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Nursing Students CNA/MA

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How do you stay warm and caring in this job? I've been at this just about a month, graveyard shift with a great company and the only way I can get through it is to become military like. Don't get me wrong I smile and I'm nice and I try to build up my residents as much as possible. But deep down I know its just a bunch of bs to keep them happy and to try and get them to do as much as they can as possible. At first I thought doing everything for them was the right thing, but I know now I'm not helping them at all if I do that and all my coworkers all the way up have helped me to see that doing it for them just doesn't aid in anything but them getting worse. So it makes me sad but I've just stopped caring and put more effort into the job. I can't get all mushy I can't cry and console, and I can't spend hours with each one. Its kind of scary but I've already had a couple die and I'm not emotional I just keep working hard and knowing that my surgical tech career is one day closer, one day. Tell me someone please how to do it better. Its such a cold way to work but its the only way I've found to survive.

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This is what i am afraid off. My first day will be monday. I have already had orientation. But my first day on the floor will be monday. I am scared i will not have what it takes to do this job. So how do you keep going and stay focused. Oh yeah and a question for you sonomala? How did you get into the surgical tech idea. and how many class's and where are you going for them. thanks

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I think that you have to walk the line of being partially "desensitized" to it, but yet still having empathy for your pts. It's not being cold, it's just doing your job. I mean I have sometimes that I catch myself being totally cold about it all, getting frustrated or just cold about the daily activities. But you will also have those moments that make you go "Ahhhh, this is why I am doing this!" and you will be touched and satisfied, and you will have impacted someone else's life for the better. Just the other day, I rushed in to hurry through getting one of my residents dressed, thinking in my head things like; oh I hope she doesn't whine, I hope she doesn't give me problems, I hope she doesn't hit/scratch/punch me, I hope she stands good so I don't break my back, I hope she ....blah blah blah you get the point. Well while I was dressing her she was abnormally talkative, she's normally pretty difficult to understand and doesn't speak much. But out of the blue, she says "give me a hug"! :redbeathe Now, admittedly, I did a mental rundown - hands clean and free of poo? Check. Clean shirt - no potential food or unknown bodily substances - check. Face clean - check. Yes!!! Of course you can have a hug! LOL So I hugged her, you know the sort of hug you would give a long lost distant cousin you haven't seen in a few years, and she REALLY embraced me and gave me a huge hug! :redbeathe In that moment, my heart melted and I forgot all about the ewwy gross things and I thought "I wonder how long it's been since she's been hugged" :cry: And I really, really hugged her back, and it was a sweet experience that I am thankful for. I needed it as much as she did to remind me that this job isn't only about the cleaning & dressing & feeding & changing & wiping & lifting & poo & ick & mess, ... sometimes its just about being there for them!

Sorry for the novel... lol

Point is, look for the little moments that you can tuck inside your heart and carry with you forever!

:heartbeat

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I'll admit it - it's really hard to balance the desire to be caring and sensitive and the fact that you sometimes have to get a little calloused to survive the job. No matter what, you will have frustrations. YOu will have to get a little desensitized. It's a sad truth of the job. However, you do have to learn how to balance it.

I am a good CNA. Nonetheless, I find myself thinking things like the above poster mentioned - "oh, I hope she's not difficult tonight." "PLEASE JUST STOP BOTHERING ME!" "If you push that button one more time, I might scream." "Ahhh, stop peeing every five minutes!" etc. I'm only human, and when you work a job that can be as stressful as CNA work, it happens. Don't beat yourself up. It's okay to have these thoughts...you just can't ever let the resident know how you're feeling.

It's just a fact that we usually have more work to do than we should. Yes, you have to be a little "military style" to get it all done. If you're running around super frazzled, take a second before you go into a room, take a deep breath, collect yourself, and smile. The resident will react a lot better to you, will likely be easier to take care of and more agreeable.

