Tell us what was your first day as a CNA like...? - Page 2

I don't remember my first day with any clarity, but one of my patients died on my third day :uhoh21:

The CNA classes after mine... well. They changed instructors, so these poor people are being tossed out onto the floor after 2 days of videos for the certified staff to train. We're short-staffed, so this has been a trial by fire for us and them... The theory is that a recently trained but not yet certified aide should have 5 patients at first, working up to the normal ratio (8 or 9) over the course of about two weeks. The lone survivor of the last class had 8 right away.

It was one of my first jobs just out of high school..my first day as a CNA was the first day I saw a real man naked.

My first day was just a blur. I was so lost trying to remember everything!

I am not a CNA, yet, but I have heard you can put something like mentholatum under your nose to help with awful smells. I am going to make sure I have that in my pocket at ALL times.

Are we really not allowed to breathe through our mouths? I've always breathed through my mouth instinctively in public bathrooms, when changing my kids diapers, when in an area where an odor is not favorable. Nobody can ever tell that I am doing, I've become a pro but I did hear one of my instructors say no...but I missed the reason why. Why can't we breathe through our mouths?

Although I'm just a CNA trainee at an LTC facility, I think the reason you can't breathe through you're mouth is that you would not be able to "smell" if something is wrong. For example, my mentor had me take a sample of poop from a resident's diaper because the smell was horrid and she said it smelled of C diff (sp?). I was breathing out of my mouth so I couldn't tell you what it smelled like and wouldn't have known to check for that.

Uh oh. I was planning on breathing through my mouth for the yucky stuff. I also instinctively breath through my mouth when changing my kids' diapers or enter a stinky public bathroom. I always laughed at my husband who would change a diaper and be gagging the whole time. I'd always ask him why he doesn't just breath through his mouth.

I just asked several of the CNA instructors at my school about this and they told me that we could do whatever we needed to do so long as it was in good character and not offensive to the patient. One of my instructors said that many students would put on a nice face and as soon as they were done with the patient, run as fast as they could to the bathroom to throw up. She said everyone is different and develops their own way to get through it. So, Bethany, since we are instinctive breathers, we are probably really good at looking like we are breathing normally and as far as I know right now, I'm going to have to do that for a while. LOL.

breathe through your nose and you smell it, breathe through your mouth and you taste it.

burn_out - you are right...about tasting the smell if you breathe through your mouth. I learned that today (my first day in a LTC facility that is part of my CNA class). It was a very hard day for me. There were three people who had fallen on the floor, lots of people that we had to move with Hoyer lifts, and lots and lots of people that had soiled themselves and had been laying in it awhile.

I sure wish I didn't gag so much. I was told it gets easier after the first day by one person. Several other folks told me it takes about a month. They also said they couldn't eat much for that time period.

I guess I am going to just try to take this one day at a time and do the best I can. I am a little scared, but I feel heartened by reading the writings of folks that post here. I think that if others can handle it, why shouldn't I be able to? I am going to try.