Dimple's Discoveries

Tuesday night was a pretty exciting night. My roommates, my close friend and I were trying to decide what to do for the night's entertainment. Wrestling matches ensued, and we were having fun Indian leg wrestling each other. Indian leg wrestling is laying side by side with your heads opposite each other, link arms and connect legs and try to flip each other over. I threw one roommate twice, then challenged another roommate. I flipped her once, and then we went one more round. This one didn't go quite so well. I got pinned in fetal position on my neck for a few seconds, and when I sat up, I knew something was wrong~I had full movement, no tingling or anything, but the pain was dizzying, from the crown of my head down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I sat for a moment, then carefully laid back down. After a few minutes we started the movie and I started cryotherapy in an attempt to numb the pain and lower any swelling. By the end of the movie I knew I needed a priesthood ble...

I have a nasty job. A job that, like Michael from My Best Friend's Wedding so eloquently puts it "Unfortunately, I happen to love!" Like any normal person, when I come home after a long day, I want to tell someone my funny stories, or the yucky things that happen, things like that. My mom is a good sport to always listen to my stories, even though I know she doesn't like knowing some of the details I consider a crucial part of the story. :) I am not married yet, and the man I do marry will have to put up with my stories, no question. That has definitely been a make-it-or-break-it on dates, and I've found it's best to get it out of the way on the first date so we don't waste any time. Now, I don't normally throw it out over dinner (although I won't deny it has happened before!) but I'll usually try to slip it in the conversation how much I love my work, or that I got to work a shift last night or something. "Wait, doesn't that mean th...

We’ve been taught since we were very young the combination 9-1-1 for emergencies. Our parents would carefully bring the phone over and let us pretend to push the buttons, and teach us the importance of calling it if there was ever a problem. We knew the gravity of that, and it was always a dreaded prospect if we ever had to.  As a caregiver I have often been put in a position where I have had to call EMS (emergency medical services) whether it be for a diabetic patient who hadn’t eaten and their blood sugar drops dangerously, a patient who has fallen, or a patient who’s O 2  levels are hovering in the 60-70%, or any other number of problems we can’t take care of at my facility. By the time we have to call EMS, we are in some trouble, and we need them to be fast, efficient, and kind. I have met at least a hundred EMTs, paramedics and sheriffs over my years of work, and had almost all fantastic experiences. They are so good about addressing our concerns, quickly evaluating...

Sorry I missed last week guys, life has kept me on my toes these past few weeks.  If I had to pick a favorite out of all of the people I have ever cared for, she would be it. This patient had Alzheimers, final stage, and she was a sweetheart. She was the most kind woman I have ever met, which speaks volumes for her because Alzheimers changes most people's personality for the worse. When I first became a CNA and met her she was wandering with her walker aimlessly down the hallways, circling for hours until she accidentally went into someone's room or we needed her for something. By the time she passed away her physical condition had worsened to the point that she fell every time she tried to walk without help, but still had that urge to roam, so we had to keep a very close eye on her. Her daughter had brought in a desk tray that we could strap to her wheelchair to keep her in it, but just a day before my story we had been told to get rid of it because it was considered a rest...

I knew from the day I started my clinicals that this was the job for me. I had studied and practiced skills for months, but the day I donned those scrubs and entered that first facility was the day I knew I had found a job doing something I love. After I finished my clinicals and had been bitten by the bug, all I had to do was pass the state tests: one is written and the other is a skills test performed in front of an instructor. The written test went well, I passed with flying colors, and was on to my skills test. This exam includes a test of your ability to take vitals and finishes with a simulation picked from a stack at random with you doing certain cares for a dummy in a bed. I was scared to death doing those vitals. You are sitting next to a woman who has worked in the medical field for years, and you have done your list of 30 required vitals sets, and maybe a few more for practice. She has a two headed stethoscope and hands it to you and tells you to get started. On blood pres...

These last few weeks have been pretty wild for my family and myself with 5 visits in one week of my loved ones into the E.R., it started at 10:30 pm on Sunday, I was getting ready for bed, just finished brushing my teeth when from the bathroom my roommate sticks her head out the door and says "Do you have a problem with vomit?" Now, were that to have been said to anyone else, it would seem a strange question, but I'm a CNA, craziness runs in the profession :) My reply was "No", to which she asked me to come sit with her, that she didn't want to be alone, so I came in and sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed her back and encouraged her as she threw up. I have absolutely sense of smell anymore, (little blessings haha) which is perfect for situations like this! We had a little miracle while we were enduring this long night. My poor little roomie had diarrhea and nausea and couldn't get a bit of rest before one or the other was coming, and we hit about 2a...

"You're a CNA? That's cool, I have a friend that does that. How much do you make?" The CNA replied: "How much do I make?! “I can make holding your hand seem like the most important thing in the world when you're scared... I can make your child breathe again when they've stopped... I can help your father regain some function and movement in his limbs after a stroke...I can make myself get up at 5AM to make sure your mother is sleeping well and her vitals are good...I work all day to improve the lives of strangers...I make my family wait for dinner until I know your family member is taken care of...I make myself skip lunch so that I can make sure that everything I did for your wife today is charted...I make myself work weekends and holidays because people don't just get sick Monday - Friday. Today, I might save your life. How much do I make? All I know is that I make a difference.” I make a difference every day at work. Every day I make pati...

