You know you are a CNA when....

rancelumsden · Dec 30, 2008

(stolen from) http://www.nursinglink.com/topics/3741--you-know-you-are-a-cna-when/posts

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A CNA WHEN

-You have to remind yourself that any stories involving body fluids or the words "bedpan" and "pureed foods" must be saved for fellow aides and nursing students (you find them perfectly run-of-the-mill but your family and friends turn green the second they start)

-You justify your post-work ice cream feasts by telling yourself that you MUST have worked off a lot of those calories during the mad rush of your shift

-A new admit that needs only 1 assist and is AAOx3 is almost as good as a Christmas present

-You wish that you could remember some of those "therapeutic responses" your nursing textbooks taught you to use with Alzheimer's/dementia patients

-You get so hungry during your shift that some of the food that arrives on the residents' dinner trays begins to look strangely appetizing...

-You know that when a resident leaves for the evening with their family, they WILL come back and want to go to bed 2 minutes before the shift is over

-You stifle a huge urge to laugh when a resident is horribly distraught over the loss of one cheap, ordinary white sock

-You think about how surreal (and potentially wonderful) a "normal" job would be-where you'd never have to wear scrubs or deal with body fluids and EVERYONE would be walking independently and not confused!

-You've had dreams involving bed alarms, call lights, etc.

is is a dream to work in an evironment where patients actually remember who you are.

sonomala · Dec 30, 2008

You know your a cna when making mental notes of the bathroom habits of the residents is not only second nature, it feels completely natural to have those of 8 residents in your head.

sonomala · Dec 30, 2008

You know your a cna when while shopping an alarm goes off and you immediatly think of which resident just tried to stand up on their own.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Dec 30, 2008

You're always aware of how much you drank and it's always in cc's.

cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 30, 2008

You know your a CNA when you look at your dinner plate when your finished and you automatically calculate in your head what your intake was.

You know your a CNA when you pick up a bottle of detergent in a grocery store and you wonder how many different types of pureed food or body fluid stains it will remove from your scrubs.

!Chris :specs:

yousoldtheworld · Dec 30, 2008

Hahah. You find yourself mentally characterizing your own bowel movements (or those of your children) by size and character.

Anytime you help someone do something outside of work, you subconsciously want to do it on the count of three.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Dec 30, 2008

You see people wash their hands in public bathrooms and think, "What was the point in THAT?" because they scrubbed for like 3 seconds and then touched the faucet to turn it off.

People don't understand why prune juice, milk of mag, stool softener brands, suppositories, and disimpaction are in your vocabulary, since you're only in your 20s.

One night I was really sweaty and I thought about putting powder under my breasts until I realized I don't have powder at home!

redhead04073 · Dec 31, 2008

You dream about your residents and violently wake your husband up because you think something's happened to them......

You can tell who had a B.M. by the smell just walking down the hall......

You hear call bells when you are alone at home.....

You have no problem talking about who had a bowel movement and it's consistency on your break.....

The list goes on :)

yousoldtheworld · Dec 31, 2008

Haha, and you hear call bells in your SLEEP.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 31, 2008

Your kid falls off the monkey bars, and you immediately start checking ROM before allowing him to stand up.

sonomala · Dec 31, 2008

When someone asks you for help outside of work, you check their wrist to see who they are first.