Certified Nursing Assistant

771 Words2 Pages

Who is going to care for our aging population when they are unable to care for themselves? A Certified Nursing Assistant, also referred to as a CNA will. A CNA has many responsibilities in the healthcare field. CNAs are the primary caregivers to residents in long-term care facilities and hospitals. CNAs help residents perform activities of daily living. A few examples of activities of daily living are feeding, bathing, dressing and toileting. With all the responsibilities CNAs have, their job can be stressful. The night shift for CNAs requires getting patients ready for supper and put to bed. Some people may think this is simple, but it is not. On average a CNA is responsible for twelve residents while toileting every resident, assessing their …show more content…

Most residents, unless they do not want to, need to be in bed by 9 o’clock. Along with putting residents to bed, CNAs have charting to do before their shift ends. Charting typically includes documenting if the CNA noticed irregular behavior, changes in the skin, etc. Charting needs to be done before rounds at ten o’clock start. At rounds, CNAs toilet the resident, change the bed pads if needed, and pass water. CNAs perform rounds every two hours. Between rounds, CNAs answer call lights. Although CNAs need to work fast, they also need to be …show more content…

Although death can make CNAs feel despondent, they need to know what to do. CNAs also need to learn the routine of the residents they care for. Learning a residents routine can be the most difficult part of the job. CNAs do not want to upset the resident, but they also can forget a step of the resident’s care. Every resident is different and has a different way they like to be cared for. CNAs need to be smart to remember what each resident likes. CNAs never know what is going to happen while at work. Rather it is a resident who starts choking or a resident who stops breathing, a CNA needs to know how to react. While giving care some of the steps can be easy to forget, such as putting on the side rails on a bed, making sure the resident has their call light, and opening or closing the window for the resident’s comfort. Every task in and of itself seems simple, but remembering all of the steps during all of the resident’s care requires CNAs to have a sharp

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