I’m in trouble for leaving because my relief came in but didn’t clock in, found out it was only gonna be her working, so she threw a tantrum and went back home. This was after I just worked 12hrs all night by myself and now I’m in trouble for abandonment.

WHAT THE FCK MAN ok srsly what do I do here because this is obviously incredibly stupid and not fair at all

So I took my written test today (I passed!!!!) and went into it pretty relaxed because I had extensively studied all of my past tests, was one of the strongest test takers in my class by a pretty good margin, and had generally heard that the exam was common sense and covered everything we’d already been tested on. The general consensus was that it was stupid easy and you barely needed to study.
Well, I ended up getting quite a few questions that either we hadn’t gone over at all, were worded strangely, or covered things that had only been mentioned in passing. Not every question was difficult, and plenty were pretty straightforward, but I was surprised by how many made me stop and think, especially considering what I’d heard about the exam beforehand.

just a general rant! went in to work today (my monday) and corporate installed this huge "luxury nap pod" in the break room. heard in passing it was almost $20k per pod and they bought six of them.

almost every single person has asked why in god's name they bought those and then when we ask for supplies or talk annual raises we get vetoed and capped at like 0.30 cents a year?

i'm not even sure how to put the feeling into words. i don't even necessarily think a raise was at the forefront of my own brain, but to see the pod and know some caregivers still make under $19/hr... wtaf?! and the area were live in, that's not even enough to rent an average apartment by yourself with anything left for bills, food, emergencies... not to mention that other departments can make even less without any overtime available!

ugh. anyone have any experience in writing strongly worded letters that your whole building signs? i dont think it would make a difference if we did. do we just suck it up and accept an expensive gift? obviously our location is becoming one of corporate's examples if they chose us for this type of "staff benefit."

gosh. with only a 30 minute lunch that i almost miss a tenth of the time anyway, i wouldnt even be able to use the damn thing. guess i'll see it in the winter when we start on calls and shelter in place for snow storms🫩

Just feeling a bit sad I guess. I've been a CNA at 2 nursing homes for about a year and a half. Was hoping I'd have enough experience now to work at one of my local hospitals as a PCT.

I'm also in my second semester of nursing school so I've applied for both PCT and nurse extern at the same hospital. I got an interview for the PCT position. Ended up being rejected.

Then applied later for nurse extern, got rejected again, no interview.

Just a bit disheartened. 2 other hospitals have rejected me too. I don't want to keep applying because I feel like that looks bad. I just feel stuck in the nursing homes.

I have prior work experience at a medicaid-funded SNF facility and honestly it left me with an awful impression. I want to be selective and work somewhere better- idealy a private pay senior care/ AL . Is that realistic for someone who doesn’t have extensive experience or job connections? What’s the best way to get my foot in the door?

I’m still in school, and i’m going into radiology. But i feel like cna would look good on a resume, also giving me an opportunity to move out quicker. only issue is, im really worried with working with genitals and the dead. I know that sounds ignorant and mean, it’s not even the messiness it’s just the intimacy. I know they need help, and i want to help and love people who need it. but i’m worried, is there anyone who got past these concerns and loved there job?
and the only program for my age is a retirement home. i know i know.
Would love too hear from you guys, you are doing Gods work and i would love to be apart of it. i just wonder if i have the heart and mind too do it.

I feel like I’m being retaliated on at my workplace.
I graduated my CNA class the first week of September 2026 & was hired through the same place on 9/8/26.

Sunday night 10/11/26 I started my shift. A resident was left soiled & had bowel all over their stomach down to their feet. The bowel was mostly dried already. I pull the unit nurse & another tech as witnesses, we were disgusted with the way this resident was left. I also ran & got the charge nurse, she took photos & reported it to the unit coordinator.

Fast forward to Monday morning 10/19/26, a whole week later. I’m finishing my shift & the nurse coming in for day shift approaches me rudely & asks “What’s your name” then proceeds to tell me “You left multiple people wet” (referring to my shift a week prior). I asked her “what unit, what hall & what residents”. She replied “all I know is, you were the tech that night”. I went straight to the unit coordinator & she had not heard anything about this & said “if it was that serious, I would’ve known about it”. The coordinator turns her phone around & shows me the same photos taken of the resident I reported the prior week & said “now this is what I worry about, stuff like this”. I then told her that I was the one who reported that residents condition.

The hall that I supposedly left multiple residents soiled on was a cake walk. I only had 8 inconts & made sure they were rounded & changed.

I feel like due to me reporting the residents condition has put a target on my back! I’m new & these girls/women have worked together for a while, so they are closer together.

I done what was right! I done my job!

How would y’all have handled this situation?
How should I plan to move forward knowing that they are making stuff up & playing with my livelihood?

