cna diary - 03/13/2010

[littlegoat]

Today is my first day ( we work four days and have two days off )to get back to work. After finishing distribuing the clothes to their cabinet, I started changing their diapers. When I was working on room 216, I heard big sound hitting the floor; I ran out of the room and checked other immediate rooms. I found a patient lying down on the floor and her forehead was bleeding. I was shocked and rushed to the front station and called charged nurses for help. We put the patient to the bed and they began treatment. About an hour later, the ambulance came and she was sent to the hospital.

I felt upset all day long. As a nursing assistant, we have to take care of fourteen patients in evening shift which is from 2pm to 10pm. For this patient, I changed her diaper and put both side rails up. Her head was raised up and her feet too. I could not figure out why and how did she slide down to the floor. Most of our patients here are with G tube or confused. To be honest, it's a big pressure to us to handle fourteen patients in a shift because some patients even playing pu pu, so we need to take extra time for cleaning. I pray she will recover soon but I wish someday we could reduce our patients to ten or under for each nursing assistant, so we have more time to watch out our patients.

[littlegoat]

It wouldn't matter if you had two patients or twenty-two. You can't be in every room at the same time, falls are bound to happen. Don't allow yourself to feel bad, or guilty, you just can't be everywhere.

Some falls are going to happen no matter what you do. You obviously care for your patients, but you cannot control the universe. Maintain a positive outlook.

Best wishes.

Thanks for your support. :)