What is it like working in a nursing home?

It's a job.

You have to have a lot of compassion for old people, but they love the people who truly care about them. People I know who have worked in nursing homes loved being with the old people and get very attached to them, like they are family. The residents usually are not going to be leaving there till they die so it can be sad...

The one thing that is good to know before hand is whether the nursing home is a good or poor performing nursing home. Another thing to know is how long the Administrator and DON have been working at the facility. Nursing homes that have revolving door leadership tends to bring higher stress among employees because there is no stability.

A simple way to check out the history of the nursing home is Medicare Nursing Home Compare http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSect...

I am not sure the position you are applying for, but another good thing to know is how they do scheduling as well. Also, are there any opportunities for advancement? This is good to know as well.

Yeah it depends which area: housekeeping, nursing, laundry, dietary or maintenance. Nursing is hard. They give you way to many patients for a CNA to handle. They expect you to do all the ADL's with such a short amount of time that it's almost impossible for you to even breath. My mother is an RN I was & still am a certified nurse assistant & I have been for 12 yrs. You could not pay me enough money to go back into that field. I would be a personal CNA for 1 person but not institutional nursing. No way in hell!!!

You need to be ready for some emotionally and physically grueling work. You got to have a lot of patience for the elderly and understand their situation. Be positive and leave the negative vibes at home.

very, very difficult. patient ratio to nurse is very bad.