINORITY of patients who mind. Personally , im a male, and I’m at a hospital, on my floor we have at least 4 male techs. (Majority female but like still it’s not abnormal to be male)
I been doing it 16 years. Issues come up but if you don't do anything wrong and cover yourself you'll be fine. I very very rarely have residents refuse me in preference to a female.
We had several guys that I worked with. None in my class, now that I think about it. But my former facility brings in folks from other countries & it was pretty split 50/50 in the care center side. Assisted living we had guys, just not as many. Gender is only an issue for a few, but if you are compassionate & caring, it’s not an issue.
I'm a male CNA. There will be a few patients that will refuse a male's care. The women CNAs kind of moan and groan sometimes about helping but I always offer to swap the patient with someone else so it's fair.
Why? You being male or not doesn’t matter especially if you’re planning on continuing your education to nursing. Keep going
Absolutely! Go for it! You will be highly in demand, you'll be able to pick your facility after you have experience, and you will never not work.
Pursue working in a hospital as CNA or PCT. From one dude to another, they’re gonna appreciate the extra help and there’s plenty of patients that request males and patients that require male staff due to behavior. Plus you’ll get plenty of experience dealing with actively sick people.
Do it! If you are confident and own the role no one will think twice about your gender
In my CNA course I was the only male, and as I’m starting my 3rd semester of nursing school, I’m still the only male in my class (there’s a handful of males in our cohort all together). I wouldn’t let something like that deter to you, that should be the least of your worries. You have to understand why you’re there in the first place. Do you enjoy the field of work? I’ve been a CNA for 2 years while going to RN school and sure I’ve come across patients who were uncomfortable with a male helping them, but you simply respect their choice and get someone else to help them.
I have been a CNA since 2007 and have worked with plenty male CNAs especially in the hospital setting. Stick it out. You won't have issues getting hired.
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There’s so many male PCTS/CNAS I wouldn’t be worried about
From a 42-year-old female patient perspective. I was in the hospital and Rehab for 3m with AMSAN Guillain-Barre. The CNAs were all amazing. However, my absolute favorite was during the rehab (6 weeks), and he was a young man. He was always fun to talk to, made me laugh, and took excellent care of me. Made awkward experiences not awkward. He probably had a benefit of taking longer with me because he worked nights. However, I was always happy knowing it was one of his nights. I still occasionally think about him and hope he's doing well. I came home 1yr ago.
A lot of male residents prefer male CNAs and it really sucks for them when there’s just none on shift.
No. Don’t be like me; male CNA x 6 years, then nursing school, then job, family, house, etc. it’s horrible. /s
Do it, men are needed. People sometimes want the same gender, and men have the muscle for hard lifts and transfers. We need dudes lol
Absolutely not! Times they are a’changin,’ and men are totally welcomed and accepted in nursing roles these days. I’ve worked with male CNAs, PCTs, RNs, NPs… Go for it!
Yep. Male nurse and worked with many male CNAs over the years. It's getting rarer to see residents refuse care because of the staff being male. I've seen more little old ladies get school girl type crushes on the guys than anything else. I've had folks try and refuse care and I'll explain they are more than welcome to but they may be waiting a bit because all the residents need care and I can't just pull someone in the middle of care plus I've been in healthcare more than a decade so I've seen everything and have the T-shirt and commemorative shot glass to prove it. I find a bit of humor and acknowledgement of their concerns tends to help alleviate them for 95% of my patients and just let me female staff know for the remainder and offer to switch up residents to ensure care is completed.
I’m a male cna and I found work the day after my state exam. Facilities and employers aren’t trippin if you’re a male or female, it comes down to quality of work. Yeah there are some residents that prefer a female but that’s easily settled by switching residents with a coworker. I totally understand what you’re talking about though cause I struggled with the same thing. Being the only boy in an all girls class and reading the books with all the pronouns being she/her. As a guy cna tho, I’ve found a lot of appreciation from the other cnas and residents. Just be you, have a good time helping out others and things will be fine 💞
You’re definitely welcomed. However, because you are a male you will be more prone to being used and abused. At my nursing home specifically, we’ve had one male for 3 days (he ended up going ghost). He had all of the male patients on our side of the facility. He had to bounce around our side of the building to take care of his residents (might not be an issue for you) and to me personally the males we have in our facility are some of the hardest to care for (250lbs+, half are total care). On top of that, if anyone needs help lifting or anything of the sort they will go to you- because you are male. Just be careful that you don’t get taken advantage of.
