ALT-1 So you want to be a Cna Certified Nursing Assistant
For anyone wishing to become a certified nursing assistant, it is very much a wonderful rewarding field but there is a huge amount of stress as well. There is good as well as bad stress when working as a nursing assistant and it does take a special person who has a passion for helping with the basic needs of another person.
On the bright side, you know you are making a difference for those residents whom you as a certified nursing assistant care for on a daily basis. It is easy to choose your favorites, but you must remember to give all of them the care they require on a daily basis. You as a certified nursing assistant need to remember that for every four or five disagreeable residents you may have the responsibility for, you have a sweet one who will make your day worthwhile with a simple smile or pat on the back.
For basic medical knowledge, you need to learn how to take a temperature, blood pressure as well as pulse; more long-term care facilities are requiring the certified nursing assistant to take an oxygen reading of the residents you will be taking care of. There are paid training classes around the nation that allow you learn everything you need to learn.
You will also be helping to take care of the basic needs of a resident as well, and this does include feeding, changing, bathing, and walking residents in your care as well as assisting those residents with many of the day-to-day things that the rest of us take for granted.
If you dislike nudity this job of certified nursing assistant is not for you, as you will be changing or helping those who can walk to the bathroom with wiping and bathing residents on a daily basis. However, you do get to the point where one body is like another, and it does not feel funny' to wash someone, because you know that, they cannot do it themselves.
Some certified nursing assistants change Depends like no one's business, and yes there is some truth in the saying it is like changing a baby's diaper, the only difference is with an adult everything is bigger. You need to pull apart the folds and clean every well to get rid of excrement left in those folds. Everything you find in a baby diaper you will find in an adult diaper, and more such as false teeth, napkins, and other treasures.
Some residents are mad at having the live in a nursing home so they will insult you, as well as confused residents who will lash out and scratch you, pull your hair or otherwise do bodily harm to you. You also have a number of dirty old men' who will say or do very suggestive things but they truly are the minority. All of these things just need to be reported to the nurse, but you as the certified nursing assistant cannot tell the resident they are being bad, nor can you hit them back.
A certified nursing assistant often has ten to fifteen residents who have needs that need to be met on any given shift. Those needs are outlined above, and truthfully, you only have one or two residents who can do most everything by themselves. The rest of the residents you assist in some degree or it is total care and it can be exhausting. A true passion for helping those who cannot help themselves is very much a job requirement in the job of being a certified nursing assistant.
As a certified nursing assistant for a long time, I have worked short many times, been spit upon, insulted but all it takes is one special resident to make it all seem so much brighter and that gives you what it takes to make it through the rest of your shift.