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Thanks everyone! These posts really lifted me up :)

Adorabepuppy, I found surgical tech certification when I was scanning my local community college medical field offerings. I liked what I saw, it was short under two years and from the description seemed to fit me. I did a little research with rns, doctors, hospital staff ect and found they are in high demand and make around 14 dollars an hour to start (but right now because of demand the hospitals around here are offering 17-20) I'm going to go with a private college that has the certification req by our hospitals (national :)). They do it all in quarters and its a five quarter course. It should take me just about a year plus half a summer. Let me know if you need links ect :)

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Yes i would like the link please. Aren't you in north carolina? I seen the class at durham tech. I am kinda in limbo right now. I was going to do medical coding but the class keeps getting post-poned. So right now i am just trying to get through the next few weeks. I start my new job tomorrow and my husband is having surgery wednesday. Not sure how long he will be out of work.

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I thought about this post last night. I was toileting the same woman for the 6th time in an 8 hour shift and left the room while she finished her business. I caught myself being completely grumpy because this is a tough woman. She is VERY difficult to understand, very particular and unfortunately, hard to like. So I was kicking myself for being short with her.

After I got done with her, the next man I had to change has a really hard time at night. He hallucinates, rolls out of bed, strips and is all manner of fun. Sometimes I can get him to cooperate by joining him in whatever world he's in at the time. Tonight it was fishing. He was convinced he'd walked out of the boat in the water and was going to miss the fishing because he was all wet. I told him the dock was closing for the night, it was quitting time. I changed him and told him he had dry clothes on and it was time to go home and he started to calm down. He said something funny and I cracked up.

He came back to this world for a bit and told me he likes me, I'm such a good natured person :) And that some of the others arent' like that but he likes me. Then he was back at the dock again. But that was enough to rouse my mood.

Remember you're not going to like every resident. Some will not like you, for no reason you might even know. But it's our job to do the best we can. And truly the nicest thing I hear all night is when someone wakes up, sees me and says 'oh I'm so glad it's you tonight!' That just makes my day.

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Not to sound cold, but it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things what you feel inside as long as you come across to *them* as warm and caring... Honestly, in alot of cases, it's going to be "fake it till you make it". Sometimes you'll have your heart in it- sometimes you won't. That's OK. Part of the burnout factor is, IMO, that people don't realize this and think there is something wrong with them when they can't muster the genuine care and empathy for every single person and situation that crosses their path. Also- this IMO is more often going to occur (not feeling it) when you aren't taking good care of your OWN needs and keeping YOUR tank filled. So- take care of *yourself* first and you'll have more to give *others*.... And relax- you're human- it's normal :)

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Adorabepuppy my computer is acting up or I would have posted links, Sorry. I had them but they are somewhere lost in this thing. You can try going to community college websites for infos on the program ect. Sorry, if i can find them I will get them to you.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
Thanks everyone! These posts really lifted me up :)

Adorabepuppy, I found surgical tech certification when I was scanning my local community college medical field offerings. I liked what I saw, it was short under two years and from the description seemed to fit me. I did a little research with rns, doctors, hospital staff ect and found they are in high demand and make around 14 dollars an hour to start (but right now because of demand the hospitals around here are offering 17-20) I'm going to go with a private college that has the certification req by our hospitals (national :)). They do it all in quarters and its a five quarter course. It should take me just about a year plus half a summer. Let me know if you need links ect :)

Are you interested in being a nurse at all? Nursing may not be your plans, and if it's not, forgive me for bringing this up, but you do realize that there are many places where you could get your RN in 2 years or less? I got my RN in 22 months from a hospital based deploma program. Again, if surg tech is what you want, go for it, but I would think RN would have more opportunities, more career advancement, etc.

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We can't treat people like they are family and some people are harder to like than others. Keep up your spirits and Surgical Tech is so different that I wish you well. No pt contavt really and you will be working with Dr and Nurses for your interaction so if that is your thing than go for it!

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