mizally

Two words: body mechanics. I'm 5'2" and about, well, I'm small. As everyone else said, once you learn the proper techniques, you'll be fine. You'll also know when to ask for help. And with everything, practice will make you better. And if you're moving patients, they'll be depending on you, which will boost your confidence a bit.

You can keep stuff on you that you might have in a purse, but the key is to minimize as much as possible. If it's not too late, get a uniform top and bottom each with lots of pockets. On our clinicals, I kept my license, debit card and $10 in a button-up pocket at my knee. In another pocket, I kept raisins/nuts in a ziplock bag for snacking on the go. (The baggie is important even if raisins are in a little box because of possible poop "splatterage" -- the patient's, not yours. Hehehe.) In my back pocket, I had a small notepad to remember room numbers, other important things like codes to doors, etc., also to calculate by hand I&O. I had two pens clipped to me (in case ink ran out or somebody walked away with one). Also, we had our own stethoscopes, which I put in a lower pocket or my side pocket or just around my neck. (The latter is annoying, though, when you have to move people.) And I wore my gait belt under my uniform top around my waist. To absorb sweat, FYI, I wore a T-shirt under my top and fastened the gait belt on top of that. Other things to have: a couple tissues in case you get a tickle in your nose and have to sneeze suddenly, a couple of starlight mints for dry mouth (or nausea) and to avoid offending patients with your breath, a small tube of Chapstick, Vaseline or Carmex for dry lips -- something with some lasting power. That also comes in handy for dry cuticles from multiple washings. (You typically can't use your own lotion anyway. Some facilities have a special kind instead.) That's really all you should need. I wouldn't take up extra space either as a student. People tend to bristle if they think you're getting too comfortable. Hope that helps!

Not necessarily. I'll start my CNA course in a few weeks, after the new year. However, I've been a volunteer on an oncology floor in a hospital since June. Every hospital worker I see now knows I'm preparing for nursing school. For that reason, they often allow me a little more patient contact. I've helped PCTs take vitals, helped with a colostomy bag (boy was that fun :barf01:), I've helped wash patients, helped pts get dressed, held a dying pt's hand, called the nurse when I found a deceased pt and even helped with post-mortem care. Essentially, as soon as most of the nurses knew I wouldn't keel over at something gross, they let me hang around to learn as much as I can. (Now, I did have to leave a room abruptly during trach suctioning but was able to do it discreetly. Something about it made me a little lightheaded and nauseated. I visited the same patient the next day with the same nurse doing more suction and was fine that time, though.) The key, I guess, is that I get to HELP -- not do anything on my own. I will casually visit with patients who may be lonely or just need something like a warm blanket or other tasks that are unnecessary to bother a nurse for; things like help to the bathroom or holding a straw for water. By now, I can gather when I'll need help or whether I'll create a liability. That's when I call a PCT or nurse. Meanwhile, I'm the one who keeps the pt from freaking out during the wait for someone else. The nurses and PCTs really seem to appreciate that, and I feel less like the wanna-be who's in everybody's face trying to figure out what to do. The experience is great for getting a sense of the hospital atmosphere, but I know being a CNA will increase that exponentially. All baby steps toward the RN goal. So, get in however you can, knowing that volunteering might not be enough by itself.

A few disclaimers: I'm not a nurse yet, not even a nursing student. I start my prereqs and a CNA course next semester. In the meantime, I'm a home hospice and a hospital palliative care volunteer. (Short story, I was laid off from my previous career; idled my way into volunteering and fell in love with patient care, decided to change careers entirely.) I've been there for at least two patient deaths, spent time with several in the active phase and lost at least five that I'd connected with over time as their home volunteer. I've seen the look in the eyes and found it more of a questioning look. It was as if they were asking, "What now?" I always have to remember to check my own immediate reactions at the moment. I see my job as a comfort at that point. I hold their hands and just reassure them of things being OK: OK to go, OK to wonder or just OK that he or she isn't alone. After that, either the patient passes or I have to leave before death but amid the active stage, that's when I process to people who can understand the emotions that wash over you. For me, that's the volunteer coordinator, nurses on the floor, the patient's immediate nurse, the bereavement counselor, the chaplain. The "eye" thing doesn't haunt me, per se. It stays with me, however. I don't fight the image; I just process it and match the possibilities of their thoughts with what I knew about the patient's personality to answer the question of what was going on. What's harder, I suppose, is when their eyes are tightly shut and it looks as if tears have welled in their eyes. That happened with the first patient that died practically in front of me. Her eyes weren't that way when she was still breathing; closed, yes. Wet, no. That was difficult. Like grief, I guess, I just let whatever thoughts and feelings I have of the patient run their course. Sometimes, it involves shock and maybe tears. I tend to bounce back with the next patient. He or she is a new person to help along the journey. I hope you don't think I'm oversimplifying. I'm learning that my method of dealing with death, imminent death and the dying seems easier than it is for others. I don't know if that means a nursing specialty has chosen me at this stage in the game; but it's something I consider. Do any of you hospice nurses ever "burnout" a little at knowing almost all of your patients won't recover? That's my fear if I chose hospice as a specialty; what if I'd NEED somebody to live?

Awww. I thought I might have happened on a two new classmates. I'm starting my CNA course in January too but with the Resurrection system. Good luck to you guys!

Hmm. Happen to BE starting, I mean.

You guys wouldn't happen to starting the CNA program at Resurrection Health in January, would you?