Just the Toes

On Monday I began my journey toward becoming a CNA. It was a long day, full of policies and procedures, the importance of confidentiality, patient's rights, and far too much reading and lecture listening. I truly enjoyed it though. We learned proper hand-washing technique (there are like 10 steps!!!), and began learning how to do patient transfers (like from hospital bed to chair). There are 9 others in my cohort, and they seem nice enough so far. The instructor has been a nurse for 40+ years, and has been teaching for 5, and she regaled us with nurse stories. She seems friendly but also has very high expectations, and rightfully so. I really enjoyed touring the facility. It is actually pretty amazing, complete with resident cats for each hall, a facility dog, parakeets and doves. I was impressed by all the animal interactions that are available. There is a beautiful chapel, a small cafe, a nicely stocked rec room full of games, crafts, t.v., and a beautiful fireplace. The entire facility has been decked out for Christmas, and there are multiple garlands, snowflake decorations and even Christmas trees. The residents that I got to see smiled at us newbie students as we walked the halls. Our instructor read us a poem written by a resident, an elderly woman, who wrote about what nurses must see when they look at her, versus the full life and all she has been and had. It was so moving, and I think there were multiple students with wet eyes...myself included. I was disappointed that uniforms will not be needed until our first labs next week, but excited that we began checking off our skills list the very first day.

Then...due to bureaucracy at its best (notice the sarcasm), we were informed Monday night that we could not return to class until Thursday (tacking days on at the end), because one of the powers that be (high up) had changed hands, and the proper paperwork had to be processed by the state. I am excited to return tomorrow. While the material itself out of the text and our quizzes look very easy, the skills I will be continuing to learn will be more of a challenge. It is such a great way to get my feet wet-though so far it has just been a dipping of the toes. :)