My New and Special Experiences

As many of you may know, I have been taking a CNA class this semester instead of courses at BYU. I am not coming to the end of my class, and frankly, in my opinion, the BEST part of my class! I started clinicals this last Tuesday and I have actually really enjoyed it. I say it like that, because, yes, I wasn't so sure if I would have fun taking care of the elderly. This does not mean I wouldn't enjoy their company, but there are some dirtier things involved with residents that are in care facilities. I mean, they are there because they need help, not because they are completely capable of taking care of themselves.

During my first clinical I worked in the dementia wing. And I cannot say this enough- serving these people has filled my heart with love and happiness. Service does people good. It truly does. To those receiving the service as well as those giving it. I have to say that when people talk about that in church or just in general, that I would kind of smile and nod, because I really didn't believe it. I knew it made me feel good, but I didn't know how much it could make someone feel good.

I'll just share a few experiences on here. Tonight I met a 93 and 104 year old women. And it looks to me like they could truck along for a while more.

I came in contact with a resident with MRSA. I would tell you to google it, but I highly suggest you stay away from any images. It's basically a super bad bug. It's resistant to anything with -icillin at the end of it. penicillin is one we're most familiar with. But I guess modern medicine today uses a lot of drugs with -icillin in it. I know I'm not properly explaining that- sorry all you nurses out there. But basically all you have to know is when you have MRSA, it's nasty. It's highly communicable and you get it by contact. Thank gosh it's not air borne. Which means for me, that I get to wear gloves (which we always do anyway), a mask (even though it's not airborne, I'm not risking it) and then a yellow suit to keep me safe.

I was able to listen to a story by a dementia patient every time I crossed his path. I know all about the Colorado River now and how much fun it is to fish and hunt along those waters. I will have to admit, it makes me very sad to see these residents. The dementia patients are like little children. And I'm not talking about your ornery little 3-4 year olds. They're like your 1 year old. That obviously depends on how far into the disease they are. It was really hard for me to see them like that. Because it's this adult person, that is a shell of the human they used to be. I had a man I helped feed that could only really say 'yes' and 'no'. I was telling him about how Christmas is my favorite all time holiday and his face just lit up. He started to say "yes! yes! yes!" as he pointed to himself. He started to laugh and hug me. It was a special little moment for me, even to just get that man to smile. And I'm sure he'll never remember it. But I know I will.

I have been really scared lately that I wouldn't be a good CNA, but I feel like I might love this job more than I ever hoped I would.