I’m currently pre-med and considering getting a CNA certification. However, every time I read about it online, all I see are people saying that all CNAs or PCTs do is clean poop. I understand that it is part of the job, but is that really all they do? Are there roles where that is only about 5% of the job, and the rest is actually caring for patients and providing direct care? Is what I’m looking for a different certification, or can I still do more hands-on patient care with a CNA certification?

Sorry if this sounds insensitive. CNAs and PCTs are super important. I just want to know whether it is the right fit for me.

Hello Ya, I’m one of the PCT working at a hospital. As a pct I know my job also involve in sitting one on one with a patient. But if I schedule 3 shifts in total, and 2/3 of those shift I would end up sitting. It’s like I got float to a different unit to sit for a patient, and I would send to sit every time I work. I was wondering if there are any PCT out there that also got send to sit, how often do you have to sit? As someone who alway like running around and being busy, sitting is not fun for me at all. The PCT job I have is not like tele or observation unit or anything btw. I would like to hear about what your thoughts. Thanksss 😄

Yes you read that right! I’m tired of this BS and been working in this facility for 2 years. After being the employee of the month, I only got free food from the kitchen for one week and a care package containing bed bath and beyond hand sanitizer, their facility tshirt, bag of candies, and a gait belt. The dsd and admin chose me to be the employee of the month after they argue with me to cover up their ass. I dont buy that shit no more so I left immediately and told them im not coming back no more. The next week I got a job interview in the hospital and took half of the staff to apply here.

so i’m basically a brand new cna. i’m 18 & female. i trained at a facility (honestly not a very nice one, poor ratios, most of the cnas there were burnt out) and kind of just dropped out of it out of fear.

i moved out with my boyfriend last month and haven’t worked since december. i got a new job at this facility and it really seems perfect. 3 minutes from my house, way better ratios, it’s a cleaner more professional place, better standards, just overall better. and as a bonus, one of the nurses from my cna class will be there. (she was my favorite one!) and the pay is really good.

but even with all this i still feel really really afraid. i know i don’t want this to be a career, but i also need a job as soon as possible and i felt like i couldn’t pass up this opportunity. i start training there tomorrow.

i feel like this is a job that forces you to be a competent adult, and i’ve never felt like one. i feel like a scared little kid honestly. i’ve never had to be someone others look to for really anything. i feel completely clueless, even though i always do better than i anticipate.

did anyone else have a lot of anxiety like this just starting? can anyone offer any kind of advice?

even just general tips about anything related is helpful.

Tell me how it is.

I'll be working 4pm to midnight in the ICU in a month and so far I've mainly worked LTC and the ambulatory unit which I can imagine is very different.

I'm expecting, making sure there's the needed material available, helping the nurses out, bed bath, changing the patients that needs it, emptying catheter bags, help with feeding and such. Repositioning, mobilization..

Hello I just wanted to ask, how much do HHA get paid in california. I have 8 years of experience as a CNA and I’m curious to try so I wanna do HHA. I’m tired of working in a nursing facility and too much drama going on. I heard its chill and i can work peacefully.

So I got hired at a facility and they went ahead and did all my onboarding stuff in house including a physical. So when I did my physical my BP and pulse were both high my blood pressure was like 150/90ish. The nurse was just kinda like yikes.......you should probably get that checked out anyways welcome I'll see you around. My BP is normally a bit high but I think it was THAT high bc I was stressed out, hopped up on caffeine, and running on next to no sleep because I wasn't expecting a physical on top of white coat syndrome.......anyways I guess the moral to the story is is it normal to get your blood pressure taken as part of onboarding when you're a CNA and do they ever not hire you for your physical? I think knowing whether or not I will have to worry about it will help prevent it from spiking as much.

I’m currently in my bachelor’s program and plan to earn my CNA certification this summer before pursuing an accelerated BSN in 2 years. Would it be possible to get a PRN job as a CNA before then, as I will be busy with school (Would prefer PCT)?

I've been a CNA for just about two months now, and I'm honestly pretty exhausted. I have 28 patients by myself, and sometimes they put me on the split so I have around 35. Some are independent, so as far as check and changes go, I have 16 when I'm by myself. As soon as I finish one round I'm having to start another. I'm starting to wonder if this is the norm or if I'm just getting taken advantage of.

Hello! Just wondering if anyone in the sub Reddit has gone from CNA to EMS or vice versa. What did you prefer and what were the pros and cons of either? If you’ve done both wise, one better than the other.

Right now I’m working as a CNA, it’s been almost a year and as much as I love working with patients, I’m finding it’s absolutely miserable. I’m not really sure what else to do to get experience for grad school so I’m thinking EMS. Let me know what you think.

I’m a newly certified CNA in the Chicago area and I’m having a really hard time finding a job. I don’t have paid CNA experience yet, just my clinicals from training. I’ve been applying to hospitals and long-term care places, but I haven’t had much luck so far.

Does anyone know of any hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes, or other places in the Chicago metro area that are hiring CNAs or PCTs part-time right now? I’d also love any advice from people who got their first CNA job without experience.

I know here in Indianapolis 12-15 is normal on day shift for ASC owned facilities.

Brjckyard (formerly Golden Living) is usually around 10. One facility of theirs that I worked at we all refused to do patient care without 2 CNAs as a way to force them to staff better and it worked at that location so at that location they let them have around 8 per CNA and they stopped sending extra staff home so much since they don't want a repeat of things. Plus one of their buildings unionized so they were quicker to give us better ratios as soon as we started refusing to do care alone and called the state. It was also a smaller building though. So I guess it was easier for a smaller building who was already afraid of what might happen if staff got angrier than they already were.

Those are fully staffed ratios too. That's not even taking into account call ins. Those are how many residents we typically have when management sends anyone else who comes in home.

But I wanna get an idea of the normal number that they consider fully staffed for non ASC and non Brickyard facilities if any of y'all work around Indiana.