A Day in the Life

My day starts around noon when I wake up from a previous shift or a much-needed day off. It takes a while to fully wake up and start moving. When I finally do, I am able to get much of the things done that most people have to wait until after they get off to get done. If I have nothing to get done before the start of my shift I ponder around the house. I move slow and take things in time. I am recharging you see, trying to get back that mental energy to look past the aches and pains that my body is throwing at me. Then I have to stock my emotional bucket with enough caring and sympathy to get through the shift. If I have time or energy I will do something to take care of myself, like yoga, stretching, or working out. A lot of days though that doesn't happen. I have spent too much time trying to recharge. This is especially true near the end of the workweek.

What is it that I do? Well, I am a night shift CNA or Certified Nursing Assistant. On paper what you will read from job descriptions is; assist residents with ADLs (Activities of Daily Living), assist the nurse with wound care which really means just holding the resident in a certain position, restock linens, help give baths, and help keep the facility clean. For those of you who don't know what ADLs are it covers everything from using the restroom to getting into a chair to dressing and taking care of personal Hygiene. That can be a lot when you take care of up to 18 people in a given shift. Though on the night shift those are less of a responsibility as most people are sleeping. However, what I do, do and what most CNAs do is a lot more than what is on paper. We are your fixers we will fix a chair that is broken or a tv remote or bed. If it is not fixable we find you a new one. If there is no new one we try to find you something else. We are your ear to bend with your stories, the things you tell us to relive your younger days. We will listen so that you do not feel alone in this world. When so many of your friends have gone and family is far away. We will help guide you through a brain that is failing you. We will make sure that you are as comfortable as you can be in a body that has known use and life. We will keep you clean so that you feel happy. We will be there with you in your final hours as you pass from this world if there is no one else to comfort you on your journey. You will not go alone.

We CNAs do this with a smile we take that bucket that we filled and pour it out with every shift. If that bucket runs out during the shift we find some more and give that away too. We do this because we care. Some of us do it because we know what it is like to go through hard times alone and will break ourselves to make sure that you do not go through it alone. Some of us want to pass on our happiness so that others can feel happy too. Some of us feel as though it is our responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. No matter the reason the work we do is filled with strong emotions and mental strain. This work is not for everyone and you see many people come and go rather quickly in this line of work. You will see people who have spent too long in the field and have run out of places to fill their buckets and just seem like shells of their former selves. No two days are ever truly the same and they all come with challenges but we will take them with a smile. When we go home our smiles will disappear and the pain and sadness from the day will creep their way in. I myself may hold onto it until one day I can't hold anymore and I will curl up and cry and sob. I will let out the pain of watching some pass and then having to go put a smile on for another resident who needs something. Or the physical pain that has been edging at the corners of my mind for days and I have been eating Ibuprofen to stay functional. I try to give back every bit of goodness that I receive so that their more to go around.