CNA ? Is it really gross and why do we have to?

Sue7573 · Apr 23, 2005

I have been a CNA since I was 16 am now 31 going to RN school. I have read several posts on here about what is gross and what is not. I mean I have seen so much gross stuff I am so used to it now. A friend of mine commented to me once dang you could wipe a butt and eat a hamburger at the same time your stomach is so strong. (I would not ever do that but maybe I could) The one thing I have only seen slightly touched on is the resident/patient. The things I remember about my patients have nothing to do with what was gross about them. Don't get me wrong I remember some gross moments but the actual patient is what I remember most. One time a woman was so upset because she had a bowel movement in the bed before she could make it to the potty. I was helping her get cleaned up and there was no secret about the smell and amount of the BM there was. She was crying and saying all you will every remember about me is this. I told her honestly no, that when I remember things about my residents I don't remember the size or color or smell of her turd. I remember that she liked to knit and that she has a dog at home name "Burl" and that she likes pimento cheese with supper and that her fingernails were always painted red and that her favorite picture on her wall was of the parakeet. I remember her daughter that always hugged me when she came in and those delicous muffins she made for us. I remember her laughing at the talent show. Or her disappointment that her granddaughter didn't make it for thanksgiving. I remeber that her family would sneak in Mountain Dew for her to drink or that she was smitten for mr. so and so and they would hold hands in the hall way.

Or the guy at the assisted living facility I worked at. He was relatively young but he had led an admittedly rough life and was paying for it now. He was to proud to admit that he needed at least intermediate nursing care so when I would go to work I would take him to the shower and clean his apartment even on days off I would come in and make sure all was well with him. (see at the retirement center they had to be able to do all adl's with minimal to no assistance to stay there). He was admitted to the hospital for some reason or another and I gave him my phone number so that when he needed to go smoke I would come up there and take him. He had no other family at all and the hospital policy is you can smoke if you can get to the designated smoking spot. He owned a barber shop, he had married once and cheated on his wife and divorced. They had a child that doesn't even know him. He loved his cat. He was a recovering alcohalic and the smell of bleach made him sick. His favorite snack was oreo cookies. He had a crush on the activities director.

I say all of this because we become part of their lives we become more to them than words can say.

One christmas we were working short I had ten rooms (20 patients) early in the morning a family member came to me with a dressing gown she wanted put on momma, I thought are you kidding, it was the kind of gown that is flannel on the inside and silky like satin on the outside with absolutly no give what so ever. Momma had a contracture in her right arm to where her hand twisted down and tucked under her armpit. I was not happy about having to do that especially being so short and it being christmas. I went in there bathed momma, talked to her and dressed her I guess a miracle happened because I got that flannel contraption on her without hurting her at all (sweaty and satisfied) I fixed her hair and got a little blush on her just as the daughter came back in. She just dropped her jaw and started crying she admitted that she knew it would be hard to get the gown on momma. She cried I cried and momma sit there Knowing she was the prettiest thing on the planet at that moment. That was the first and only time I ever saw momma smile.

We had a man that entered the sub acute unit I worked at he had tried to commit suicide. He had shot himself under the chin the bullet went up the right side of his face and exited out just under his eyebrow. We got him a good ways into the recovery but he still looked horrible. Half of his tongue was gone and it was almost impossible to understand. We had flash cards but that only made him mad. I had not had the pleasure yet to have him on my group but dreaded the day I did. I would avoid him at all costs. Others had said on top of being hard to look at he was horrible mean. One afternoon I was the only aide on the floor at the time (break time) and his light came on. ARGH I didn't want to go in there. But I mustered up and hauled it in there. It took me fifteen minutes to figure out what he wanted and we both were a little testy when I figured it out. He wanted a diet coke. and he didn't want one of those little hospital generic cokes either. So I went and got him one out of the machine (using my money). Later another aide Larry (the only aide that could do anything with him) came to me and asked where did I get his diet coke. I told him I bought it why. He said that the patient knew I didn't get it from the facility and wanted to thank me for getting the diet coke for him. I went in later to just talk to him and it turned out that he was really a pretty cool guy. He stayed with us for about a month, then he went home. he wasn't gone long when his mother called and asked to talk to the girl that bought him the diet coke. She said that somehow I had made a difference in his recovery and that all he ever talked about was how nice that girl was. Later in that shift I was walking up to the nusres station and I saw a 12 pack of diet coke on the counter. There was a note on it. To: Sue thanks more than you will ever know. From ***** I was so impressed and amazed I didn't know what all I had done for him.

It is things like these stories that keep me going that makes my reasononing for being a nurse relevant.

Sue7573 · Apr 24, 2005

sorry my last post was so long I just get a little passionate when it comes to my residents

Sue

pristy · Apr 25, 2005

12 pack of diet coke on the counter. There was a note on it. To: Sue thanks more than you will ever know. From ***** I was so impressed and amazed I didn't know what all I had done for him.

It is things like these stories that keep me going that makes my reasononing for being a nurse relevant.

Wow, those stories make me really look forward to being a CNA. I guess I need to focus more on the people and not their problems. Thanks

galaxy781 · Apr 25, 2005

thats why i wanted to be a nurse!!!!

