This week we celebrate certified nursing assistants. They are truely the bread and butter of a skilled nursing facility and truely deserve to get recognized. Without their help the residents we serve would not be ready to participate with Therapy.
Truely in the trenches
The CNAs are the first and main interaction between the resident and the nursing home. They are the primary caregivers and are tasked with daily bathing, dressing, toileting, and even at times feeding. They are usually the first to know if something is wrong.
Family
Most of the good and caring CNA’s look at these residents as family. They nurture and care for them and act as the family that is unable to care for these older adults. They are the first ones there when they need anything. This can be as simple as losing the TV remote or needing to get to the bathroom. They are also the ones to shower and dress them so they feel clean and still have dignity.
A well oiled machine of a good nursing home starts with the front line
Without good and helpful CNA’s it makes the Therapy world much more difficult. We can’t push these residents to their max potential if all we have time to do is get them up and out of their rooms. We can’t have Occupaional Therapy doing ADLs with every person every day. We are reliant on our CNA’s to be team members and get them ready for us. As a PTA, I can’t work on gait training and transfers if they are not dressed and out of the bed.
What can I do?
Anyone who knows of a CNA can thank them for the job and life that they chose. They do not get thanked enough for the hard work that they do. You can also be an advocate for them and help to get our legislators to take a serious look at the funding for nursing homes. There have been too many years of rate cuts and budget cuts that makes it harder for a facility to not only pay to feed and have the equipment needed to care for the resident , but to also be able to adequately pay our CNA’s a decent wage so they can afford to choose this line of work and be able to survive. We all can make a difference if we just try.