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I hope to get some feedback soon.

I’m new to healthcare , liek new new. My nursing supervisor jokingly was like “you’re a little slow” in a joking way but like…obviously not a joke.

(For context, I’m night shift, we do two sets of rounds and like 5-10 get ups)

I will admit, Yes, I am slow.. but I have to be right now because I’m not focused on speed atm, just doing my cares right and correctly.

Because if you don’t do that the next shift just complains that someone didn’t do this or that correctly.

Idk what to do about this. I’ve had things said to me from rushing, I’ve had things said to me from going slow. 😐

So I took my skills exam yesterday (I passed!!!) I had radial pulse, feeding resident, bedpan, and catheter care. After feeding my buddy, I started over to the mannequin to do bedpan, and my instructor stopped me and told me I had to do it to my buddy. So making unwavering face to face eye contact I explain the procedure, turn him over, carefully press the bedpan correctly against his butt, cover him back up, and remind him to wash his hands afterwards. I pretend to leave the room, and he called out to me that he was done. Then I go back, turn him back over, retrieve bedpan making sure not to “spill” anything, and then I flush his imaginary poop down the toilet. I guess my question is why I had to do this lmao. I was not under the impression that bedpan would be done on a live person? Funnily enough my buddy did the stocking on the mannequin, which the proctor let him do!

I got all of the required certificates to be a med tech in my state, I’ve been a CNA for three years and went through the process to be a med tech to be able to do something different and less back breaking while in nursing school.
I have an associates degree and tons of other healthcare certs as well. I’m more than qualified to be a med tech and put on a cart.

I’ll apply to jobs titled “med tech” and get scheduled for an interview, and go to the interview, just to be told that they aren’t actually hiring for a med tech and just need CNAs. I go as far as even asking the person setting up the interview if the job is actually for med tech to confirm, drive up to an hour to go interview, just to find out that they lied. Every facility will say that they have their set med techs and aren’t looking for or needing new ones, but that they are in desperate need of CNAs.

I have no issue occasionally picking up CNA shifts, no issue with helping with direct patient care, I would never ever deny someone help or refuse to do CNA tasks, but I have no interest in working as just a CNA right now. I have continuously been horribly assaulted and abused while working as a CNA, and I can’t deal with getting consistently physically and verbally abused while changing or showering male patients while also being in nursing school. Experiencing abuse like men trying to pull me into the shower with them or groping me while I change them is fine on occasion, I’ve learned that it’s part of the job and employers don’t care to do anything about it, but I can’t do it on a daily basis anymore.

I would apply to CNA jobs instead of med tech jobs if that were the case. It’s so disappointing to get an interview for med tech, and put so much effort into going to interview after interview, just to find out that companies are using that job title to lure CNAs into applying.

I have never had intentions of being a life long CNA, and I put tons of effort into school, getting certificates, and gaining experience so that I could eventually be a med tech while in my actual nursing program for an income. Why are employers being deceptive and putting “med tech” as the job title in applications when they really just want CNAs??

I’m a new CNA and this is my first job ever, I was on NOC the other night for the first time by myself with no training on this wing and was left with 18 residents who are all bed bound since someone called out. I didn’t get to sit down the whole shift I started one round and already had to make a bed change which I’m assuming was from last shift and about 6 of them were having loose BMs, so it was constant rounding. Which I don’t mind but I felt very unorganized. Can anyone give me advice on how to better organize my rounds? Most of my coworkers were sitting down so I felt like I was probably doing something wrong. One of them even mentioned I was running up and down the whole night. Which made me feel kinda bad. I work 8hr shifts and just want some advice. 🥲

I was sitting 1:1 with a male SI patient on a involuntary hold. I was told in report that he had some behavioral problems in but had been acting reasonable to staff the last night. No restraints and a high SI risk. Had been verbally expressing in the past three days he had been admitted. He has some triggers like loud noise and to many people in his room.

So I start my shift at 7am. He is sleeping in his bed and I’m sitting near him quietly minding my business. He gets up and goes to the bathroom, comes out and lays back down. He looks over at me and asks my name. I tell him my name and he starts yelling at me.

“Get the fuck out of here, fuck off!”
“get the hell out of here or I’ll make you get out, I’ll physically move you, don’t come back even if they tell you too”
I’m startled but ask why.
“Get the fuck out now! Stupid fucking bitch, don’t come back ugly bitch”

He lunges at me and run out. I was so scared shitless. I told the nurse and had a panic attack. I took some time to catch my breath and stop crying from literal fear. Been a CNA for 4 years btw.

