My niche
I think I have found my niche. It may be too early to tell still, but I'm working at my new job, I'm not failing miserably, and I think I'm actually ENJOYING IT.
Working as a CNA is one of the hardest things I've ever done. No question. And we gotta work like hell to "protect our licenses", as one of my coworkers earlier said, because the littlest thing out of line can get us fired without our CNA license. There's a lot of crap in this field - literally - and we have to clean it up. We have to deal with sick people, cranky people, people with dementia, and just downright MEAN people. We have to deal with their deaths, their sadness, and their happiness and get them through it all. We have to deal with their family members, even when the family is out of line, and follow the familys' wishes, no matter what the resident wants.
Yet, despite cleaning up poop and dealing with mean people, this is easily the most rewarding job I've had. There are some people who I work with that I'd rather not, and I wish I were progressing a bit more at speed with this job (it's not easy getting 10 people to bed in 2 hours when they need to be washed, changed, cleaned, toileted, etc, while running into OTHER issues). Overall I feel like I CAN DO THIS though. I have to - if I want to be a nurse, I need to start somewhere. And one thing I've learned is that the best nurses were once CNAs.
The job is stressful and hard. However, it goes by so quickly. The girls I work with are overall a great crew (and even a couple of guys - though not many). The residents crack me up on a daily basis. There are a few I'd rather not deal with, but overall they're pretty funny. One thing I've noticed is that the rehab patients are more of a hassle than the regular residents. They're less apt to WANT to do things on their own - it's almost like they think it's a little vacation where they needn't do anything themselves. And unfortunately, they usually seem to believe they're the only ones there. They'd rather pee themselves than have us walk them to the bathroom. Lazy. :( And sadly, the heads of my nursing home aim to do a LOT more rehab and less nursing home in the future. They're trying to switch it over as we speak. Very depressing. My favorite residents are all RESIDENTS. Even the ones with dementia (it's fun, sometimes, to talk to them - ever try a conversation with someone with dementia? It's funny! - and no, I know the illness itself SUCKS and is AWFUL and HORRIBLE and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but when you work with it, you really learn to talk to them and giggle about it).
Overall, for the moment, I am HAPPY. No more retail for me! :)
Working as a CNA is one of the hardest things I've ever done. No question. And we gotta work like hell to "protect our licenses", as one of my coworkers earlier said, because the littlest thing out of line can get us fired without our CNA license. There's a lot of crap in this field - literally - and we have to clean it up. We have to deal with sick people, cranky people, people with dementia, and just downright MEAN people. We have to deal with their deaths, their sadness, and their happiness and get them through it all. We have to deal with their family members, even when the family is out of line, and follow the familys' wishes, no matter what the resident wants.
Yet, despite cleaning up poop and dealing with mean people, this is easily the most rewarding job I've had. There are some people who I work with that I'd rather not, and I wish I were progressing a bit more at speed with this job (it's not easy getting 10 people to bed in 2 hours when they need to be washed, changed, cleaned, toileted, etc, while running into OTHER issues). Overall I feel like I CAN DO THIS though. I have to - if I want to be a nurse, I need to start somewhere. And one thing I've learned is that the best nurses were once CNAs.
The job is stressful and hard. However, it goes by so quickly. The girls I work with are overall a great crew (and even a couple of guys - though not many). The residents crack me up on a daily basis. There are a few I'd rather not deal with, but overall they're pretty funny. One thing I've noticed is that the rehab patients are more of a hassle than the regular residents. They're less apt to WANT to do things on their own - it's almost like they think it's a little vacation where they needn't do anything themselves. And unfortunately, they usually seem to believe they're the only ones there. They'd rather pee themselves than have us walk them to the bathroom. Lazy. :( And sadly, the heads of my nursing home aim to do a LOT more rehab and less nursing home in the future. They're trying to switch it over as we speak. Very depressing. My favorite residents are all RESIDENTS. Even the ones with dementia (it's fun, sometimes, to talk to them - ever try a conversation with someone with dementia? It's funny! - and no, I know the illness itself SUCKS and is AWFUL and HORRIBLE and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but when you work with it, you really learn to talk to them and giggle about it).
Overall, for the moment, I am HAPPY. No more retail for me! :)