I have been a CNA (certified nursing assistant) since 2006. I was taught at Isothermal Community College in Polk County NC. My instructor, like all CNA instructors, taught by a very strict state guideline and if you wanted to pass your final, you followed those guidelines. They are guidelines I believe need to be honored if you are going to care for someones loved one. I know it's the ones I would expect to be used if caring for my Mom or Dad, Grandparents, or other family member I love.The cold hard truth is it's a whole different ballgame when you actually start working as one. Everything you learned to be certified goes right out the window. After working in several care facilities, I have come to realize that no one should ever put a loved one in a nursing home...PERIOD! Why you ask? They DO NOT get the care that you are paying for and expect. Plain and simple. How many times a week do you take a shower? I know I take one everyday, sometimes twice a day. Not in any resident care facility. Twice a week is all they get and sometimes not even that. If they are short staffed, maybe one day and can you imagine if they're short staffed on both days that your loved one is supposed to be showered? They're stinking pretty bad because I don't care that they require you give a bed bath everyday, it's just not the same. Oh, and bed baths, well, that's half assed too if they're short. It's face, pits, and private areas only, throw clothes on, comb hair, and throw them in a wheelchair or whatever they sit in. The majority of the time, mouth care is the furthest from grooming in any minds there. Why? Because the nurses that don't feel like it is in their job title to help where it's needed, want those residents out of bed by 11 a.m. Psht! Get your ass up and try it! Get 11 people bathed/showered, clothed, groomed, and up by 11 a.m.? Ha! All the while you have call bells going off, people trying to get up by themselves that shouldn't, feed meals to those that can't feed themselves, and other speed bumps along the way. To beat it all though is they expect this out of people that have had only a few days of training, are not familiar with the residents and their needs, and more than likely DO NOT know how to use the lifts that are required to be used on certain residents because they are total lift (meaning they cannot physically do anything and are dead weight so it takes a lift to get them up). I worked in an assisted living facility for 3 years and in my opinion, if it is possible for your loved one to go into assisted living, not a nursing home with an "assisted" wing, then try your best to put them there. I will never work in a nursing home again as long as I live. I have only met a few LPN/RNs that actually don't act like they're so above you that they can't get in there and get their hands dirty (I commend those that have and truly appreciate them, though they are few and far between). Most are too busy barking about what you haven't done than understanding that the CNA just spent an hour busting their butt to get what they just did, done. That after they cleaned up the resident they're working with, that same resident messed again and ruined the fresh clothes you just put on them, or they urinated or shit on the floor. No, we don't get mad because it's our job but when you have the highers up coming behind you grilling you and making you feel worthless because you "haven't" got something done, it makes you angry. Not at the resident but the nerve an RN/LPN has when they don't know or see firsthand the turmoil you've been through. Can a CNA get up 11 or more residents by 11 a.m. daily? Sure...as long as you don't care that your loved one isn't getting the care they need. Honestly, if it were my family member and I knew what I know, I would sue the pants off of every care facility I've worked in because I know the level of care they're getting, and it's not what they should! As for the one assisted living community that I worked for, I have no negative things to say about the level of care they provided to the residents there. I hold the highest regards to the staff there for the service they give to those sweet elderly people. I guess that's why I lasted there as long as I did before I left to pursue photography. If not for doctor's orders to resign from being a CNA, I don't know how much longer I would have lasted at my last job. I cannot fathom those helpless people not getting the care they are entitled to. I did not become a CNA to do a half ass job and to have any less expected of me is an insult to my certification and knowledge! I honestly do not know how half of these homes pass their state evaluation. I guess once a year isn't too much to ask that a CNA does the job right...After that, it's business as usual. I'm sorry to anyone that this offends but one thing I try to be is honest and this is me being me. It's my opinion...Like it or not, it's the hard truth about how CNAs are under appreciated and paid way less than they should be. CNAs are the hub of any home and should be honored and paid more than anyone in nursing! Especially if they're going to be treated like they can be replaced so easily. If a CNA is okay with halfway doing their job, then their heart is not in the right place. All they care about is a paycheck or making the nurses happy. I choose to be one that cares enough to do it right...therefore I just assume not be one at all if I can't care for a person the way they deserve to be cared for. Simple as that.
