1st day off to a great start.....


mrswtnhunt

Recommended Posts

Just wanted to brag a little. I started teaching my first CNA class today at work. I have 5, very eager, students in my class. The class is to teach students how to be nursing assistants. This is the first class and it is off to a great start. All of my students are very excited and eager to learn, and they asked alot of questions today. I was so proud that I knew all of the answers.....lol

I was a CNA for 6 years before I went to RN school. It is a very hard but rewarding job. I am having to relearn some things as I go along, but my students are very understanding. I've been real busy at work trying to prepare for this class...that is why I haven't been able to get on here much. I'll keep you guys posted on how things go. I may need some advice from some of you fellow teachers. I had no idea how much pre-class work that the teachers had to do. Wish me luck......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congratulations!

I'm sure you were chosen for this position for good reasons. I was an NA many years ago and remember my classmates and I bombarding the teacher with all kinds of questions, I'm sure they weren't always prepared to answer off the top of their heads. But, they did a great job, as I'm sure you will too.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is wonderful, congrats Catrina! And with a great person like you, they are bound to be 5 great CNAs!

Nursing and teaching have to be 2 of the toughest jobs out there just because of all the work that has to be put out for the people you're "serving".

Keep up the awesome work you do! I'm sure the teaching will get a little easier as the days/weeks go by:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's great Catrina! Glad both the students and you are enjoying it. It's always great to see people eager to learn. I think maybe later on in my career I'll start teaching what I do for a living, like an automotive class at a highschool or college. I've always liked the idea of it and like teaching. All the new apprentices at work always seem to glue to me over the other techs, so I guess I'd be good at it. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's great Catrina! Glad both the students and you are enjoying it. It's always great to see people eager to learn. I think maybe later on in my career I'll start teaching what I do for a living, like an automotive class at a highschool or college. I've always liked the idea of it and like teaching. All the new apprentices at work always seem to glue to me over the other techs, so I guess I'd be good at it. :)

You should do it. If you are good at something and have alot of knowledge in a certain area, don't be selfish and keep it to yourself.........share the knowledge.

I am kinda the same way. I have always had co-workers come to me when there was something that they needed help with, or wasn't sure how to do a certain procedure. I kind of have a knack for teaching. People have told me that the way I explain things makes it easy for them to understand. Today in class we learned how to do vital signs. That includes taking someone's pulse, temperature, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. The students were a little nervous but I let them take my blood pressure.

By the end of the class, I thought my arm was going to fall off.......lol

Thank you to everyone for the support. I'll keep you updated on how it goes and I may need advice sometimes.

Catrina

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL Catrina! What really annoys me though is taking a patient's BP and they complain it's too tight, take it off and I'm like "Well I'm sorry but it's going to be tight for a few seconds!" LOL

You sounds like the "perfect" teacher...there are few out there that I've had that make it easy to understand when explained. My one instructor was awesome like that...but she retired my 2nd to last semester, darn it all.

I was trying to teach how to take BP to one of our volunteers at camp...it's so easy when you know how to do it, but explaining systolic/diastolic and differentiating hearing them on the sphygmomanometer is not so easy,lol;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Well, today we had our first real day on the floor in clinicals. My students got to give their first bed bath to a resident. It was so cool to see them perform all of those skills that I have taught them in the classroom. They all did very well. I was extremly proud. We have 4 more days of clinicals. I started them off easy and only had them taking care of one resident today. By next Tuesday, they will have 5 residents each. They are doing skills like foley care, perineal care, hair and nail care, vital signs (Blood pressures, temperatures, pulse rate and respiratory rate), and changing bed linens. 3 of my students got to use the mechanical hoyer lift to transfer their residents from bed to wheelchair. I felt a sense of accomplishment today. Thanks to everyone for the support and advice.

Later,

Catrina

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome job Catrina! Wish you had been my nursing instructor! The most patients I ever got was I think 3 once otherwise we only ever got 2...Never got to use a Hoyer lift either...Of course CNA's do quite a bit lot...us RN's deal with alot of the meds and Dr's and charting, etc.. etc..

Can't wait to hear more about your class:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was so cool to see them perform all of those skills that I have taught them in the classroom.

Yep. There's a lot of intrinsic value in those observations, eh?

And people ask me why I teach.

:D

Good deal Catrina, keep up the good work. Remember to show them that you care, and let them know that you expect them to succeed, and they will.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update....We had clinicals 3 days last week and again today. Tomorrow is last day of clinicals. I will say that my students are running circles around our existing CNA's....lol

I have had so many compliments from the residents and their families.

Yep. There's a lot of intrinsic value in those observations, eh?

Yes, you are absolutely right there, Chris. I just stand back and watch them in action. It is like when you have a child up on stage in the leading role in a play, and they don't miss a line.............MAKES YOU SOOOO PROUD!!!

We have class on Wednesday and then Finals on Thursday. Kinda bittersweet. I've really enjoyed teaching but I have another whole job to get caught back up on. This class has taken me 5 weeks and my other job responsibilities have been put aside. I appreciate everyone's advice and support. Hopefully I can be back on here a little more once things get settled at work.

later,

Catrina

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Awesome job Catrina! Wish you had been my nursing instructor! The most patients I ever got was I think 3 once otherwise we only ever got 2...Never got to use a Hoyer lift either...Of course CNA's do quite a bit lot...us RN's deal with alot of the meds and Dr's and charting, etc.. etc..

Can't wait to hear more about your class:)

I was not a CNA but I worked in Special Ed in School. We had to use a Hoyer all the time to get kids in and out of Wheel Chairs. (I worked Middle school) I got better at it than I wanted too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Sounds like you did an excellant job, you should be proud. I also teach CPR, First Aid, etc. but that is only a one day class, and then you have a different class the next day. The teaching that you do would be a lot tougher. Congratulations on a fine job!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.