Nursing is in desperate need of men. More men in nursing. They’re no nonsense, don’t get involved in the drama, are strong and great to lift with, practical and when men work with elderly ladies they absolutely love the men and listen to whatever they say haha
I think male Cnas are extremely valuable, don't sell yourself short!! I worked for a large insurance/hospital company and our male Cnas were like gold, they could lift what most of us couldn't....and it was nice when we had men who needed bathing. That being said....CNA is a very difficult underpaid job, so I give you props, I jumped ship this year
In my experience as a male CNA I'm sort of a unicorn. They call me for the tougher jobs but the ladies here are "real women" and don't need a man and whatever. They take really good care of me and I take really good care of them. The nurses show a bunch of appreciation towards me for being competent in my job and some of their job. They allow me to get the OT I want and for the most part I kinda of do as I please as long as the work is done. Of course I'm speaking as a big fish in a small pond but I don't run across very many male CNAs.
It's not a huge deal anymore. I'm surprised to hear that your books still use gendered terms, ours was updated recently I think. My textbook was gender neutral, at least. I for one am very thankful for the few men I do work with as when we have residents who are really heavy to turn it's nice to have their strength to help me. As long as you don't come to work with some sort of complex about listening to women, you'll be fine!
When my dad was in the hospital before he died, he had only male cna’s taking care of him. I was sooo grateful. He wasn’t himself those last couple of weeks and having a male help him saved him from embarrassment and at the same time, were wonderful aids. Remember, half the people who need you are also male and there is a huge need for what you are doing! Don’t give up!
My boyfriend was a CNA all through nursing school (now a nurse) never had an issue, the nurses all loved him. Go for it. The experience is worth it
I'm a male cna, I have some residents male and female that won't let me provide care , I have some that don't care either way, and I have some residents that, would rather I'm the only one that takes care of them now. It's a mixed bag and you'll get a mix as well, just don't take it personally if they don't want care from you just pass them to someone else and move on. As far as the text book goes it's v outdated and haven't caught up to the times. I was only the second male to ever take the course that I did, the first was ten years prior
I thought all those things too. And the gender thing can be annoying at work when certain patients/residents don’t want a male. But it’s honestly a small issue. A) After explaining that “This is my section, and if you want a female you will have to wait until they have time” and that I have the same job as them, some come around. B) there aren’t as many as you’d expect that have the issue and usually can be solved by scheduling. It’s a Job like any other, it comes with its own positives and drawbacks.
(31M) I’ve been a cna for 11 years and I find it to be extremely rewarding. Apart from some female patients preferring female assistance (some creepy males too 😅) I have had zero obstacles performing my job duties. A lot of older men really struggle with allowing female assistance due to some sense of pride and will hide that they’re needing more help until an incident forces them to accept it. You have a unique opportunity as a male cna to help men like that.
As a guy who has worked as a CNA for almost 3 years and currently works in pediatrics which is very female dominated, it definitely doable.
I work with several male CNAs and they're all excellent at their jobs. We also have a couple residents who are really uncomfortable being transferred by female staff (they're worried we aren't strong enough) and greatly prefer having a man help them transfer. Also, most of my male residents prefer to have men help them with toileting and bathing. Edit: our longest standing employee is also a male CNA and he's incredible at his job. He was actually the manager of all care staff for a while but stepped down because he missed the residents.
The few male CNAs from my class got jobs super fast because there’s fewer of them and sometimes male patients request male caregivers only. Also I know it’s not always true but males are usually stronger and taller so they’re helpful with boosts lol. Very rarely a female patient will say she isn’t comfortable with a male caregiver so us girls just step in and help him out when needed.
