Remembering the Life Changing Experience as a Nursing Assistant

On a cold November morning, I walked into the nursing home dressed in my clinical scrubs at 7:00am. I was very nervous, but ready to begin my nursing assistant-clinical day. My instructor assigned me to a specific part of the hallway and told me that all the residents needed to be up and ready for the day by 8:30am.

I began entering rooms and telling residents it was time to wake up and begin the day. I walked into the first room and that resident needed help getting out of his bed and getting dressed. The woman in the next room was incontinent so I gave her a bath, a clean diaper, and clean sheets. It is always sad to see people who cannot control their bladder and just lay in their feces because the other nurses do not pay close enough attention. I continued my rounds waking up several residents and helping them get ready for the day.

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I reported to the dining area by 8:30am and sat between two residents. They needed assistance eating. It felt like I was feeding a baby, except I had to remember they are adults and had to be treated like one. Some residents did not want to eat or just fell asleep at the table. My instructor continued to tell me that everyone must eat. She took the spoon right out of my hand and shoved the pureed eggs into the resident’s mouth. I was told to force feed. I do not agree with force-feeding, but it had to be done because everyone needed his/her breakfast.

I finally finished feeding the residents at 10:00am. It was then time to make rounds to take their vital signs. This was difficult because some residents could not hold the thermometer and the blood pressure cuff caused them too much pain. Yet, it was another thing that had to be done. Some residents even argued and said they did not want it, but I did it anyway.

By the time 10:30am rolled around, I finished taking and recording each resident’s vital signs. Since there was nothing else that had to be done until lunchtime, I began walking around the floor answering call bells and talking to the residents. I learned that most residents in the nursing home do not receive many visitors and love talking to a new young face. One of my favorite residents had Alzheimer’s and told me the same story every time I talked to her, even if I saw her an hour ago. I loved asking her about her husband and how they survived the war. Other residents were not very friendly and just wanted me out of their room. So I granted their wishes.

It was time to bring residents down to the dining hall at 12:00pm for lunch. I sat next to the same residents and began to force feed them. Since they did not want to eat it was hard to feed them. It took me about an hour to get them to finish their food because they kept falling asleep or getting distracted.

It soon became 1:00pm and my final hour at the nursing home. I spent it answering call bells, talking to residents, and writing my journal for the day.

Once the clock struck 2:00pm it was finally time for me to leave. I was so happy to leave the nursing home. I do not like taking care of residents because it breaks my heart to see what they go through every day. I do not like to force feed because it is against their will. Residents in the nursing home do not get to make many decisions so they are not really living the last years of their life. 1 saw so much neglect in that nursing home because the nurses did not seem to care about the residents. Sometimes they wouldn’t answer call bells and the resident would be laying in bed, in their feces, for over an hour.

I continued coming to this nursing home for twelve straight Mondays and every clinical day it was hard looking at residents and seeing what they go through every day. After receiving my Certified Nursing Assistant License, I decided that I want to help and care for people in a form other than nursing.

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