A day in the life of a CNA
Changing diapers and giving baths are all in a day’s work for a CNA.
Certified Nursing Assistants work in hospitals, rest homes or in patients’ homes. CNAs are in charge of a patient’s daily care so registered nurses can focus on the tasks only they can do, such as administer medications.
Ashley Clawson, a CNA for a hospice, has worked in patients’ homes for the past seven years. Clawson said while at an in-home visit, she takes care of everything from a patient’s bed sores to fixing lunch.
“I take care of patients’ pressure sores, the wounds that they get from a specific body part rubbing against the sheets too long,” Clawson said. “I do light housekeeping, like laundry and vacuuming, but mostly I give bed baths and change really big diapers.”
Not every CNA goes to visit their patients’ homes. Some, like Derick Shelton, a CNA for Legacy House in Logan, work for an assisted living center. Shelton said depending on the shift, he sees anywhere between 12 to 20 patients. During a shift at Legacy House, the CNAs assist the residents in whatever care they need, he said.
“Some residents need help going to the bathroom, some need help eating or getting ready for bed,” Shelton said. “They have a button that they can push if they need us.”
Some patients have needs other than physical ones. The CNAs at Legacy House aren’t allowed to do hair and make-up, but for Clawson, it comes as part of the job.
“I help them clean up, and sometimes I give my female patients pedicures,” Clawson said.
After a CNA finishes helping one patient, they start over with the next one, Clawson said.
“I do the same thing over and over just with different patients,” Clawson said. “Sometimes it is kind of boring, but it is worth it.”
What is it about this job that makes changing diapers worth it?
“The people you help make it worth it,” Clawson said. “Working with the elderly gives you the opportunity to hear all of their stories. You get to learn about a whole different era.”
Even though the job is rewarding, it has its hard times too, Shelton said.
“In the winter we had a lot of people sick with the flu, and everyone was throwing up and had diarrhea,” he said. “It was stressful to see all of these people sick”
Sickness is only one of the problems a CNA faces. Some CNAs work with patients who only have limited time to live, and that brings problems of its own, Clawson said.
“I work in hospice, which means the patients have six months or less to live,” Clawson said. “It is hard to watch people die. They are always around just long enough for me to fall in love with them. The worst is when they die unexpectedly and you don’t even get the opportunity to say goodbye. Sometimes this job is traumatic.”
After death, it is often too hard for the family to prepare the body for the mortuary, so Clawson does that too, she said.
“I clean their body, I put on their make-up and clean them up and close their eyes and jaws so they don’t look scary to their family,” Clawson said.
Even though sometimes the job is hard, CNAs come to work every day because of the people they help, Shelton said.
“The residents are so grateful and so nice to us,” Shelton said.
“It is when your patients love you back that makes this job all worth it,” Clawson said. “It makes everything OK no matter how many people had diarrhea or how many diapers you had to change.”
-debrajoy@cc.usu.edu