CNA students: help or burden?

k-t-did · Apr 14, 2009

I know when we were doing clinicals the CNA's sat around and did practically nothing while we did all the work, so I would hope and pray they would vote "help". LOL

One Flew Over · Apr 14, 2009

Ours are nice because they have a tendency to choose the more difficult patients for practice. I wish we could teach them, but the instructor doesn't like us to get involved at all. Which is understandable, because they have to learn everything exactly 'by the book' for the exam.

In any case, she does a terrific job, and is really an excellent instructor! The patients always look/feel great plus extra help of any kind is always greatly appreciated :) :heartbeat

KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2009

I know when we were doing clinicals the CNA's sat around and did practically nothing while we did all the work, so I would hope and pray they would vote "help". LOL

I noticed the same thing when we did clinicals as well. When we were there though the floor was short staffed so they were happy to have us there--sort of lightened the load a little bit for them :)

kungfu_panda · Apr 16, 2009

I think having to teach students is more help than burden. For one, you have extra sets of hands to help you with residents (especially with transfers). And two, you're helping them also by teaching them. When I was doing clinicals, I was grateful for everything the CNA's taught me. And I have passed on what I've learned to the students. I guess it's kind of my way of giving back to the CNA's who taught me.

On the other hand, some people might think that teaching students would be a burden because they have to stop and explain what they're doing and why they're doing it. As a result, this may slow down their work pace a little. But I don't think that's such a big deal as long as you get all your work done.