Negatives of Being a CNA Nurse
As with any career, there are negatives. To me, the benefits outweigh the negatives of being a CNA nurse, however to play the devil’s advocate I will indulge this way of thinking for a few moments.
Physical Work
Working as a nurse is a physically exhausting job. Not only from any mental and emotional stress that you may get from the job, but also from physical labor. You are on your feet all day (or night) and do not get many very long breaks. People need you. You must do your job. Some work will involve moving patients around in a wheelchair or rolling bed or moving heavy medical machinery. You will need to also have the physical strength to lift heavy patients as well.
Dirty Jobs
Doing CNA work, you aren’t necessarily going to be blessed with doing the fun jobs. You may have to change an adult diaper or two, change a bedpan, clean up vomit, or even clean up after surgery. These aspects are certainly not pleasant and can often be taxing and have an effect on you i.e. making you sick to your stomach.
Stress
Being a CNA nurse is a very stressful job. It is human nature to become attached to people. The people you become attached to can easily be your patients. Some of these patients are very ill and can die, even under your direct care. Along with dealing with the emotional stress of death, a nurse is also going to come into contact with difficult family members who will try to coerce you into going against protocol, etc. You will also have to deal with complaining patients, patients who are uncomfortable that you cannot help and other stressful situations. A feeling of helplessness can be quite common under these type of circumstances.
Exposure to Disease
Even with all of the protocol surrounding disease prevention and spread of germs, there are still times when you can find you are exposed to certain contagious illnesses or deadly diseases. As well as that, you can also become an accident victim such as by accidentally stabbing yourself with a contaminated needle or some such thing. These all may sound extreme, but to nurses working in the field, they are very real concerns that they take precautions against every day.
All of the above shows that being a nurse is not easy. The negatives of being a CNA nurse are certainly great and a cause for concern, however many of those that work in the field will tell you that the rewards and benefits of being a nurse greatly outweigh the negatives. CNA nurses certainly do earn our respect and they much deserve to be paid more than they get.
Thanks Steve for posting the truth about CNA work. The benefits far out-weigh the negatives in my opinion as well. I work on a rehab floor and deal with everything from young rehab patients to elderly rehab patients. Some have dementia and some are just difficult and all of them are wonderful in their own way. I find it to be more of a challenge dealing with family than even the most combative patient. When I start to feel overwhelmed I remember the patients I was able to make a difference with and bond with and that gets me through. While our job is demanding in many ways such as death, decease, physicality, I have a profound love for what I do. Thanks.