I just have to say that I’ve been a nursing assistant for years and I love what I do. I love taking care of the elderly. Most all are so sweet, appreciative, and have some incredible stories to tell. I love helping them because these are the people that need the most help and there’s not enough people willing to do it. But why is this you might ask? ….Well. The work is incredibly hard on your body, you get paid in peanuts and most of these nursing homes PURPOSELY understaff and pay as little as they can in order to maximum profits. I just found out that the residents where I work pay anywhere from 12k-15k a month for their room. And this is for basic very basic, minimal cares and basically prison food. Nursing homes expect 1 person to take care of 10-15 people minimum. Sometimes up to 20-25 people. There needs to be laws passed about these staffing ratios. They can’t expect one person to take care of this many people. If these facilities would fucking pay CNA’s what they were worth, they would have staff. CNA’s work so damn hard and they have such big hearts and get taken advantage of for that reason. I literally hear the office staff talk about not being able to find CNA’s and they’re just dumbfounded as to why. I love the people I take care of and It breaks my heart that I can’t even spare 3 minutes to have a conversation or not have time to help someone brush their teeth before bed because I’ll get bitched at for clocking out an hour late. It’s time for me to move on to another career path. Stay away from healthcare in general. You’ll get shit on constantly unless you’re an MD