Certified Nursing Assistant

I am officially a graduate of a CNA program here in Colorado! I still have to pass my boards in a couple weeks to make it really official but this has been a doozy!

Back Story

Once upon a time, when we lived in Wyoming, we heard about this program in a few selected states. It has various names but it is essentially a parent CNA program where you will be hired by an agency which will allot you a certain amount of hours per week (determined by a thorough at-home visit going over every aspect of your day) and then the state pays that parent for their work as a “CNA” for their child.

If I am being honest, it feels a little weird to me. Maybe uncomfortable. To get “paid” to take care of my child feels not right for some reason. But it is also sweet in a way to have acknowledgement of the great deal of extra care that Lydie needs. In that sense, it feels a little validating. To sum it up, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

BUT we knew moving to Colorado (one of only a handful of states that offers this type of program), could give us this opportunity. I have been dragging my feet on getting to it. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. It’s been A LONG TIME since I have been in school and I thought maybe I had lost my learning edge a little. Also, the healthcare field has never been something I was interested in and I was always hopeless in matters of science. And I worried A LOT about time. I feel stretched to my limit and I just could not figure out how I would juggle life and do this.

But this spring, Mark took the lead and organized as much as he could to get paperwork and meetings lined up. Initially, we were supposed to do this during the summer, but a scheduling problem happened on the other side of things and we had to postpone until this fall.

I could choose between a couple different programs through my sponsor and I found South Denver School of Nursing Arts. It was further away then some of the other options, but it required less class time which was important for me.

Prerequisites

Before starting my class I had a lot of paperwork and had a couple other to dos. I had to take a CPR class, get a drug test, TB test, flu shot, and make sure all of my other vaccines were up to date.

I was really stressed leading up to my class. I was stressed about how I was going to make it work with my family – in particular, our homeschooling. I was stressed about how I would juggle my church responsibilities. And I think I was really nervous about disappointing people. What if I just didn’t get it? What if I failed?

I was a wreck leading up to my class. I spent the week before trying to get ahead as much as I could with my reading. I made flash cards. I made chapter study guides. I hit the ground running.

Week 1

I very quickly learned that I was over doing it. Once the first week was over, I realized that I was going to be okay. While I knew I still needed to apply myself, I mellowed out a lot (which was definitely a good thing).

The class was set up with a mandatory two hour zoom meeting each Monday. These were usually painfully boring and involved a lot of doodling on my part. Mostly people asking the same questions over and over again and our instructor explaining what assignments and quizzes were due (each week we had three assignments and two quizzes).

Then Tuesday and Wednesday we had to meet in zoom buddy rooms for two hours to watch one another practice our “skills”. There were 22 skills we had to master in the course. They had to be done in an extremely specific way – which would never happen in actual practice – but were essential to the course.

Weeks 2 and 3

Weeks 2 and 3 were the same as week 1 – mandatory Monday meeting, Tuesday and Wednesday buddy skills sessions – but added a new component. On Thursdays I had to go down to the school for an eight-hour skills lab. These were L O N G days. It didn’t help that I lived far away and the timing was such that I was in the thick of rush hour traffic both ways. They were 12+ hour days and I was wiped out at the end of them.

Week 4

Final week! As crazy as this was, it really did fly by! Monday we had our final class meeting and then Tuesday we had our final buddy session. ALL I did these two days were practice those 22 skills. For hours and hours and hours. Bless all of my little helpers. The kids were so patient with being my “patients”.

On Wednesday I had my skills final with my instructor. I was given 18 minutes to complete three random tasks given to me by my instructor. Preparation paid off and I passed!

Thursday I took my written final and passed! YAY!

Friday, I had my graduation call with the director of the program who gave me more information on the boards and all that that would entail. Then Saturday and Sunday were the final piece – CLINICALS.

Clinicals

I was so nervous for clinicals. Healthcare has never felt like my calling. And what I was most nervous for was whether or not I’d be able to do the things I was asked to do. So much of what we learned is FAR out of my comfort zone. I was really worried about it.

And I have debated about how much I want to share here about my experience in clinicals. If I were to sum it up, it was very disheartening to me. I was placed in a very high end senior center community on their “skills” floor. These were residents who needed full time skilled care. And I had a total shock to my outlook on things.

At first I was so worried about doing things. Most of my days were spent transferring residents from their bed to wheelchairs and vice versa, helping them go to the bathroom or changing them, helping get them dressed, assisting with showers, and feeding residents. It was busy. And each of the residents were so sweet. I so wanted to just sit and listen to their stories (but I learned that is not okay – which made me very sad).

But the hardest part was that I saw “behind the curtain” of that world from the professional side and it was so hard. How these residents were spoken to was completely inappropriate in my book. I couldn’t believe the language from the CNAs and nurses – especially to and in front of these sweet residents. My senses were completely bombarded. The lack of professionalism was shocking. Honestly, I didn’t even care about all those things I was worried about at first because my mind was so shocked by the working atmosphere.

I won’t get into more specifics than that – but it broke my heart. There was one patient especially that I really just wanted to take home with me and look after.

When I told Mark about it, he was so kind and thoughtful but also pointed out that it had been a long time since I have been in the work force. And it’s true. But oh goodness, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that that behavior was okay in any setting – but especially a professional one.

It Took a Village

Going through the class really did take a village. Mark was incredible. He was so supportive. He never complained or made me feel things were falling through the cracks (which they totally were!). He took on the role of father and mother lots of days. He is the best of the best.

Then the kids. Jacob, Sarah, Ben, and Lydia were absolute champs. They rolled with everything so well. Life became very different for them, homeschooling basically took a month break, and they just went with things. They agreed to be my “patient” for my buddy sessions and helped me practice for my final. I truly could not have done it without them.

My parents. They came out for the last half of week 3 and the first half of week 4 while Mark was working. They were so helpful with the kids while Mark had to sleep. My mom made home cooked meals (the Costco frozen section had been our go-to the last month and was getting very old). And they spent hours and hours with me evaluating my skills as I practiced them (which is absolutely mind numbing work). Next time, let’s do more fun things, okay?!

There were so many others. So many friends who encouraged me, offered to watch the kids, and took on assignments for me so that I could focus on my schoolwork. I am so grateful for each one of you.

It’s been a wild ride – and I am glad it’s {almost} over! And for probably the first and last time – here is me in scrubs 😉