Skip to main content

One week down, two more to go...

Whew, one week of CNA class down, only 2 more to go.  Thankfully yesterday was the last day of book work and our first "skill" practice...handwashing.  Honestly, you wouldn't think handwashing would be a big deal, you'd be wrong.  About half the class would have failed had they taken the skill yesterday and guess why?  Because of the shake.  You know the shake.  You've just gotten done washing your hands and the water is still dripping off of them and so what do you do?  Well, you shake the excess water off of course!  Uh-uh, not on THIS test you don't.  Our teacher told us that shaking was an automatic failure, can you believe it?  Well it's true.  So now we have to practice washing our hands with our fingers pointing down the whole time and NOT shaking off the excess water, lol.  Who would have thought handwashing would actually be a learned skill.  Next week we start learning all 26 other skills that we have to master in order to take the state test to be a certified nursing assistant.  I still haven't decided if I'm going to go ahead & take the test now or wait until later in the semester when I'll have more experience.  Speaking of having more experience, school is getting closer!! Only 44 more days, woohoo (and only 37 days until my cruise!!)  I talked to my nursing bestie yesterday & he said he was ready for school to get started, aren't we all!!  Also, I have to admit, taking this CNA class really gives me an appreciation for what these people do.  This is NOT a glamorous job people, at least not in a nursing home.  I'm not sure what a CNA would do in a hospital, but in a nursing home I'd have to say in order to be a CNA for ANY length of time you would have to REALLY love taking care of people at the most basic level.  Honestly, I think it takes even more of a special person to be a CNA than even a nurse.  So, if you work with any CNA's be sure to thank them for all their hard work.


Blessings,

Comments

  1. The CNA I worked with during the first couple of weeks of clinical said she thinks all nurses should be CNA first. I tend to agree! During our first couple of weeks we worked with CNAs and they were awesome :) And yes hand washing is IMPORTANT and many do it wrong. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with her. I don't think you can really appreciate what someone does unless you've done it. I will probably end up working as a CNA at some point during my schooling, which I think will give me an even greater appreciation for them.
      Thanks for your response :)

      Delete
    2. I wanted to work as a CNA this summer but my school scheduled just didn't work out. No school next summer so hopefully I'll be able to find a job.

      Delete
    3. It's so hard to work while in school & then when you do it's only for a few hours so the money is barely even worth the time away from family & studying. Thank God for a supportive spouse! :D

      Delete
  2. ohmygracious!
    i definitely remember hand washing check-off's during our 1st semester of nursing. i, as well, had NO IDEA just how involved washing your hands could be!!
    then came putting on sterile gloves... but i think vital signs was my greatest fear because of my uncertainty with the manual BP cuff!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure we'll probably have to do this next semester and lucky me I'll already know how, lol. Vital signs was ok for me, it came pretty easy, what was hard for me & I don't know that I'll ever get it is differentiating between breath sounds. I mean they all sounded the same to me!! Luckily I don't want to go into cardiology!! :)

      Delete
    2. Sterile gloves can be so annoying! It's def a skill!! We have to practice bp w/ the manual so much I am pretty sure I do it in my sleep! Breath sounds are hard!

      Delete
  3. HAND WASHING.
    You will hear about it as a CNA, Nurse, Dietitian, Practitioner, therapist, doctor, etc. This is drilled into you throughout healthcare, because it is the best preventive measure of disease. Sad thing is, the people you see breaking this simple rule the most are the doctors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, it's actually gotten to the point where if they DO wash their hands you're surprised!!

      Delete
  4. I nominated you for an award :) Check out my post http://verysmartorverydumb.blogspot.com/2012/07/liebster-award.html for more details.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh I'm so excited!! Thank you so much, I will go check it out RIGHT now!! :D

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'm still alive!! Tomorrow is the NCLEX!

So as you can see I have GRADUATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!  I am SO happy that nursing school is over, but can we say holy terrified?  Tomorrow is the NCLEX & I feel thoroughly unprepared.  Fortunately our school provided us with the HURST Review  and even though I have been studying this for about 2 weeks now I still feel completely terrified to actually take the test.  Of my former classmates I know of one so far who has failed....so scary... The rest of them are chugging along & passing on a daily basis, hopefully I will be one of them! But to rewind, here are a few pics from graduation & my graduation party that my precious husband & sister threw for me: That's my baby girl to my right, she looks taller than me!   I seriously couldn't have been cheesing any harder!! My nursing bestie & his bf hiding in the back! My study buddy!   My inlaws, aren't they precious!! Definitely one of the best days of my life!

I feel so inadequate...

So today I was reading Sophia's blog over at All Things NP , she's a NP student at Penn State.  As I was reading about her interview process with Penn State & her rotations & her Sim Man day I started thinking, I am nowhere NEAR as smart as she is.  I still struggle with what lab values are correct, much less IF they're off then why??!!  I know that I don't put in as much time studying as some of my other classmates do and all of this makes me really doubt myself.  When will this stuff start to really click? When will I start to KNOW this stuff?  I wish I could spend more time studying than I do & in all honesty I probably could, but I also have a very busy life.  I know that's not an excuse as everyone has their own "stuff", but I was seriously thinking as I was reading over her blog that I really need to buckle down & start reading a bit more.  I definitely need to start studying more.  I mean, I'm doing fine in my classes but PERSON

MedSurg - Ortho Floor....

Ok can we say TOTAL snooze fest???  Today was our first official day on the MedSurg floor, but unfortunately since the professor figured we might be overwhelmed with over 15 pages of clinical paperwork due in one night, we weren't really able to do much (meaning no passing of meds).  We were basically put into the PCT roles.  So, pretty much it felt like last semester's clinical all over again, a bunch of elderly people, except for these ones have total hip replacements instead of just being old.   And let me tell you I can say with almost 100% assurance that working on the Ortho wing of the MedSurg floor is NOT where I see my future nursing self.  I mean maybe it was just my perception, but I saw the nurses basically in the same role as they were in the nursing home.  Going from patint room to patient room passing meds.  BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I hate that we don't get an ER rotation, I REALLY think that I would like that much more, except that as a new nurse I just don'