The charge nurse was like “well technically he is SI so I need you to sit back in there” thankfully his primary nurse was like “um we are not sending her back in there” and told me they wouldn’t make me go back in. They switched me with a male CNA thankfully. But it shook me up so much. Was full on hyperventilating.

Ugh this job sucks!

I guess I feel stuck.. a lot of times I feel this huge dread of coming in to work as a CNA and it feels draining but not in the way that lately I've been thinking about not being a CNA anymore or even quit the medical field. My current job is at a hospital as Floatpool and there's always this anxiety in the morning when I wake up because idk what type of assignment or unit I'm in today and then when it's an assignment I don't really enjoy I feel worse, specially since it's 12hours every shift. Before this I used to work at an assisted living facility and it got rough a few times but it wasn't this bad because in my opinion there is a " oh this job is dumb but I'm still gonna work " job and a " I hate this im gonna cry every morning before coming in " at the assisted living I tolerated the job way more specially because I didn't feel like this there, but the pay was ass and 3 12s always sound better, and I got along with staff and knew the people I worked with and liked most of them. But here, I feel pretty alone I don't know anyone and I feel that the nurses are above me because they are nurses, while I know it's logical that the nurse are in the same boat as us and aren't like superior I still feel that it is or since everyone in the units know each other they have people to talk to while I don't. I've been at this place for about 6 months already and it hasn't gotten any better. I'm not a social person which of course is part of the job but I think I was a bit better with the seniors at my last place. Im moving out of state in January and I already have my documents ready I just need to get hired by a place there or use Clipboard or Aya but most times I'm thinking of researching what other jobs I can do. Something not stressful or as chaotic. My wife told me I shouldn't but I feel shameful but not having my mind made up on what I want my career to specially since now I'm married and have a son, my wife works too but part time so I'm the one that pretty much takes on the heavy bills so there's also that risk to just play around with different jobs. Any advice? Please..

For those of you that have gone to clinicals since COVID started, how did your school handle an outbreak at the clinical site? I'm an instructor at a small school and am not getting guidance from my boss at all so I'm looking to hear your experiences.

Did you still go to clinicals when there was a COVID outbreak at the facility? If yes, did you get assigned any COVID rooms?

Did you or any of your classmates test positive for COVID during clinicals? If yes, did classes get cancelled until everybody tested negative? How did your school handle it?

Context: the facility we go to for clinicals has had a COVID outbreak. I was very uncomfortable bringing my students to the facility during this time because I have issues with an autoimmune disease/weak immune system, and I want to protect my students and their families as well. But my boss insisted that we go because the students "need to have real world experience and this is the real world now". Fair enough.

But I see staff not wearing their masks properly, doors to the COVID rooms left wide open, nurses going in to give meds with no PPE other than an N95, and more patients popping positive every day. I reiterate to my boss that I'm very uncomfortable, but she insists that this is just a normal part of getting an education in the healthcare field now. Our only other option for clinical sites are 2+ hours away.

Then, one of my students calls in sick, so I ask them to take a COVID test and it was positive. All of the students take their lunch together, and ride to get their food in the same cars, and were all exposed to the positive student in the days leading up to the positive test, so I make the decision to end class. I reported the situation to the infection control nurse at the facility, and she had us all take tests before we left and more students also tested positive. I gave her the assignments that the students have worked for the last several days so she can do contact tracing and reporting. Since the students were all exposed, I cancelled class for the rest of the day, and this is where I'm getting frustrated.

I asked my boss several times for guidance on what the next steps are, and when they finally got back to me they literally said "it's your call". Like WTF? So I'm frustrated and looking for guidance here from anybody.

What I've done so far: cancelled class through Friday, and having the students self quarantine and retest Friday morning. They are supposed to graduate Friday, so they will have missed 20 hours of clinicals at that point. Do I just postpone the ceremony until they are all in the clear, and then let them graduate? (Like next week). Or do I force them to come back to clinicals for 2 and a half days once they are cleared of infection even though they have to get back to their jobs and classes and other commitments since the 23rd is when the class was supposed to end? Most of them have commitments that they can't just drop to keep attending clinicals after the graduation date. But technically, according to the state, they need to complete all their hours.

Since it's "my call", I want to ensure they are safe and healthy and have a nice graduation, and just pass them so they can go back to their lives and take their state exams. But I don't want the school to get in trouble with the state if they find out we passed a group who owed some hours.

I feel like this is not the student's faults, we put them in a bad situation and it's out of their control. But I'd really like to know if by any chance any of you went through a similar situation, what did your school/administration do?

Did they make the students come back after class officially ended to complete the rest of the hours? Did they do virtual learning?

