Duties of a cna
I think this post about duties of a CNA should have come much earlier on this blog. Unfortunately I had taken it for granted that the duties of a certified nursing assistant shall be obvious from the post about what is a CNA. That does not seem to be the case and hence I am going to deal with the topic in more detail in today’s post.
Why do we need to know the duties of a CNA?
I think knowing the exact duties of a certified nursing assistant is important to first of all decide if you really want to become a CNA or not. A knowledge of your duties will help you to prioritize lessons in the CNA classes as well. You need to be aware of your duties even after you start working as a CNA. Otherwise you may miss certain things that you are expected to do and your patients may suffer.
So what are the duties of a CNA?
Unfortunately that simple question does not have a simple answer. Why? Because the jobs of a CNA differgreatly from each other depending on where you work. Tasks that you have to do in a hospital are significantly different from tasks that you shall be required to perform while taking care of an old man in his home. Having said that there are certain duties that you shall be expected to perform irrespective of your job and we shall discuss about those aspects.
- First and foremost, you are expected to take of your patients. As a CNA, you are responsible for the routine care of your patients. This may include helping your patients to move from their bed to their wheelchair and in doing their daily activities like brushing their teeth or taking a bath.
- You shall be responsible for regular observation of your patients health. You shall have to check their blood pressure, body temperature etc. You will have to report any adverse change in these vital signs to the nurse or the doctor.
- If you are caring for an old person in his/her home then you shall have to know what are the likely emergencies that may arise and you need to be ready to deal with them on your own. For example if your patient is a heart patient then one of your duty is to be ready to take care of him in case of a heart attack.
- Please remember that it is not sufficient to complete your tasks only in letter. The attitude with which you do your duty counts for a lot. Please always treat your patients with dignity and do not get irritated. They need you precisely because they are not able to take care of themselves.
The duties of a CNA can be quite challenging. Especially so when you have to attend to multiple patients. However you shall find it enjoyable, if you start taking pride in what you do and treat this as a fun activity and not as a task.