Have any of you ever worked as a CNA before?
Did you know they do 90% of all the work in just about every medical setting?
I'm not exaggerating. Ask a nurse, they will tell you it's true.
Now I know that I want to be a nurse. They get paid a lot to do a little.
Barry and I had Clinicals on Saturday. It was surprisingly a better experience than I counted on. I mean who knew I'd come out with a new boyfriend? I'll get to that later.
The place we did our clinicals doesn't have the greatest reputation as far as local hospitals go. My sister also did her clinicals there and had a not so great experience.
It has nothing to do with the patients and everything to do with the not so stellar staff.
Fortunately both Barry and I were assigned to CNA's that were really great at their jobs.
I was nervous about several things going into it. Adult diapers, throw-up-which I have told you before I don't even handle well with my own children, feeding someone and showers.
First patient of the day...dirty diaper and feed him breakfast. Check and not so bad. Showers not a big deal at all. Throw up...had to turn my head and gag a few times but I think my sympathy for the poor man helped me through and all was good.
Some things I learned from the experience-these patients don't like having to have you do all of this for them any more than you do and we could all do good to have a little more compassion. Most of my patients could tell me exactly what they wanted and how to go about it. That fact seemed to annoy many CNA's which in turn really annoyed me. This is their life! Stuck in a body that will not work for them and stuck in a 12x12 room. If they want something a specific way then you darn will better do it that way! And next time you complain that Wendy's didn't get your hamburger right think long and hard how much that actually effects your life and how you treat the employee's at Wendy's. Because some of those patients should have the right to punch you in the nose because of your complaining about them! So sorry for that little burst of emotion.
Now, about my boyfriend, he is an x-cop, don't mess with him. I believe I spend about 60% of the day in his room. He went on and on about my eyes and my smile and my 'plainness' but he meant it as a compliment, he's not a fan of those fancy, made-up girls. He wanted to know every detail of my life. He would push his call light and tell the other CNA he only wanted me. He would order me to sit down and rest my feet because I was working to hard. He wanted to meet my husband so he could 'size up' his competition. He is every one's least favorite patient because he is so demanding, he was my favorite. And not just because he liked my eyes.
It's no wonder that the health care field is so desperate for CNA's and Nurses. I think that too many of them forget what the job is really about. The patient. It's a cycle really. I'm sure most go into the job with good intentions and then they are understaffed so the patient load is to high, you run out of time to spend with your patients and talk to them and care about them. You run from room to room, call light to call light and you don't have time to spend time. How is one person suppose to feed 5 quadriplegic patients in 30 minutes? Not possible. I'm sort of going on a tirade and I didn't actually intend too. So sorry. The experience was actually over all good, because I learned a lot.
Did you know they do 90% of all the work in just about every medical setting?
I'm not exaggerating. Ask a nurse, they will tell you it's true.
Now I know that I want to be a nurse. They get paid a lot to do a little.
Barry and I had Clinicals on Saturday. It was surprisingly a better experience than I counted on. I mean who knew I'd come out with a new boyfriend? I'll get to that later.
The place we did our clinicals doesn't have the greatest reputation as far as local hospitals go. My sister also did her clinicals there and had a not so great experience.
It has nothing to do with the patients and everything to do with the not so stellar staff.
Fortunately both Barry and I were assigned to CNA's that were really great at their jobs.
I was nervous about several things going into it. Adult diapers, throw-up-which I have told you before I don't even handle well with my own children, feeding someone and showers.
First patient of the day...dirty diaper and feed him breakfast. Check and not so bad. Showers not a big deal at all. Throw up...had to turn my head and gag a few times but I think my sympathy for the poor man helped me through and all was good.
Some things I learned from the experience-these patients don't like having to have you do all of this for them any more than you do and we could all do good to have a little more compassion. Most of my patients could tell me exactly what they wanted and how to go about it. That fact seemed to annoy many CNA's which in turn really annoyed me. This is their life! Stuck in a body that will not work for them and stuck in a 12x12 room. If they want something a specific way then you darn will better do it that way! And next time you complain that Wendy's didn't get your hamburger right think long and hard how much that actually effects your life and how you treat the employee's at Wendy's. Because some of those patients should have the right to punch you in the nose because of your complaining about them! So sorry for that little burst of emotion.
