If you google ‘nursing assistant’, hundreds of pictures pop up of clean, put-together people in blue scrubs, smiling while holding the hand of an elderly person. This picture represents about 0.02% of what it is actually like to be a nursing assistant. CNA’s have the responsibility of assisting residents with toileting, showering, dressing, ambulating, observing resident’s physical and mental condition, documenting care, serving meals, and assisting with housekeeping. It is not a job for the lazy or faint of heart. While being a nursing assistant can at times be mentally and physically exhausting, it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience. For those of you who have ever been a nursing assistant, here are seven things that every CNA knows to be true:
1. Patience and a sense of humor are essential.
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If you can't find something to laugh at during your day then you become a sad CNA (yes that did rhyme on purpose). The best nursing assistants are the ones who are patient with themselves and their residents. They are able to smile even after the crummiest of shifts.
2. Your co-workers are bae.
In terms of your work life, no one understands you better than the people who you spend eight hours a day with at work. They know all about the resident you are having a hard time with, they worry with you when one of the residents isn’t doing well, and they joke with you about the highlights of a particularly hard shift. Not to mention that they genuinely care about your life outside of work and they will try to cover your shifts if needed. Your co-workers are bae, so love and cherish them.
3. Being understaffed is your normal.
Break? What is this ‘break’ that you speak of? I’m not sure in the history of ever (or maybe just in the last year that I have been a CNA) has there been a surplus of nursing assistants. For that reason, being on your feet for your entire eight-hour shift is more likely than getting that legendary thirty minute break. However, working those long hours has made you a CNA ninja that can handle anything.
4. There are good days and bad days.
There are some shifts where everything gets done, no one gets sassy with you, and you even have time to sit down and sip on your coffee. Then there are other shifts where five residents are calling at the same time, people keep snapping at you and you feel like hanging up your scrubs and going to work at McDonalds. However, you always end up coming back because the good days usually outweigh the bad ones and you can’t let your residents down.
5. You’re way underpaid.
For the amount of physically and emotionally exhausting work that we do, CNAs do not get paid enough. Not to mention it’s illegal for us to get tips of any kind. However, if we did what we do simply for the money than we would just find another job. It’s the residents that you are taking care of that make the job worth it.
6. Your residents are the best.
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It is impossible as a CNA to not grow fond of your residents. They are the whole reason that you are there after all. Getting to know your residents and hearing about their lives is one of the best parts of the job. Whether or not they remember your name, you know you'll be there for your residents for as long as they need you.
7. What you are doing is important.
Caring for people who have reached a point in their lives where they can no longer completely care for themselves is an important job. Contrary to some people’s beliefs, it’s not just sponge baths and bingo. As a nursing assistant you have the responsibility of helping someone accomplish the activities they cannot do themselves, encouraging them when the going gets tough, holding their hand on the bad days, and laughing with them on the good ones. Even if you don’t always feel appreciated for it, everything you do as a CNA is important because it is in the service of others. Always remember that.