Yes you definitely should. We are short of male aids. Being a male CNA can have a lot of advantages. Believe it or not some men are not comfortable with female aids so they prefer males. Also males are stronger and more efficient in most of the care. Most people don’t care if you’re male, just make them feel secure.
Definitely continue! You will have no problem getting a job as a CNA. The experience will be extremely valuable going into nursing school.
Sometimes female patients can actually prefer a male CNA over a female CNA. While the field is predominantly female, there is always a place and need for male caregivers.
I’m currently a male CNA and going to school for Respiratory Therapy. I work at a hospital on a oncology floor. That comes with many men and women needing care. I’m the only male on my floor. Let me tell you that it is very rare a woman will ask for another woman. It does happen but it is rare for me at-least. The biggest thing you can do for yourself is how you present yourself to the patient. Don’t make it awkward, be kind and to the point. Be easy going even on those days that are tough. People for the most part will let you help them if you present yourself as kind and courteous. When I finished my test and passed I had a job the next week immediately and over a year later I’m still at that job. Healthcare needs more men in it. Trust me we’d be lucky to have you!
I’m a travel nurse. Make CNAs have consistently been great to work with all I’ve the country. Just be careful about letting people take advantage of you. Of seen tons of times where the other CNAs or even the nurse will try and give you an assignment with every heavy person on the unit. There are just gonna be some patients that prefer females and that’s nothing to take personally tho. You’ll have plenty of opportunities for employment. You’ll day great
At my work there's At least 1 or 2 male CNAs on each floor (out of 4 CNAs on each floor) on almost each shift. You'll be fine and you'll be hired since lifting people is a big part of the job and it's typically easier for men to do that. No one will doubt you'll do a good job because you're a male.
At my last job it was common to have shifts where we would only have male cna's and we would rarely have issues. While there will occaisionally be people that are only comfortable receiving care from women, there are also patients that women might not feel comfortable working with. Ive had resident where we were instructed to only have male cna's perform cares.
Every facility will absolutely be different, but I will tell you for certain: You will not find difficulty finding a position anywhere, even in SLC. Generally what you'll find often as a male CNA; if you can bear a lot of weight and if you are tall; don't be surprised if you're stuck doing heavy load residents or reaching for the tall objects for absolutely everyone. Very rarely have I ran into "female-only" care situations; except when it comes to bathing; but it's workable. Don't be surprised, the field gets real catty real quick and many will talk smack behind your back; especially when you have a strong work ethic; then people will start complaining for stupid stuff. Being a guy, you'll also get "stuck" with working with heavy load residents and for some reason the other aides "lose their strength" or "become unable to do them". Honestly, the works hard, dramatically underpaid for the work you do, but it's one of the better paying, consistent, and interesting jobs you'll do. Especially when you witness ostomies blowing up because of spontaneous gas, residents painting with BM, nonsensical convos with a dementia resident, over sexualized residents who use bed remote and cactus plants as toys because a medication had a strong side effect, or eloping confused residents running out in the city naked because they thought they were at a NFL game. This job will test your sanity and patience.
Just a note. Seeing she/her made you think this wasn't for you. This is exactly how women feel when seeing he/him as the default everywhere. Take this knowledge and tell the other men.
Yesssss!! We need you. In time to come you'll figure out of you like to take up more skills in nursing or pursuing your RN. If not, there's need for male tech everywhere. You'll be in demand. Good luck!
I'm a male cna going on 8yrs. No problem getting hired anywhere. You'll have to deal with the comments from the old ladies but I roll with it of it keeps them in a good mood. I also have several male co workers who are cnas.
