Being a CNA was nothing like I expected it to be. I was so excited to start when I was in high school. I knew I wanted to be a nurse and this was going to be the first step in that journey, I was finally going to be in the medical field. I quickly realized that it was not all it was cracked up to be. Things may have been different if I had started out in a hospital or a different nursing home but that was not the case and becoming a CNA turned out to be a huge hurdle in my life. The sad truth is that there are some very bad nursing homes out there and it is a shame that there are few people doing anything about it.
When I first realized that there are indeed very unacceptable actions happening in nursing homes it completely defeated me. I went off to college and changed my major immediately because I did not want to be in this broken system that claimed to be “skilled nursing facilities.” But when I hadn’t used my CNA license in couple of years I decided to give it another shot, still convinced that I most definitely was not going into nursing school. However something amazing happened at this new nursing home, I enjoyed it. My co-workers cared about the residents like I did, they enjoyed their job and wanted to help them, and the residents had exceptionally good care. I witnessed death and it didn’t feel as if their last moments had been terrible, I witnessed miracles and my coworkers and I shared in the happiness with those residents and their families, and I witnessed what a difference some happy, caring people can make on an elderly person's life. The experience I had at this nursing home made me realize that avoiding nursing was not the right way to solve these problems, advocating for these problems is what will solve this problem and that is why nursing is the perfect career for me. Even if I make the life of one elderly person better I am doing something for someone that helped make this country great. The truth is none of us would be where we were today without those people that now need our help. They have amazing stories and amazing knowledge, and it is an honor to know those stories.
Being a CNA has been a life changing experience and although it has been a rough road I wouldn’t trade the memories and knowledge for anything. It inspired me to choose nursing as a career and whenever I am questioning that decision I think back to all of the residents that have touched my heart and all of the moments in their lives that I got to be a part of. This makes me realize why I chose it. So I encourage anyone that is the slightest bit interested in the medical field, become a CNA because it will change your life.