Csunkis · Apr 29, 2005

I'm new to all this. I have just applied to a 2 year program and was told I have to be a CNA before my first nursing class. What exactly do they teach you and what do you do? I'm afraid it will be really gross. I know nursing won't always be easy, but don't CNA's have the icky jobs all the time? I want to do it, just to prove I can, but would like to know what I'm getting into. Do they require this to weed out the squeamish?

I'm 16 and am a junior in high school. I recently got my CNA license and have been working in a nursing home for some time now. Let me tell ya being 16 and have to perform perineal care and picking up poo really makes you appreciate life. But yes the duties that you perform are gross but you get used to it and when a patient thanks you for helping them out all worries about the job disappear. It wasn't pretty at the beginning but helping out the patients and getting to know them has been such an amazing experience. Trust me it's not as bad as everyone makes it seem. I wouldn't trade any of my experiences!

CC

AKAKatydid · May 1, 2005

sorry my last post was so long I just get a little passionate when it comes to my residents
Sue

Thank you Sue!

I wonder how I hadn't seen this thread until today... I swear that made me tear up! And it's funny that I see it this morning... because this morning was one of those mornings/nights for me. (I work 3rd shift as a tech). Bear with me because this is a long one too... and I'm way past my bedtime!

We have one pt who is a DNR, that is just a poor mess. She's not doing too well, and has been here about 2 weeks... She is a total care, incontinent, who moans in agony every time she is touched. (She is unable to communicate) Her granddaughter is in her mid-30's and has been staying by her side day and night for the past week... The granddaughter has been so helpful, she gets up and gowns up before I can even think to ask a nurse for help moving her. Wow!! (Grandma has C-diff... and for those of you who haven't had the pleasure, lets just say runny, stinky, and contagious)

Well this morning, when I went to take vitals and clean her mess, Grandma didn't even make a peep when I moved her around. When I was done, I combed her hair, and washed her face, and she just looked right into my eyes smiling. It was like you could feel every inch of appreciation and sincerity. Sometimes they don't need to say anything for you to know how much you've done, because you can see it in their face. :scrying: I tried so hard not to cry. I don't think I'll ever forget "momma" (that's what I've been calling her) and the look in her eyes. She truly touched my heart last night.

The grandaughter told me that when it is all over with her grandmother, she is thinking about becoming a CNA.

This is the reason why I got into nursing!!! (believe it or not, literally... when my grandfather was ill and dying, I was so moved by the medical staff. When he passed away, I quit my job to learn to be a nurse. I can so relate to the granddaughter)

mariedoreen · May 1, 2005

CNA classes are often required before admittance to nursing school for several reasons, a couple of the big ones are that: programs have found in the past that they lost several students because these students had really had no exposure to the profession prior to nursing school and they discovered that it wasn't for them. It was hoped that if they had CNA training prior, they may have been able to make that decision before taking these spots away from students who would have stayed. Also, since in some programs you would have a lot of CNAs and a lot who knew nothing about patient care it made the curriculum difficult... either those without CNA experience were not learning enough of the basics or those who were CNAs were being forced to sit through things they knew very well. Requiring all to be CNAs prior to admittance leveled the playing field so to speak and helped to ensure that most were on the same page.

RNs are responsible for ALL the care that their patient receives on their shift. If they're lucky they'll have a CNA to assist them with some of the aspects of that care, but they are never at a point where they don't do it at all. CNAs may be tied up with other patients, or they may call in sick, or the RN may simply need to give that bath herself because she needs to do a very thorough skin assessment, or often she's working with the CNA to help reposition her patient or clean up the pt's BM etc... because for this patient it's a two person job...

What you are going to learn in your CNA class is simply the beginning of what you need to know to be a good nurse. In a sense, it is the first term of the program for you. Embrace it and learn well because you're going to use the skills you learn there every shift you ever work.

LPN1974, LPN · May 1, 2005

I only read the original post, and I think when you get out of nursing school and really get to working, you might find there is aLOT more to gross than when you worked as a CNA.

Believe me, it can be worse than assisting someone with bathing, toileting, and brushing teeth.

Trauma Columnist · May 1, 2005

I just wanted to thank Sue and Katydid. You are both true professionals and asset to nursing. I would hope that when I get older, the CNA's are half as kind as you two - thanks so much for the smile.

TheMaestroOfGotham · May 2, 2005

I can't wait to get my CNA. I want to get as much as clinical experience as possible before I start the RN program. I don't mind flying turds. :stone

Stdy2BaNurse · May 3, 2005

sorry my last post was so long I just get a little passionate when it comes to my residents
Sue

Sue,

As a "pre-nursing student" feeling on the brink, ready to quit, will finals week ever be over....I want to say thank you.

This is such a reminder of why I chose to do what I am doing. I watched the excellent care (physical/emotional - out of the way care) that both my grandfather and then my grandmother received during their 'home' stays before passing on. I sit here with tears. Probably a mix of emotion from memories and emotion from being reminded of why this is so important for me to do. I want to be that nurse that offers compassion (not just to the patient). I want to give back what was given to me; albeit indirectly.

To everyone that has shared their experiences, Thank you!!

- Traci

sHaMpOo_mE · May 4, 2005

Did you know that when they didnt have all this high-tech stuff, doctors and nurses use to TASTE people's urine to check to see if it tasted sweet (diabetes test)? We have it good! Maybe read on up some of the heros/heroines in our profession, and see that its not so bad, becuase its for a good cause. :balloons:

Wow....thats truly gross and very risky, didn't know that ._.