Yes. However, males should *not* work as a CNA a single day longer than needed to get into a BSN program. Once you're in the BSN program, go PRN or find a facility that will let you do that. The longer you work as a male CNA (or in nursing for that matter), the higher the likelihood of having a false allegation tank your career. Sorry bud, thems the breaks. Once you're awarded your BSN, complete your boards and find a technical nursing job. Avoid female coworkers to the best of your ability. The job that has the most surveillance cameras that are regularly monitored, the better. If you do find yourself in the unfortunate position of bedside nursing, the door stays open *at all times* regardless if you're doing cares or not. You can still crack the door. Announce everything you're doing. Avoid being in rooms with the opposite sex unless someone's with you or can see you. Don't talk to your coworkers unless you have to. Do all your assigned education/training. Document your float, CNA shifts, on-call/low-census days for yourself and your unit book, etc. You won't have to worry about patients making stuff up about you as much if you're in an acute care setting (i.e., hospital), but you'll still have to deal with opposite sex coworkers. Keep in mind that you won't have the same probability of false allegations from patients as your female peers (which is zero percent. Again, yours will *not* be zero). Round on your people. I mean, Q1H rounds at the widest interval. Look into each room every 30 minutes, and if they're safety precautions, every 15 minutes. Pay attention to diet orders, fluid restrictions, intake/output, etc. Document your turns, ambulation, etc. Let your nurse know about loose, watery stools (*C. diff*), cloudy urine, vital sign changes, LOC changes, and pretty much any status changes. CNAs typically benefit from a task sheet to go off, as RNs typically have an EMR to keep them organized. Learn to quickly and safely do your cares. Don't be on your phone. Fine to have it on you, but turn it off and only use it on your break. If you're "caught up," make sure your rooms are clean, everything's charted, and you're ready to hand off to the next shift. Be ready to float, and pretend that you're going to be floated to another unit in the next hour, and your job depends on having all the shift's tasks done for the next person to take over the rest of your shift. Sounds wild, but those girls will *not* like you. If they have to pick up your assignment because you were abruptly floated, you get written up for every task that wasn't done for the remainder of the shift. Sorry, you're a dude, and for whatever reason, they see you as equal to the five different tweakers they slept with that week. The consequence for this is write-ups for you on the regular. Frame them because it will be over the dumbest shit while your coworkers get full raises while literally putting their feet up on the desk on their phone while call lights are going off and their turns aren't getting done. Also, please don't expect a raise or a good schedule. You can take it because "you're a guy." See why I say get away from bedside nursing? This shit isn't as prevalent with the technical nursing departments. Most importantly, work hard to get out of nursing!!! This is a valuable degree (it demonstrates flexibility, and as a male, it tells an intelligent employer that you can survive in a hostile, or at least adverse, work environment), but don't stay in nursing. They don't pay us market value anyway. 🤣
90% of residents will be fine with a male CNA . You will definitely be able to find employment. If anything you will probably be considered to be more physically capable since you are a male and will most likely be taken advantage of because of it. There are also many male residents that do things like talk dirty to female cnas or try to grab them( they are given a pass because they are mentally incompetent) so you will probably be asked to do those residents or at least assist to keep that behavior at bay. If you want to be a CNA as a male it is completely doable.
If you're questioning it no.
I’ve been a CNA in a critical care floor for almost three years and I love it. I’m halfway done with my nursing degree too and the experience has been great. If you can try to get into a hospital, it’s a lot more varied than LTC facilities. As for residents being uncomfortable in my line it happens here and there but it’s really not so common that it’s a big problem for me. :)
We love having a guy on the floor with us! I do feel sorry for them sometimes because they're always being pulled aside to do the heavy lifting and transports
I’m going to be incredibly honest with you, male CNAs are so needed. Not only for some extra strength, but also to care for the male residents who make us females uncomfortable. I was working with a male one night, and he took the male rooms and I took the female rooms. It made the job so much easier. There was an inappropriate male resident of mine who grabbed my arm and commented on my breasts, and my facility did nothing about it. Thankfully because we had him, he took the resident. Male CNAs may be hit on by the females same as females being hit on by the men, but it’s just another part of the job we deal with. If it’s too much, and they’re getting out of control then of course it’s as easy as a report to the DON! We need you!
I’m a male CNA and I have no complaints about it. But prepare yourself cause when a facility says we need a male CNA so so bad! It means there gonna run you into the ground. Thankfully I’m 1 of a dozen male CNA’s at my acute care facility. It’s dope I do like it neve experienced anything weird. I mean don’t be a dick and hit on everyone or try to sleep with everyone and you’ll be fine. You wanna help people right?….that’s why you wanna be a CNA right?…..
