OK, I'm considering going for my CNA. BUT, what's holding me back is the idea of washing someone else body "areas". I can't stand washing mine at times. LOL LOL

So, can someone explain the true job defination of a CNA?

what's holding me back is the idea of washing someone else body "areas"

in addition to doing and observing all sorts of procedures, I can say with all certainty that as a CNA, you will have to clean soiled patients (urine, excrement, blood, vomit, sputum, bile, mucous, etc.), deal with funky mouths (thrush, ulcers, abcesses), change dressings, digitally extract, swab floors, the list goes on...

you will not know for sure if you can handle it until you try it. I spent a year working as a CNA in an acute facility and wasn't sure if I would be able to handle it either.

as it turned out, I had no problems.

I can guarantee you will be dealing with very private parts of the body that aren't always so clean to start with.  It's part of the job.  You won't know if you can handle it until you try.

I've been a nurse for almost 25 years, and I still can't stand the sight or smell of stool, especially diarrhea.  I have to suppress a retch every time.

I can handle blood, urine, brains, pus, and just about anything else gross you can think of, but not stool.  Don't know why.  I just push back the retch, try and keep the patient/family from seeing it, and move on.

Fortunately, I've never actually vomited from seeing or smelling stool (though I have had a couple of close calls). :P

Had to really laugh @ the post about washing other peoples body parts.  I once had a male patient who was bed ridden and could not wash himself after a stroke say to me when I explained to him that I was going to wash his private area " Have you no shame".  I said to him very nicely " It just like an arm or a leg".  You get past it after the first few times. And it helps the patient if you don't make a big deal out of it and you maintain eye contact with them while washing and talk about anything but what you are doing.  When I have a patient with a foley I explain why I am doing what I am doing.  It becomes second nature and it also becomes more about the patient and less about you.  If you have problems with urine, blood, feces, vomit or any other body fluids you may want to rethink the whole thing.  especially if you get a patient with C-diff cuz... well it has a smell that you know instantly... don't need the lab to define it.

~~~Cheryl~~~ 

Wash??? Wait til you have to clean piles of poop and vomit!

CNA's assist patients with all activities of daily living - wash, dress, eat, ambulate. It doesan't sound like you would like this kind of work at all...

BUT, my youngest son didn't want to join our first aid squad at age 18 because he "couldn't stand blood or sick people."

Three years later he became a full time paramedic.

So you never know - give it a try - maybe start out with a little volunteer work to see how you feel about it.

critical nurse doesnt involve that i think and they make like 60 to 80 grand a year

charles101 says ...

critical nurse doesnt involve that i think and they make like 60 to 80 grand a year

I've never known a critical care nurse who wasn't involved in hygeine, unless they're just lazy.

The first thing an ICU nurse does when her patient is settled and stable is wash him, because infection control is such a serious issue.

As an ER nurse, I've had to wash many a homeless patient or trauma victim.

I know nurses who try to sluff it off on the CNAs, but most nurses know they get valuable assessment data from bathing a patient, plus they are in the job because helping people is important to them.

this gives you a list of specilities of nurses. they didnt say critcal nurses have to bath people just attended to them social and emotional, and of course treat there illness or whatever

http://nursinglink.monster.com/benefits/articles/568-career-specialties

Oh, and just because a list of specialties doesn't specify cleaning patients, doesn't mean it can';t happen.

Psych nursing isn't supposed tp involve that sort of thing either, but if a patient pukes all over or injures themselves and there is blood all over, YOU are the nurse, and will be expected to respond. My last day on the job as a psych nurse in a prison, an inmate slashed both arteries in both wrists - I was covered in blood getting into the cell to stop the bleeding.

It's true, many specialties don't involve day-to-day handling of patients, but we are professionals and almost all nurses encounter the "Icky" stuff from time to time. Welcome to nursing - you do what you have to!

Ok, if the very idea turns you off then this is not for you. I was a CNA before i became a nurse and cleaning butts and genitals is the least f the gross this you'll do. CNA's do the grunt work. Maybe try something else like a MA.

cheryl, what you said is so true. When i graduated from school my first job as a nurse was in a nursing home. With 25 plus pts to look after there is no way i could see everyone butts or limbs to see what shape they were in. I depended on the CNA's and always treated them with respect. Maybe its because i was once a CNA. I think all people who want to be nurses should have to have been CNA's first. While i do understand what your saying about documentation and being sure what your being told is true that only works in an ideal world. My advice would be don't work in a nursing home. The most well intention nurses can not assess all there pts every shift. Some night shift nurses have 30 or more. Med pass alone takes hours. Sometimes the rules must be bent. It's not right but untill all states adopt nursing ratio laws what else can you do. Anyways i went on a bit here. But again we all need to appreciate each other no matter the letters behind our names.