When you think about the daily tasks and responsibilities working as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), you likely imagine tending to patients and gathering vital signs. While these are essential tasks for almost every CNA, the actual impact of this patient-centric profession is far deeper than monitoring blood pressure and medication disbursement.
Working as a CNA, you have the ability to directly impact the minds and bodies of patients. While it’s easy to get caught up in the technical side of this career, the opportunity to make a genuine difference in the lives of patients and their families is the greatest influence of your work.
Working as a CNA – Impacting Lives
Just how does working as a Certified Nursing Assistant impact the lives of patients? Let’s investigate the most powerful ways your daily job duties can transform the comfort and stability of all patients.
Providing Emotional Support
This is perhaps the most noteworthy impact a CNA has on their patients. Whether working in a hospital, nursing facility or private practice, you’re dealing with patients who are typically experiencing an unsavory slice of life. As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’ll closely work with these patients, which means you have a direct opportunity to provide much needed emotional support.
From giving a genuine smile to offering a kind and compassionate word of encouragement, you’ll be surprised how little it takes to truly support your patients. As we all know, emotional outlook and stability plays a direct role in healing. While physicians and other nurses heal with medicine, you have an opportunity to encourage wellness from the greatest medicine of all: kindness.
On the Frontline of Patient Health
The daily job requirements of a Certified Nursing Assistant places you with patients on a more intimate level than other medical team members. In fact, the closeness and duration CNAs have with patients is oftentimes why a bad situation was lessened or stopped.
By having such frequent one-on-one time with patients, you can quickly observe a change in their condition. Should a patient begin to experience symptoms, side effects or small changes in comfort, CNAs are often the first of nursing and medical staff to notice, which plays a direct role in patient care. In many cases, Certified Nursing Assistants are responsible for reporting behavior changes fast enough to prevent a more serious situation.
Be the Voice of Encouragement
Whether working in a nursing facility, hospital or private practice, patients and residents commonly experience depression and anxiety. This is especially common among elderly residents or patients facing a long recovery. As a Certified Nursing Assistant, you’ll encounter people who aren’t clinically depressed, but are feeling overwhelmed by their current situation.
Healing is both emotional and physical. CNAs are capable of recognizing the current situation and the effect it has on their emotions, but more importantly, provide real encouragement. Not only does this help boost the emotional landscape of residents or patients, but helps make sure they comply with treatment and recovery plans. Therefore, you’re not only boosting their mind, but also their body.