Hysterical strength- defined as a display of extreme strength by humans, beyond what is believed to be normal. This term among the medical community is still considered a myth, but I for one, believe in it. Teamed with adrenaline, this can be a powerful tool in the arsenal of a CNA, especially when push comes to shove (which often happens to us unfortunately) I was doing my clinicals when five firefighters brought in a woman who weighed...I can't even remember now, easily 400lbs. They transferred her onto a stretcher, on which she had to lay sideways to fit, and then told us to have a great day. We got a bed ready for her, and then called all available staff to the room. It took every aide, nurse, and assorted staff member that was available to transfer her, which was 8 people. In coordinating and a lot of work, we got her transferred to the bed, but it took about ten minutes. As soon as we had gotten her across, they sent us new aides to answer the call lights that had been goin...

Adrenaline.-defined on dictionary.com as " a sudden burst of energy from an increase in the hormone and neurotransmitter adrenaline, esp. increased heart rate and blood pressure, perspiration, blood sugar, and metabolism". There have been moments at work where I felt the rush of adrenaline, none of which are moments I want to remember. Those times have been times of high stress and intensity, where often someone's life hung in the balance, or even just their well-being.  So many stories come to mind, I will do a two part series of adrenaline, but here is a story tonight: My last week at work before I left for school, I was in a patient's room, we were picking up our dinner trays for the night and making note of how much they had eaten, as we normally do, and I was glad I was in there. I went in and made small talk as I went to pick up the tray. I had my hands on the tray when she started choking. I immediately reached up and hit the...

Pickup Lines For Old People: Grandpa: Hey baby, you better call life alert because I've fallen for you and can't get up On that note... haha This reminded me of a few times where I have had patients hitting on each other, and on me. Once they are getting up in age, they tend to forget a lot of things that they used to believe in or standards they used to have, etc. Family members get upset because their parents are doing things they didn't used to think was appropriate, and expect staff to be able to keep them apart. One couple that we had was quite hilarious, his family had requested that we try to keep them separate, and so as I was just leaving around 9 or 10 every night, without fail, I would catch her sneaking, literally tiptoeing and crouching down trying to sneak into his room to visit him. I would always send her back to bed, much as you would chastise a 5 year old for being caught out of bed. The other day I was at work, I was working a double and a guy friend...

Death is a curious thing. Some fear it, some long for it, some temporarily defy it, but no one can escape it. In working for over two years now as a CNA, I have seen at least a hundred deaths, each affecting me in a different way. Watching patients pass away brings the beliefs and understanding of the afterlife of the aide to the surface very quickly. It is a test of faith. I've watched aides respond in all different ways to death, from crying, to refusing to enter the room, to a quiet acceptance of an inevitable part of life. This week taught me about myself as death approached our facility. This patient had been miserable, she was on hospice and expected to die soon, and had reasoned to herself that we (the nursing staff) were keeping her alive through our efforts, so soon all our services were being refused. Showers skipped, toileting ignored, meals sent back, and pleas that we help end her life were an hourly occurance. She was begging every staff member that en...

As a CNA we tend to see a lot of strange behaviors and actions from patients that you would never have imagined in your life. One of those was a graveyard where a patient had sundowners and was known for some less than ordinary behavior after the sun went down, and this night was no different. It was in the middle of the graveyard shift, and a smell was coming from his room, that when investigated and on first survey the source wasn’t found. Upon entering the bathroom it was discovered that this 80-something year old had climbed up onto the sink, pooped in it, then climbed back down and gotten back into bed. That was a one-time instance, and how glad I am that it hasn’t happened again, but this leads me to tell of another patient’s strange habit which is still enough to bring a smile to my face every time I think about it. When I first met this patient, she was on the toilet. No big deal right? Everybody goes to the bathroom, a natural thing. However, the next time I came into he...

Hey guys! Sorry I'm late again :) I just found a new feature for the blog though that will help me post on time in the future. So today's post is a bit more solemn, as it talks about one of the more negative aspects of my job. As CNAs, we deliver a lot of messages, run errands, take phone calls, etc. When communication between coworkers or between an employee and a patient, there is a chance of error and/or miscommunication. Last night was one of those nights--we had a full house, all beds filled at the facility, which has been rare lately, so administration was very happy. Unfortunately, we were short an aide, which means each aide, instead of having 7 patients, each of us had 10. Just hearing the number doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but if you add in the factors that any new patients coming in are extensive, and it adds at least one shower to your night, (one shower for every 2-3 patients you have is the average) then it makes life miserable. We also have one...

