I feel sick.

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I am about to start my CNA program at the end of this month, and I've been doing a lot of reading. And I have prior experience working in boarding home for senior citizens that was owned by my grandmother. I was not certified, nor did I have any real training, I was just kind of thrown into. And as I read up on laws regarding assisted living and similar types of homes for senior citizens, I realized there were some seriously illegal things going on.

I would administer meds to a patient who had alzheimers, as she was unable to safely take them herself. When a couple of patients were on hospice, the hospice nurse showed me how to pass liquid morphine and lorezapam (se?) through a port. As I read through the laws governing these types of homes, I realized atleast half of the patients shouldn't have been there. I was only 18 when my grandmother asked me to work for her, and I never even thought any of the things she had me doing would be considered illegal.

I originally thought this experience would be good, as I have done many of the things a CNA does, but now I feel guilty as I really should not have been doing those things. Is this something I should keep quiet about, and not openly discuss my experience when in class? My grandmother no longer owns this boarding home, and I think it would definitely be a waste of time to even try to report this since it happened over 6 years ago.

I just feel sick knowing I was part of this, even though I truly loved working with the residents while I was there.

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You didn't know any better. Don't feel bad. You're not working there any longer, your grandmother no longer owns it. You're going to make a great cna because of the fact you care so much and want to provide the best for your residents. Personally, I wouldn't worry about discussing it but if you are concerned you could go to the instructor in private and mention what happened. I'm sure she'll tell you that your starting over and it only counts what you do know with your residents not 6 years ago. We had a couple of girls in class mention things similar that former employers made them do and the instructor informed them how much trouble could have been then, not now. Good luck with the class :)

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I honestly would not feel bad about this. Luckily, no harm came from it and you didn't know you were doing anything wrong. The past is the past and I agree; there's nothing that can be done about it now, so I hope you don't let it hurt your future. If anything I'd say you have a leg-up because of all the experience. It's obvious that you're a very caring person and I think you're going to make a great CNA.

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Before you became a CNA you did not have a license that said you could not give a person medication and so forth, so you did nothing wrong. I have known several CNAs that go into home health and let their license expire just for this very reason. Many of these ex-CNAs or want to bees also get over confident and also preform precedures like caths, wound care, ostomy care, enemas, bolus feedings and so forth and have not been properly trained. Many are not aware how they may be risking the patients health and also setting themselves up for a very bad situation. It is great you now have more knowlege. The more I learn the more I find discover I know so little :idea:

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