Underappreciated CNAs

SREEJA CHALLA – At any given time, we can find numerous articles on the internet about how undervalued and underpaid nurses are. Most of them work long hours and have the most difficult patient interactions and they don’t get paid enough for their responsibilities and how they are treated. However, a profession that is truly undervalued in the nursing industry is Certified Nursing Assistants. 

Nursing Assistants provide basic patient care and assist patients with activities of daily living. Nursing Assistants mostly work in nursing care facilities and assisted living centers. They have various job responsibilities like helping patients shower, bathe, and dress, aiding in their mobility, providing comfort and companionship, and more. When compared to other healthcare roles, a nursing assistant’s duties are sometimes more physically strenuous and demanding. However, they develop closer relationships with their patients compared to other healthcare professionals. 

Despite all that they do, CNAs are not paid well. The median hourly rate CNAs make is 14.83 dollars per hour in some states they make less than $10 an hour. This is less than what some fast food workers get paid. In addition, they also need to spend money before they can earn it. To be certified, they are required to participate in a state-approved training program that can cost anywhere from $400 to $3000 and have 75 hours of mandatory training, and have to take state exams at a cost of about $105. 

In healthcare generally, dealing with illness or loss is expected from the work. However, it is still challenging to deal with them on a daily basis. Certified nursing assistants not only assist and care for their ill patients, they form a close connection and care for them until their last moments but also provide mental support to the patient’s family and relatives. This is challenging while they are suffering from the loss. Due to the constant losses that happen in facilities, they are surrounded by loss constantly. 

CNA’s job responsibilities consist of physically and mentally demanding tasks. They are crucial in assisted care facilities because they are in charge of so many crucial jobs that are directly related to the health, safety, and comfort of patients. Many have environmental hazards in the workplace like contaminated air, poor ventilation, poor lighting, lifting/pushing/pulling of objects, and violence/ physical assault by patients. According to the article, “Oh their aching backs!”,” In a recent survey of randomly sampled NAs registered with their state board of nursing about back injuries while working, Graham and Dougherty reported that 46% of the respondents reported having hurt themselves while lifting, moving, or helping a patient, and 40% of respondents incurred a back injury” In addition, many CNAs work-related musculoskeletal risks increased when nurses were manually moving or lifting patients, especially when patients were overweight or obese. 

Some Americans don’t know what certified nursing assistants do, and why they are needed. Others are eternally grateful for them. Despite the low pay and the numerous responsibilities, nursing assistants go into this field because they truly care for their patients and believe in caring for others. However, they are also humans at the end of the day and need to have respect and pay their bills too. If an individual can find a less strenuous and mentally pressured position, there will be less of an incentive to become a CNA which can cause a huge problem for nursing care facilities. 

Copy Editor – Priya Jani

Photography Source – https://www.stjohnsunited.org/careers/cna-training/