Now, about my boyfriend, he is an x-cop, don't mess with him. I believe I spend about 60% of the day in his room. He went on and on about my eyes and my smile and my 'plainness' but he meant it as a compliment, he's not a fan of those fancy, made-up girls. He wanted to know every detail of my life. He would push his call light and tell the other CNA he only wanted me. He would order me to sit down and rest my feet because I was working to hard. He wanted to meet my husband so he could 'size up' his competition. He is every one's least favorite patient because he is so demanding, he was my favorite. And not just because he liked my eyes.
It's no wonder that the health care field is so desperate for CNA's and Nurses. I think that too many of them forget what the job is really about. The patient. It's a cycle really. I'm sure most go into the job with good intentions and then they are understaffed so the patient load is to high, you run out of time to spend with your patients and talk to them and care about them. You run from room to room, call light to call light and you don't have time to spend time. How is one person suppose to feed 5 quadriplegic patients in 30 minutes? Not possible. I'm sort of going on a tirade and I didn't actually intend too. So sorry. The experience was actually over all good, because I learned a lot.
FUNNY PART
I asked my friend Tori to babysit my kids for us while we were at clincals. Which meant she had to be there at 6:30am. So Sorry Tori! And Thanks a Million! We actually had shift work babysitters because at 2:00 Aunt Teri came and at 5:00 Uncle Matt took over.
Thank You to all of You!
Back to the the story-At 8:42am Barry and I got a text from a little bit panicked Tori. The text read, "Your son has decided to put himself in handcuffs. I don't know how to get them off." I just started to laugh and then went to find Barry being that I don't know where his handcuff key is. When I found him he was just getting off the phone with Tori.
Apparently Ryan had been a bit unruly since he woke up that morning and Tori was getting a bit frustrated with him anyway. Then he handcuffed himself to the pantry door in the kitchen. Why? Because he could I suppose. Barry proceed to tell her that if he wasn't really following direction then maybe she should just leave him there for a while! I completely agreed! Aren't we the meanest parents in the world! Being that Tori is nicer than us she located the key Barry told her about and she turned him loose. Thankfully he decided to behave after that.
We only have 1 more week left of class and one more clinical day so hopefully next Saturday granny has it a little easier with the kiddo's. Although Grandpa will be there too and he knows where the handcuff keys are. Then again Granny and Grandpa may just leave him in them too! :) I'll let you know what next Saturday brings.
Thank You to all of You!
Back to the the story-At 8:42am Barry and I got a text from a little bit panicked Tori. The text read, "Your son has decided to put himself in handcuffs. I don't know how to get them off." I just started to laugh and then went to find Barry being that I don't know where his handcuff key is. When I found him he was just getting off the phone with Tori.
Apparently Ryan had been a bit unruly since he woke up that morning and Tori was getting a bit frustrated with him anyway. Then he handcuffed himself to the pantry door in the kitchen. Why? Because he could I suppose. Barry proceed to tell her that if he wasn't really following direction then maybe she should just leave him there for a while! I completely agreed! Aren't we the meanest parents in the world! Being that Tori is nicer than us she located the key Barry told her about and she turned him loose. Thankfully he decided to behave after that.
We only have 1 more week left of class and one more clinical day so hopefully next Saturday granny has it a little easier with the kiddo's. Although Grandpa will be there too and he knows where the handcuff keys are. Then again Granny and Grandpa may just leave him in them too! :) I'll let you know what next Saturday brings.
2 Reactions:
who just has handcuff's laying around? do you think you need to explain that one further?
Just to clear things up, I was not at all panicked that Ryan was in handcuffs. I was a little annoyed that he was testing my authority but I worked at a pre-school for behaviorally challenged children for three years remember. I've seen it all. We actually had a very good talk about having a good day versus a bad day. He made the right decision. He learned his lesson.
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