The Adopted Family
Every different career choice has the employees working with each other on a varying level. Some jobs have employees helping each other with work, others barely interact or know each others names. In health care your coworkers, like it or not, are your new family. You have to depend on them completely to help you, because there is no way you could do it all on your own. I have been blessed to have some of the most amazing coworkers at both of my jobs. They really have become my adopted family: We've laughed and cried together, gone to parties together, motivated each other, cared for and lost beloved patients together, and protected and taken care of each other in dangerous or uncomfortable moments.
My coworkers are able to bond with me in a way that no one else can, in that they can understand exactly how it feels to be a CNA. They understand how I ache when one of my patients falls and dies of a result, how my body hurts once I finish a shift of helping others, or how I feel frustrated at the limited care I can give.
We look out for each other. I remember one time that a patient went down, and I caught her on my thigh, which was pushed up against the bed. We were stuck, I couldn't hold her for long, and neither of us could reach the call light. The aides were all over the floor, the chances of one being nearby wasn't very good. I turned around and yelled over my shoulder the names of two aides working, but was worried I would have to just try as carefully as I could to get her to the floor without hurting her. The next thing I heard was pounding feet and one of my male coworkers came and lifted her off me by himself, and then checked to make sure I was okay.
As young female aides we are sometimes sexually harassed by male patients, and sometimes it gets serious enough that we have to trade patients to avoid caring for that patient again. When two male coworkers of mine had heard of the harassment I, as well as other aides, had been dealing with, they both promised that they would handle all of that particular patient's call lights, and followed through. I never had to enter that room again, even when that meant a lot of extra work for those gentlemen, which is a title they deserve.
Another time was when I lost my first patient, and it rattled all staff on shift that night. I was emotional and numb, and didn't really know what to do or what to think. My boss called me into her office, and let me sit and cry for almost an hour, while she told me the story of when she had lost patients, and a meaningful lesson that I haven't forgotten to this day, and telling me how I could meaningfully remember those patients special to me. She didn't worry about how many patients were waiting to go to the bathroom or go to bed, she focused on a need and took care of it, and years later I still remember and am comforted by that moment.
My coworkers make my job, I wouldn't have survived without them. Heavenly Father always provides a way for me to find the peace and comfort I need for an emotionally strenuous job through great leadership, nurses, and fellow aides. Not many people have a job where they can go to work expecting to laugh and joke with their boss, as well as have a boss that will work side by side with aides voluntarily, but I do. Not many have a job where all staff working have to pull together in perfect unison to complete things, but can tease and enjoy each other in the process, but I do. Thank you to all my coworkers, previous and current, for being there for me when I need you, laughing at me when I'm exhausted and silly, and allowing me to cry on your shoulders through the hard times. You are angels.
My coworkers are able to bond with me in a way that no one else can, in that they can understand exactly how it feels to be a CNA. They understand how I ache when one of my patients falls and dies of a result, how my body hurts once I finish a shift of helping others, or how I feel frustrated at the limited care I can give.
We look out for each other. I remember one time that a patient went down, and I caught her on my thigh, which was pushed up against the bed. We were stuck, I couldn't hold her for long, and neither of us could reach the call light. The aides were all over the floor, the chances of one being nearby wasn't very good. I turned around and yelled over my shoulder the names of two aides working, but was worried I would have to just try as carefully as I could to get her to the floor without hurting her. The next thing I heard was pounding feet and one of my male coworkers came and lifted her off me by himself, and then checked to make sure I was okay.
As young female aides we are sometimes sexually harassed by male patients, and sometimes it gets serious enough that we have to trade patients to avoid caring for that patient again. When two male coworkers of mine had heard of the harassment I, as well as other aides, had been dealing with, they both promised that they would handle all of that particular patient's call lights, and followed through. I never had to enter that room again, even when that meant a lot of extra work for those gentlemen, which is a title they deserve.
Another time was when I lost my first patient, and it rattled all staff on shift that night. I was emotional and numb, and didn't really know what to do or what to think. My boss called me into her office, and let me sit and cry for almost an hour, while she told me the story of when she had lost patients, and a meaningful lesson that I haven't forgotten to this day, and telling me how I could meaningfully remember those patients special to me. She didn't worry about how many patients were waiting to go to the bathroom or go to bed, she focused on a need and took care of it, and years later I still remember and am comforted by that moment.
My coworkers make my job, I wouldn't have survived without them. Heavenly Father always provides a way for me to find the peace and comfort I need for an emotionally strenuous job through great leadership, nurses, and fellow aides. Not many people have a job where they can go to work expecting to laugh and joke with their boss, as well as have a boss that will work side by side with aides voluntarily, but I do. Not many have a job where all staff working have to pull together in perfect unison to complete things, but can tease and enjoy each other in the process, but I do. Thank you to all my coworkers, previous and current, for being there for me when I need you, laughing at me when I'm exhausted and silly, and allowing me to cry on your shoulders through the hard times. You are angels.
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