STRESS AND CARING.

The stressed out life of a CNA

Thought you all would like to read and reflect on this story:

The stressed out life of a nursing assistant | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times

This morning I got a call from a supervisor of a nursing facility. This supervisor was beyond frustration. Stressed, disappointed and between a rock and a hard place. The supervisor had three nursing assistants call out of work for the day shift on a Saturday. Unfortunately, more people call off work on the weekends than on weekdays.

We see this scenario often. Nursing assistants take a six-week or six-month course (depending on the program) learning how to care for patients, take their vitals, bathe them, assist in feeding, assist in walking and mobility, respond to call bells when patients have needs. They are on the go all of the time. When they go through training, when they research the field of nursing assistant, when they decide they would like to work with patients, they should know that this is a difficult, fast-paced, and often thankless job. They provide a majority of the direct patient care. They probably have more interaction with each patient than others in their facility.

So why do they call off?

Many nursing assistants are professionals, showing up when scheduled with smiles on their faces ready to help and serve their patients. Many don't realize how much emotional strength it takes to be a good nursing assistant. They see patients die. Patients that they become attached to and care for pass away or move on to another facility. They are responsible for intimate care of the elderly and infirm. Some are very reliable, always showing up. However, many have not mastered the emotional strength to deal with the work.

We have been hearing of the nursing shortage for quite some time. We need to look also at the nursing assistant shortage.

When I go into a facility, I can usually tell who is a nurse or a nursing assistant. The nursing assistants look tired. They look worried. Some move slowly. Some have been nursing assistants for over 20 years and their 'get up and go' got up and went out the door.

Another issue is the reliability factor. Many haven't held a job for a long period of time before going into this field. Were they calling off work in their former job? How often did they call off? How well do you know the person you hired?

What is the answer? I believe there are several. First: proper training. Not just a six-week course showing them how to do the job. There should be ongoing training in how to deal with stresses in their job, both at work and at home.

When they call off, instead of ignoring them, or reprimanding them, find out why they called off. Many won't tell you. Get them talking. Find out if it is the schedule is too tough. Find out if it was the fact that yesterday they had so many patients and they are exhausted. Find out if it's outside issues.

Schedule regular training classes for them. Keep them interested in their job.

Keep them motivated to do a good job and reward them. The economy is tight. We all are working harder with fewer resources.

Don't forget to give these hard-working people incentives to show up to work on time, and each scheduled day.

Give them education, training, even if it's one hour monthly of new things to help them deal with their stressful job.

Give them opportunities to take care of personal business.

Find out why weekends are hard for them. Did they stay up too late on Friday night? Do they have family or church obligations on the weekends?

Help your nursing assistants be successful. Remember they are going to take care of you, too, someday.

WHY SUCH LOW PAY AS A CNA???

Someone help me to understand this... I took an economics course in high school and, granted that is not a lot of knowledge, but one thing I do remember quite clearly is the law of supply and demand. It goes something like this... The less of something there is relative to the demand for it, the more expensive that item is. On almost all the information I have read regarding the CNAcareer, they say that there is a huge and growing demand for CNA's in the coming years. There is also a huge turnover problem and quick burnout due to the stress of the job. It seems that employers spend a lot of money and time hiring and training new employees on an ongoing basis. The one complaint I have heard over and over again is that facilities are cronically understaffed. Why is it that the salaries of RN's reflect this dire need for employees in the health field but those for CNA's remain abyssmally low? Wouldn't it make sense for salaries to be even half that of nurses given the high demand? CNA's have more direct contact hours with patients in very demanding and stressful situations and patient care depends on CNA's being "on top of their game" at all times! Is it a wonder then that there are so many allegations of patient neglect and abuse in the direct care industry? Actually I think that most CNA's I have worked with go above and beyond their duty because they enter this field due to their inherent compassion and sense of duty. What does this situation say about this society where the people who work with the frailest and most vulnerable members of the society because they are compassionate (with children, the sick and the elderly) are the ones who get paid the least and have some of the worst working conditions?