Nothing Was As It Seemed
Last night I was the end of an experience that until recently I never thought that I would have - let alone willingly!
Quite a while ago I decided that it would be fun to get my CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) certificate. I knew that as part of the course I would need to do several hours doing "clinicals". Since I work in a doctor's office, I erroneously assumed that I would be able to complete the clinicals in my office. No, I discovered, the clinicals needed to be completed at a long-term care facility, aka "nursing home". OH NO! I have never felt comfortable in nursing homes! And I certainly didn't want to work three, long, 8-hour shifts in one!
Of course, in order to complete the course I had to comply. Since my mom spent most of the summer in a local rehab facility that seemed very nice, I decided to endure my time at that same facility. I dreaded the experience for months!!!! Not only did I have to sacrifice my happiness to fulfill the requirements of the class - the only time I could make it work was on three consecutive Friday nights! No date nights for me! Oh, the horror of it all!
The first night, I put on my "game face", plastered on a smile, and jumped in. I was fully prepared for an eternity of drudgery, performing menial tasks (as well as disgusting ones) to unappreciating residents.
Isn't it amazing how wrong preconceived notions can be? After only a few minutes of working with the residents at the facility, my heart started melting. Within the first hour, I already found myself looking forward to the time spent with each resident, learning about their lives, hearing their stories, seeing their talents as well as how each was dealing with their trials. I soon found that as I learned to care about each resident many of the tasks that I had previously dreaded ceased to become distasteful.
The evening was long and hard. I learned that CNA's perform very important services necessary to enable the residents to continue to live valuable and meaningful lives. Often CNA's are underpaid, overworked, and under appreciated by all - except the residents, who appreciate them immensely.
Last night was my third and final evening at the facility. To my surprise I found that I was almost in tears to think that it was over! I went around to many of the residents and asked if I could take their pictures for my scrapbook. They were so gracious and all very excited to think that I would want to remember my time with them. (I will not post any of their pictures so that I may protect their privacy.) One special lady, after I told her that it was my last day, said that she was very sad that I wouldn't be there the next day. As I tucked her into bed for the night, looked a little uncomfortable. I asked her, "is there anything else that I can do or get for you?" She answered, "I just need one more of your lovely smiles!" Is that not precious?
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to have this wonderful experience. How fortunate I am to have had my previous assumptions proven so wonderfully incorrect. I loved working with these special people.
Quite a while ago I decided that it would be fun to get my CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) certificate. I knew that as part of the course I would need to do several hours doing "clinicals". Since I work in a doctor's office, I erroneously assumed that I would be able to complete the clinicals in my office. No, I discovered, the clinicals needed to be completed at a long-term care facility, aka "nursing home". OH NO! I have never felt comfortable in nursing homes! And I certainly didn't want to work three, long, 8-hour shifts in one!
Of course, in order to complete the course I had to comply. Since my mom spent most of the summer in a local rehab facility that seemed very nice, I decided to endure my time at that same facility. I dreaded the experience for months!!!! Not only did I have to sacrifice my happiness to fulfill the requirements of the class - the only time I could make it work was on three consecutive Friday nights! No date nights for me! Oh, the horror of it all!
The first night, I put on my "game face", plastered on a smile, and jumped in. I was fully prepared for an eternity of drudgery, performing menial tasks (as well as disgusting ones) to unappreciating residents.
Isn't it amazing how wrong preconceived notions can be? After only a few minutes of working with the residents at the facility, my heart started melting. Within the first hour, I already found myself looking forward to the time spent with each resident, learning about their lives, hearing their stories, seeing their talents as well as how each was dealing with their trials. I soon found that as I learned to care about each resident many of the tasks that I had previously dreaded ceased to become distasteful.
The evening was long and hard. I learned that CNA's perform very important services necessary to enable the residents to continue to live valuable and meaningful lives. Often CNA's are underpaid, overworked, and under appreciated by all - except the residents, who appreciate them immensely.
Last night was my third and final evening at the facility. To my surprise I found that I was almost in tears to think that it was over! I went around to many of the residents and asked if I could take their pictures for my scrapbook. They were so gracious and all very excited to think that I would want to remember my time with them. (I will not post any of their pictures so that I may protect their privacy.) One special lady, after I told her that it was my last day, said that she was very sad that I wouldn't be there the next day. As I tucked her into bed for the night, looked a little uncomfortable. I asked her, "is there anything else that I can do or get for you?" She answered, "I just need one more of your lovely smiles!" Is that not precious?
I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to have this wonderful experience. How fortunate I am to have had my previous assumptions proven so wonderfully incorrect. I loved working with these special people.
Comments
Did you take care of my grandma?