ALT-3 So you want to be a Cna Certified Nursing Assistant
By becoming a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) you will learn about yourself, other people and it will help you in many other jobs you will do.
What kinds of skills does it take? It takes very good interpersonal skills. You must be able to take orders and work with team members in lifting, turning and doing procedures. It is not about you. You work with people when they may be very ill, irritable, hostile, and you may see them at their worst. You need to be a good listener to hear what your patient says and to hear what your team members say.
CNA's are generally required to give physical care to patients. Some patients may have to be bathed, fed, dressed, and they may need mouth care and hair care. You may have to escort patients to procedures or events. Do you want to give the kind of care that your family would want? Some CNA's may have to play games or do activities with patients or interact with them a lot.
There are several places that CNA's may be employed. Most people know that they are mainly employed in hospitals and nursing homes. Some are employed doing private duty and some work in psychiatric, rehabilitation or other facilities. Occasionally a CNA will work in a physician's office.
A CNA needs to know how to use the tools of the trade. He/she must be able to take vital signs, feed patients, know appropriate lifting and turning procedures and may need to know how to use specialized equipment for spinal cord patients or others.
If your facility allows you to chart, you must be able to communicate well on paper and to be accurate.
Attitude is important. You must be able to learn and keep growing. You must be able to take suggestions. Rules are important. For example, if you are not to take gifts from patients, there is a reason for that. If your facility does not want you to drive patients, there is a legal reason for this. Confidentiality is important. The patient should not hear you talking about others, you should not speak about him to others. If someone has a serious illness, this is confidential.
Hard work is important and you must be able to focus on goals. Sometimes you will be pulled in fifty directions.
Your only reward may be the satisfaction of knowing you are helping others and doing a good job. Sometimes a patient will appreciate you but perhaps they are too sick to tell you. Sometimes a big smile says it all.
If you get another job in the healthcare profession, you will find this has given you very good basic experience. If you should later work in an unrelated job, you will find this has helped your organization skills, your listening skills, other communication skills. It has helped you learn about people and yourself. Hopefully it has awakened the empathy that you have within you!
