CNA

I've wanted to write about what it was like being a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) for a while. I wrote about what it was like to get there, but not so much about what it was like being there.

For me, it was the most amazing and difficult job I have ever had. Also, for all the stress one goes under in this position, CNA's should start out at $15 an hour. Instead, most places hiring a fresh CNA will pay slightly over minimum wage and give you a raise once you are state certified. You usually won't make much more than that unless you hop on the bonus program. Bonuses are given to CNA's who take on extra shifts, usually around $75. Basically, you are required to overwork yourself if you want to make decent money as a CNA. I often heard stories of folks who worked over 20 days in a row often 16 hours each day. You make bank...yet you have no life nor energy to live life other than at work.

Shusli was a CNA for many years, and quite good at it. She even worked part time as a CNA when putting herself through nursing school and raising her daughter. This...is not an uncommon story from folks within the nursing profession. Nurses are awesome people. Some more so than others, but there is something within nurses that just keeps most of them pushing and going. Shusli is awesome. It is amazing she was/is capable of doing such a thing.

For me, like I said, CNA work was amazing. Having that license guarantees you a job. But there were some aspects of the work I hated. One was the pay, as mentioned earlier. Another is the business takes advantage of the fact that most folks in the health care industry are there because they care. Thus, folks are often talked into working lots of shifts, taking lots of shit, showing up to work to find they've been taken off of the schedule, not getting raises, etc. But, at least to an extent, CNA's Love many of the folks they are helping, and thus, the business end takes advantage of that. Most CNA's quit early in their careers. Few, honestly, stick it out.

What I Loved most about the job was the folks I worked with and the folks I helped. I got to take care of a Wounded Knee II vet. That was awesome. I got to help folks and actually see what my help was doing. I learned to Love these folks. It was fun and interesting. I had no problem cleaning up incontinent folks and doing my best to offer them dignity in their current situations. It was hard and often frustrating. Try chasing a fellow with dimentia around for half an hour with a urinal so he won't pee on the floor. Try not getting hit when someone with dimentia gets angry at you. Try to remain patient when a person with dimentia screams all through your shift. All in all, it is hard and requires a vast amount of patience. Often, you are rewarded with gems of joy in the work you do for these folks. A laugh, a joke... They are still amazing folks. They still have something to offer. It would be better if the staff was more regular and more of them.

I miss the folks I helped. I enjoyed their company and Loved them all. I miss the folks I worked with. But really, I make almost $5 more an hour driving and delivering produce than I did cleaning up after people's incontinence, making sure they were safe, listening to screaming all day, working with folks resisting care, etc. There is something wrong with that.

I must say, though, my new/old job is very gravy. There are few challenges. There is little hyper vigilence (other than heavy traffic). There is almost no stress.

I'm not sure where I'll go from here. Maybe I'll try to get back into school. Maybe I'll work here for a couple of years and then see. I don't know. No need to rush a decision at the moment.

Other than that...

BLESS ALL CNA'S AND NURSES!