Any experience you have in this or similar situations, any guidance you have, any opinions you have about how this was/is being handled, I'd love to hear. Because apparently it's going to be my job to come up with a policy/plan and I will want to guide the other instructors on what to do if they find themselves in a similar situation. Since the administration is clearly not interested in helping us here :(

If you read this far, thank you so much!

I'm beginning my CNA course in about one month and will finish up in January. I'm currently in school full-time and need my smartphone for 2FA, but I really want to go back to exclusively using a flip phone when I'm done with school because it helps me manage my screen addiction. However, I'm seeing that it's really common for CNAs and nurses to need smartphones for workplace communication. I'm just curious how many of you are required to use apps for communicating outside work or work in facilities where workplace-restricted communication tools aren't provided (this sounds crazy to me with HIPAA and everything, but I'm reading that it's a reality of the healthcare industry).

I just finished my orientation, and this is my first job as a CNA. Honestly, I'm struggling.

I have a patient with dementia who refuses care, a patient with morbid obesity who refuses to move, another who cries whenever I try to turn her because she can't move on her own, and one whose legs are so stiff and tightly closed that putting a brief on her is really difficult.

Some patients are listed as one-assist but seem to require two people to provide care safely. Whenever I ask my coworkers or nurses for help or guidance, I feel like they get annoyed with me and think I don't want to do my job. But I'm brand new, and there are so many things I still need to learn.

During my last shift, I put briefs on two patients incorrectly because I couldn't get anyone to help me. At some point, I thought, "Fuck it, nobody's going to help me, so I'll do the best I can." I hate myself for that

I'm also much slower than everyone else, and it's hard not to compare myself to coworkers with years of experience.

how did you handle these challenges when you were new? How did you get faster and deal with difficult patients when you didn't have much support? thank you

Had my first interview for a hospital CNA/PCT position last week Friday. I thought it went well. The nurse manager gave me a tour of the unit, said something like "I think you would like it/it's a good fit for what you're looking for." She also gave me her card to call if I had any questions (I haven't reached out to her yet). That felt like a good sign but I don't know, it could be totally normal.

How long did it take you to hear back for a CNA/PCT job? Is it a good idea to reach out if I don't hear anything?

I just passed my knowledge and skills exams and am officially licensed to work as a CNA and I’m really excited and proud of myself! I started applying for jobs as soon as I found out and now have two interviews lined up this week:)

I was wondering if any CNAs that have gone through the interview process could tell me what kind of questions to expect, what to ask, or if there was any advice y’all had for a new CNA. I’m really nervous and have no clue what to expect since I’ve never worked in healthcare.

Thanks so much!

Ive been working in assisted living facilities as an RA (resident assistant) for the past 3 years. In my state of Minnesota, these jobs are basically like CNA work but with added medication administration duties as delegated by my supervising RN without a TMA. Since I've worked so long in this field, would it be worth it to challenge the test and get my CNA?

Ive not really seen an incentive to getting it at this point as many of the hospitals and facilities around me allow for non-certified CNAs to work as long as they have 6 months of experience.

I currently get paid 20/hr and get pickup bonuses from 5 to 10/hr extra. Im also looking to apply to PA school in the next year and wondering if evening having g rhe license would change anything besides my title.

Patient is on SI precautions/airborne for COVID and they want me to sit inside the room with full PPE for 12 fucking hours and they're on 3 different cameras??

I can't even bring water in the room what would yall do rn because I'm genuinely about to lose it

I feel like getting bullied as a new cna isn’t talked about enough.
I’m 24 y/o just starting my healthcare career and just lost my first CNA job due to “personality clashes”.
Context : When I first started this other CNA from the start did not like me and didn’t want to train me. I understand it’s frustrating to train in the job like this- but I tried my best to be helpful where I could.
3 weeks into this and I ended up reporting this CNA for double briefing multiple patients.
I guess management told her it was me because shit went so downhill from there. She refused to help me with hoyers, refused to answer any of my call lights while I was doing showers (which REALLY sucked because I was constantly answering hers when she got too busy), and kept reporting me for bullshit (Told management I was leaving people wet, that I was refusing to give showers, that I was leaving feed assists alone.) None of which was true btw.
I am slower, I’m new and I’m still learning how to manage 12 patients at a time. But I’ve never left anyone wet, never refused a shower, and never neglected a patient or left a feed assist alone.
Regardless, she reported it to management so many times and then had her friends at work do the same. I wasn’t given a warning or anything, just went on my lunch break and when I came back was told that I was terminated. I asked if anything had even been investigated and was told “We just don’t want to deal with the workplace drama you’ve caused anymore.”
I’m so discouraged right now. I understand that I might not be as fast as they are. But I was doing my best to be helpful to them while taking care of my own patients. And I don’t understand how I can be fired for their words when all of my patients have said nothing but nice things about me and left good reviews.