Certified Nursing Aid Training

This post is long overdue, but I haven’t had a lot of time to write it, and when I did have time I didn’t feel like doing it.  :o)  I have completed my C.N.A class and a CPR class – both which were fairly easy, but very informative.  The class I took was online through We Care Online.  The people there were great and very helpful.  I did the clinical part at a nursing home about 30 miles away, and again, the staff and instructor were very helpful and friendly.  Our assignments were due each Monday and we had a week to complete them.  They consisted of reading a handful of chapters, posting answers to questions on the discussion board and then taking a unit quiz.  The clinical portion was basically the hands on training of what we read about.  We learned how to lift residents using gait belts and hydraulic lifts, how to properly bathe and clean the residents and feed them.  We spent one full shift shadowing other C.N.A’s in order to get a feel for what a day is really like.  Basically it is get the resident up for breakfast, help them change into clothes, brush teeth and hair and then make their beds and feed them if they need help.  After breakfast take them to their rooms or wherever they like to go until lunch, and then repeat for lunch and dinner.  It’s not too difficult, but it still takes a certain type of person. 

Even though the course was fairly simple, I am still nervous about actually working.  Like anything medical, the nurses and other C.N.A’s sometimes eat their own.  I am pretty sure I will get all the “scut” jobs and be treated like I should already be a pro, but once I get into the swing of things I am sure I will like it.  I think knowing that it is only a part time job and not my full time “have to have it in order to live” job will make me feel soooo much better.  I worked before at a place I hated but had to for the money, and it was awful.  Every day I had to bite my tongue so I didn’t say something that would get me fired, but oh! I wanted to tell them to shove it so badly!!   

After the class was completed, the director of the home instructed a few of us on CPR.  Normally you have to pay for this type of class, but they offered it to us free of charge and it only took a couple of hours.  Now, the only thing I have left to do is pass the state exam next month to become certified.