09/25/2025
This was written by one of my employees
What comes to mind when you hear the word CNA?
Losing these little people is hard.
As I run through my house this morning getting kids around for school, I am bawling.. being a CNA isn't for the faint of heart.
We aren't just a CNA, to these residents we are family. They are OUR family. We grow and build those relationships, bonds, and even love them as if they are our family. Through the "butt wiping", hair brushing, arguments over the shower they don't want bc they are cold already or don't like water, the multiple changes a day bc with shaky hands they want to hold their own cups, the upset tummy mishaps that consume us for 30 mins, we are family. When they get sick we cuddle them with love, when they don't eat we get concerned that they will lose weight, when they haven't pooped in days we go to our memory bank trying to remember if they had been drinking plenty of fluids or eating properly or is it pain meds and what our next steps will be to fix and prevent just about every situation.... We aren't just their CNA/Nurse we are their loved ones at their new forever last home.
We go home and think about the day and what could have been done differently or how a situation could have been handled differently, or if so and so is going to make it through the night, or thanking our awesome God for such an unexpected great day.
My heart is heavy this morning. When I tell my residents that I love them, I mean that. I've wanted to walk away from this line of work for awhile but that isn't in my cards, this is where I'm supposed to be. When you cry over your people and it hurts like losing a loved one, then you are right where you should be. This is a calling not just being a CNA.
I'll try my hardest to remember these words the next time the work load becomes mentally unbearable.
Anyway, thank a CNA today, you never know if they just lost a loved one and wiped those tears away to get back to the rest of the family. RIP Ms.Patn