girl in greenwood

Well, I made it through my clinicals! I have officially completed training as a nursing assistant, and now I need to take the state exam to become certified.

After the first couple of days of feeling nervous and useless, I think I caught on really fast. Just because of the way my brain works, I think I will be able to do a good job keeping track of a batch of residents... although I might need to write more stuff down at first. I am so grateful to the other CNAs who taught me - I think the school owes them a debt of gratitude for putting up with students all the time!

I'm surprised that after only 6 days I left with a round of hugs and good wishes from some of the CNAs. I even got some nice words from some of the residents - my new friend who shares my last name has a lot of trouble speaking, but he managed to get out something that I think was "I wouldn't be surprised if you wound up here" after I told him today was my last day. So sweet! And another resident who is very sick, but is the model of gracious kindness, actually kissed me and wished me good luck.

So yeah, I did spend a lot of time wiping butts and other stuff that might be construed as weird or gross... but what I learned about myself is that I really love taking care of people. I feel sure I'm on the right path now, which is so reassuring I can hardly describe it. Part of my nervousness before clinicals was that I feared I might hate giving care once I was in the thick of it, but instead I like it more than I thought I would. I feel so grateful that I was assigned to a facility that encouraged me, and that my dear husband is so supportive to allow me to quit my job and follow my heart!