Posted by Shelby on March 05, 19100 at 14:28:10:
In Reply to: I Would Like to Learn More About CNA posted by Bill on March 05, 19100 at 13:44:00:
There are 3 shifts at the Long Term Care Facility I work at:
A shift 8:00am-4:00pm
B shift 4:00pm-12:00pm
C Shift 12:00pm-8:00am
Our facility has 100 hall, 200 hall & 300 hall. 100 hall and 300 hall are the only
halls with aides on at night. s for 300 & 2 for 100. Between the 4 of us we rotate to
cover the 200 hall rounds (saves staffing & money etc)
I have just recently been switched to "C" shift from "B" shift. I come on at 12:00pm
(midnight) Here's what my "day" night consists of:
@ 12:00 (Midnight) we report to nurses station and read "Resident Notes" which
includes any suggestions or problems over the last 2 shifts. I am on Station 1 with
one other CNA. We do our initial round on Station 1, changing our wet residents and
emptying catheter bags. (Charting findings) We also turn and reposition patients
and perform oral care on unconsious patients.
@ 1:00am the two CNA's (Usually Chris and I) go into the special care unit and do
initial and first rounds for that floor.
@ 3:00am The two CNA's from the 300 hall go to lunch and we go over to Station 3
and do second round on that side.
@ 4:00am The two CNA's from 100 hall go to lunch and the aides from 300 hall do
rounds on station 1, 100 hall.
@ 5:00am Chris and I, 100 hall aides, will go into the special care unit (200) and
perform another round. Turning and changing patients as needed.
@ 6:00am 100 hall aides (that's us) begin getting residents up and ready for
breakfast at 7:30am. We usually give 2 showers a morning on the 100 hall.
After Chris and I work really hard we still have to cover the special care unit 200
hall, and get them up and ready for breakfast. Usually a 300 hall aide will come into
the special unit and help. However, between the 4 of us, we manage to have
showers and residents up before 7:30am.
@ 7:30am We pass breakfast trays to residents on the 100 hall & 200 halls.
@ 8:00am after C shift has passed all the trays, A shift comes on and feeds
breakfast and their day begins. We chart and go home....!!!!!!!
This schedule was hard to get use to, especially coming from B shift but actually all
it is, is a rotation between the 4 of us aides, switching halls (like a merry-go-round)
so that each hall is covered and rounds are done. It gets very busy however at
6:00am when showers are supposed to be happening and between 4 of us aides, we
have the whole facility which is 88 people to get up..... We survive though.... and
we even laugh along the way...
The thing I love most about my job is the satisfaction of knowing that my residents are well cared for
I think the hardest thing about being switched to the C shift is the fact that I am not actively involved with
these residents because they are in bed sleeping and I am just responsible for changing and repositioning. I don't
get to dress them or say goodnight while getting them ready for bed like we did on B shift.
I got my certification through a nursing home. The class lasted about 4 weeks and we did a bunch of teamwork
activities and read the book every so often but the best thing was that we had more experience ont he floor because we were at the
facility everyday for class so if they needed extra help we could help. Another good thing was when we were learning how to use the
hoyer lift machine, we actually went on the floor and had the instructional part right there with the machine rather then in the classroom.
If you have any other questions just ask.....
Shelby