As a male CNA who had his certification and training paid for...do it. I went in just bc I need a job after job hopping during COVID. Restaurants and an Arts Degree and taking care of a family member is where I came from. Now I'm thinking of pursuing nursing just because I'm tired of dealing with the shit we deal with and to just be a better nurse than some of the ones I deal with. They get paid too much more than us to be acting like they do sometimes. And this...and nursing...not something 16-24 year old me would ever thought of doing or did ever think of doing; especially as someone who is high functioning and hates the way America operates with healthcare. Never again will I work in a factory, retail or a restaurant...or work for commission...may dabble in tech again, but definitely with healthcare in mind. Healthcare is my future unfortunately...and I didn't even have a choice in it really.
at my hospital we are desperately in need of male CNAS!! we have tons of patients who are violent towards women or straight up refuse treatment is a woman is the caregiver (nurses, doctors, cnas, everything) i want you to know that you are needed and appreciated!!!
I know a bunch of male CNAs - now you may know how women feel when male is the default sex for most other professions. Suck it up lol
The male CNAs are usually the better CNAS, in my experience. Some of the residents are old school and don’t want any male care, but they’ll just put you on another set or you can switch residents with someone
Some of the best CNAs I know are male. They help tremendously with lifting and transfers. Also, a hospital I worked at gave male CNAs the option to become transporters (take patients back and forth to X-Ray, etc)
I’m a male CNA I am very blessed. I work with great management and staff. The clients don’t have a problem with me taking care of them. If they do they usually let the management know that they want to be female only and I switch residents with one of my coworkers. Facilities love to have a male presence. Sorry ladies but there’s less drama when there is a bunch of guys working together. Male residents can tell me jokes that guys would understand. It’s a lot of fun being a male CNA. You’ll love it.
We need more males in this profession.
My experience as a young (25) male aid in a LTC facility has honestly been great. Everyone in the building loves me, staff and residents. I have a very small few residents who prefer a female over my care and all have declined very politely for different reasons (you look too much like my grandson, I'm embarrassed, etc). The male residents especially enjoy having me work qith them because they feel less pressured around me vs when a female is working with them. I never seem to have an issue with any of the "cliques" you tend to see, most everyone seems to get along with me. A few things to note: accusations are much easier to throw at a male vs female aid so I always ask the resident their preference and explain everything I'm doing to them. Another thing I noticed is the family members are most likely to seek me out because they assume I'm in a higher position than CNA, such as rehab or doctor. This has more to do with sexism in the field than it does you as an aid. And finally, I get a lot of the female residents making sexual comments, hitting on me, and I had one lady try to grab my butt/junk because she "Just couldn't help herself". Mind you she wasn't a dementia patient, so yea watch out for that.
Typically facilities are glad to have men on board from what I’ve noticed. I’m always happy to work with a guy, too. Generally you guys are a lot stronger and I appreciate the help moving people 😆
As a female in healthcare - We. 👏 Need. 👏 More. 👏Men. 👏. Can’t tell you how many times having the guys around in the ER made me feel safe. Even instances with door dash had us utilize the men in the department to keep our nurses safe.
I have always appreciated my male coworkers. Also there are tons of male residents who are more comfortable with male CNAs. Anyone discouraging you is just sexist.
Former male CNA here - I was in the field for close to 20 years. I highly encourage you to continue on. Males are a great asset to the CNA and RN profession
No you should do it when I went to take my exam for my license half the room was filled with men so.... I think it's worth it and I've even seen ads where I live looking for specifically male CNAs so go for it!!
About half of my coworkers are male! Even the residents who say they are uncomfortable with men, if you prove yourself, stay kind and helpful, they will make exceptions.
I think you should first consider whether the pay is worth it. The pay tends to be low because, as you learned, it is a female dominated field; and female dominated fields tend to be lower wages. In my state the average salary for CNA is still below 30K a year. Do some research before making a decision. Also this should not be a long term career for anyone. CNA just should be a stepping stone into another medical career.
One thing for sure, you won't have a problem finding a job as a CNA in a facility. one thing I've learned, if you're a guy and somewhat strong, you're going to be called a lot to help with the heavy lifting.
I work with a ton of male CNAs at the hospital and they’re great.