I have seen miracles happen at work, some so special and sacred to me that I rarely share them but think of them often. This week I saw a miracle occur in the life of one of my patients. The patient who's story I shared a few weeks back when I was bedbathing her has had a miracle in her life that I have to tell you about. She is battling two kinds of cancer currently, and was on her way home from chemo when she got in a car accident that had her bedridden and barely able to speak two words together. She touched a special place in my heart, because she is staying in the same room that was previously occupied by another cancer patient who recently passed away who I loved dearly, so it is hard for me to watch this patient deteriorate in a similar way. One night as I was taking care of her and was emptying her catheter I saw that the tubing was red. Not only was it red with blood, but there were blood clots about a foot long, about five of them in it. I panicked. I went quickly f...

To start out-it wasn't intentional! The head of maintenance at one of my facilities has been SO nice to put up with my constant questions about fixing things, and has been teaching me some basic electric, plumbing, and other concepts that elude me currently but that I want to learn to maintain my own apartment and eventually house. As if it isn't bad enough having me tag around after him at work asking question after question, today I almost killed him, and I wasn't even on shift! He was on the roof checking for missing shingles, and I pulled up with one of my coworkers, a few of us had just gone to breakfast together for fun, and without even thinking, I saw him up there and honked. Probably wasn't my best idea ever, as he jumped about a foot down the roof. Luckily he caught his footing, but my heart didn't stop racing for quite a while! I won't do that again. Anyways, today's post is in honor of a day approaching soon that I'm excited about: my...

Some care givers tend to have the mindset that a patient that has a very broken body is a burden: not to me. I have a patient who was on her way home from chemo when she got in a car accident that has her bedridden and barely able to speak two words together. When she first got to us she couldn't speak at all, and we were guessing from her facial expressions and slight nods as to whether we were hurting her and what she needed. Last night I was giving her a bedbath--it took an hour to finish. I had the best time. Being able to spend one-on-one time with a patient, knowing her well enough now to be able to anticipate what she would like, and be able to go the extra mile in lotioning her legs to help the flaking, swabbing out her mouth to prevent cuts etc. was just the thing to remind me why I do this job. I talked to her the whole time, trying to make her smile has become my goal while at work. The song "Just to see you smile" is coming into my head right now, because...

Sorry I'm late posting guys, it's been a long hard week, to be honest. This week's post is a list of ways that identify you as a true CNA, composed by myself and a few coworkers. Enjoy! :) You know you're a CNA if: You tell your kids where their food is on the plate by comparing it to the face of a clock you dream about the call lights going off you want gloves on anytime you clean up a mess people ask you any medical question and expect you to know the answer you stop to use every anti-bacterial station in a public place out of habit you can diagnose someone by their BM you can eat a candy bar with one hand while talking about BMs and other bodily functions without feeling nauseous you can laugh about someone pooping in the shower, pottying into their water carafe, etc. you can get 6-8 people in bed in an hour you call roommates, friends, neighbors, and even people older than you hun or sweetheart out of habit you are convinced d...

It’s funny story time again! I have a few that I have been remembering and/or experiencing since last time, so here we go! I have only ever heard this story, but its legend at one of my jobs. One of my patients saw our med tech walking through the dining room in her direction. All of a sudden this patient dove under the table and yelled “THE GERMANS ARE COMING!” The med tech, in true fashion with how we often react to crazy things that my patients do, played along. She dove under the nearest table too. Apparently this happened another time, only the patient got a little confused and hollered Jews instead of Germans. Whoops! :) Recently I was helping a patient out of the shower and into her pajamas, and she had ted hose (compression stockings that are meant to compress the leg to prevent swelling and blood clots) and those are really hard to get on a patient under normal circumstances, but to put them on someone who is wet is twenty times harder, so I was trying to ex...

This week was a long week, I was working doubles every other day, with one shift in between each, and I am exhausted! But it has been a really rewarding week, good thing I love my job :) Tonight I want to post about a sweetheart I got to know well at one of my jobs tonight, one of the rewarding moments of my work came out tonight. This patient is very confused, with some sundowning tendencies, and I had mostly been working graves when he first moved in, which meant I dealt with the worst of both conditions for eight hours. He was notorious for pottying everywhere, wetting the entire bed as well as the floor sometimes. One night I even came in to find him on the floor, lying in a pool of urine, stripped naked, curled up in fetal position, completely confused as to how he got there, and apologetic. Another night he took the water carafe, which holds 1020 cc (mL) and pottied into it until he filled the entire thing. Good thing the aide helping me noticed it and recognized that it wasn...

As CNAs, we give up a lot of things for the people we serve. Our job is physically and emotionally taxing, and not many people see how much it is. In a given eight hour shift, this is a typical schedule: 2pm-Receive report on how the day has gone, any falls that have occurred, etc. 2:30pm-Start vitals on your team (group of patients), as well as answer any call lights, Q2 checks (changing briefs of patients who are incontinent or rotating position of patients who have bed sores, etc.), and handling any emergencies that could arise 5pm ish- Dinner (you are taking note of how much patients eat and recording it for your charting later) 6pm-start rotating breaks for staff members while maintaining sanity on the floor 8pm-snack time. Your showers should be done or getting done by this point, help tag team any patient who is an Extensive 2 or more lift (meaning they cannot be transferred or done without at least two aides) 9pm-Your I&Os need to get to the nurse, (measuring h...