Work is hard and money is eh - PCT/CNA Providence Employee Review

I love Providence and the staff- but the pay is so bare minimum for the work we do. If I didn’t love my job and caring for people, I would go somewhere else. The benefits are great but take a decent amount out of my paycheck every 2 weeks. Our floor tries to keep safe staffing ratios but when 3/4 PCTS are on the floor- we all get 11-12 patients. Some floors have even worse ratios. And the nurses expect the same level of care as when we are 7-8 patients. I do my very best but at the end of the day, the lay needs to increase a solid 6-10$. The nurses are making a good chunk of change and the PCTS (who are also licensed (average program cost is 1-3,000$ depending where)) are barely making it by. Why wouldn’t someone else just go to McDonald’s or become a server and make more?? Anyways I LOVE my job but just wish the pay was better! Also I would be more inclined to pick up extra shifts if I could come in for less than 12 hours. RNS are able to come in for any allotted time they desire for OT but CNAs are require to do a FULL 12 if they want to pick up overtime. 4 days a week with a job as demanding as ours isn’t so inviting.