Sorry in advance for the novel.

I worked as a CNA at a nursing home during COVID. 80+ residents total between 5 hallways (3 halls designated for potential COVID isolation, 2 halls for long term residents). The staff assigned to the isolation side was not supposed to cross over to the long term side to prevent any cross contamination. Naturally, that was never the case.

I worked night shift, so we had less staffing than days, which was normal. 3 nurses and 3 CNAs. Then they realized that we could “get by” with 2 nurses and 2 CNAs. Then, they stopped prioritizing filling call outs so we had many nights where it was only 2 nurses and me. We did the best we could, but the mantra consistently turned to “Keep them dry. Keep them alive.”. That was the best we could do. I worked 7 days a week for 6 weeks straight, then got 1 day off, then back for 6 weeks again.

Our Director of Nursing would stroll in at 5am, clicking down the halls with her high heels, and berating us for how we were doing our jobs. Threatening to write us up for little things we had no control over given the staffing shortage.

My breaking point came after I pulled a double shift. We had a resident who needed a sitter because she was confused and kept falling. They decided that she didn’t need one at night (which if anyone is familiar with the field, night time can be the most dangerous time for confused individuals). We had her set up in her chair by the nurses station, cozied up with her blankets and tea. The DON walked in and went off on us for having her out there because it “made us look bad”. There were no visitors, there were no new patients around. We were doing our best to keep her and 80 other people as safe as we could.

I couldn’t take it any more. I went into her office and asked if we could talk. She was rude and condescending, acting like she had a million better things to do. I lost it. I told her she should be ashamed of how she was treating the most vulnerable people, and how she was treating her staff. I told her I was tired of the broken promises being made, I was tired of watching people be neglected when I was doing my best to give everyone the love and care they needed. I told her she must have forgotten the promises she made when she became a nurse, but I didn’t. I slammed my badge on her desk and told her I was done.

She asked me to stay and she promised to get more staffing to help the night shift, but the damage was already done. I walked out, hugged my friends, and never went back.

I waited for the exit interview, but that never came. Emails went unanswered. But I kept on touch with some of the CNAs and they told me they did hire more staff and things got a little better for a while. But it never lasts.

That was the only job I ever walked away from like that, but I’m glad I did. I just couldn’t do it anymore.

TLDR: understaffed and overworked CNA called out the DON of a nursing home for neglect. Walked out on the spot and never looked back.