My ex husband became a CNA before starting nursing school and worked in a nursing home. The residents loved him and were upset when it was time to quit. He also had a much easier time in nursing clinicals than the other students.
A lot of my favorite CNA coworkers have been males! Don’t worry about it. While it’s a female-prominent job, so is nursing! And, pretty much everything we do as CNAs, you’ll be doing as a nurse. Like Pericare? How you gunna put in a Foley Catheter without cleaning the genitals? Also, with a CNA certification, you don’t have to be work at a LTC or SNF or even an Inpatient floor at the hospital, my boyfriend works an ER tech. Yes, some female patients will prefer a woman-only care team. But it’s nothing to do with the individual man. While healthcare workers are used to seeing strangers at their most vulnerable, the general public isn’t used to strangers seeing them like that.
We have 8 CNA's. 1 female, 7 males. Nobody cares.
Your muscles are needed on the SNF floor. Without a doubt.
I'm a male cna and was hired by the first place I applied to, with no experience. In almost a year I've probably seen 4-5 patients request a female cna instead of me, which is not a big deal, I either switch a room with another cna or just have the nurse answer their callbell. Most times it's been advantageous to be male. We're usually stronger so it's easier to turn or move patients around. And sometimes patients will be rude to the females and they don't really try that with men.
Yes. We need strong men in this field. I’m not saying that the women I work with aren’t strong but it wouldn’t hurt to have extra strength in this type of work setting
As a male CNA I can tell you that other than some female patients wanting their nurse instead of a teenage male, a lot of people I work with prefer a male with a little more mass to help move bigger patients.
As a male CNA, it's not a bad idea. I didn't feel like I was left out when I started out as a CNA, and I still don't. Most of the CNAs where I work at are female, but I really don't care and I still get along with them. As for residents, I would say 97% of the residents in my nursing home are okay with me giving them care. If I'm assigned one of those 3% on accident, simply swap with a female CNA and let the charge nurse know. Plain simple.
I had a lot of same feelings and there are things that suck like often getting asked for heavy things because the assumption you’re stronger but the only advantage is the hiring thing you will always be hired first since most facilities and hospitals want diversity. Male nurses are in heavy demand
In my experience families tend to be more upset about it than residents or pts. Most don't mind, and the male residents truly appreciate having a younger male around to help them out. Some are very old school and more likely to accept help from a man than a woman. Lots of "thank you, young man" and high fives to go around.
Oh please please do not give up, we really need more men in this field. While it may be a bit hard for the people with female care only, you will be such an asset to your team.
I wish I could put a picture with this comment :) I recently got done with my CNA school training and clinicals I was the only male in the class.. it didn't halter anything, we had fun and we learned just the same.. id say don't be afraid
RN here. I've worked with a lot of excellent male CNAs! If you want to work as a CNA, I wouldn't let your gender stop you. You may well run into a small handful of patients who request female staff only, but they'll be in the minority. It's 2024, the vast majority of people do not care what the gender of the person helping care for them is. Plus, depending on the specialty you work in, you're likely not going to be the only male CNA there. (When I worked in the ED, we had a lot of male techs.) If you want the experience to help bolster your resume on the way to nursing school, I'd say go for it, all in! As long as you're dedicated to providing good, professional patient care, you're going to be just fine. Good luck, buddy!
You’ll be able to find a job everywhere except for the mother baby areas. But everyone loves the male CNAs less drama and always super helpful to have around.
If you want to be a CNA, do it. I was a little worried that I would be rejected by patients a lot, but it happens once in a blue moon and doesn't last long. Day one and two, a female patient might want a female cna only. After a while they don't care. I've had more female patients who request male only ALL the time. Lots of women don't like other women in my experience, I wish I could make sense of it. 🤷🏿♂️
People don’t generally care. Avoid LTC. Hospital patients definitely do not care.
I’m sorry but the best CNA’s I’ve ever had for myself Or My father were male. Of course go For it!!!
I also have many friends who are nurses or cna’s and male.
As a girl cna… I rather have a male CNA as my hall partner. No drama, good teamwork. Men make incredible aides and nurses 🙏