If you’re eager to make a positive impact while earning a steady income, a career as a certified nursing assistant might be right for you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasted a twenty percent growth rate for the healthcare career path in the next ten years, which is faster than the national average.
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The Chance to Offer Companionship
In this career, you’ll often work to help ill, elderly, and disabled people perform tasks that are necessary for daily living. This gives you an opportunity to be a positive influence on everyone that you encounter through each workday. Sometimes, the people you’ll serve will struggle with feelings of isolation and deep loneliness. When they see your smiling face each day, you’ll be giving them a gift with nothing more than your presence.
Retaining Dignity
Some people you’ll work with might be coping with the gradual loss of their independence, while others might have lost some of their abilities overnight, such as if they were involved in a sudden accident. In either case, it’ll be up to you to help ease the embarrassment that they might be feeling as a result of having to rely on someone else for assistance. Many humans are very independent by nature and don’t immediately adjust to getting help from another person, even if they don’t have a choice in the matter.
With a compassionate approach, you can show that you respect them as a person and want to help them continue to live a dignified lifestyle without robbing them of the abilities that they still possess.
Many Work Environments
This career path also gives you the opportunity to try working in several settings. Certified Nursing Assistants frequently work in hospitals and might assist with transporting patients, and helping them eat or get dressed.
Beyond working in a hospital though, you could also find positions in a nursing home, or even visiting a client directly in their residence to provide care. This sort of flexibility ensures that you never get bored or have to feel locked into remaining in a particular workplace.
A First-Hand View of Other Healthcare Jobs
Working as a Certified Nursing Assistant is also a great way to get a realistic perspective of other types of healthcare careers. If you’ve always had aspirations of being a nurse, you’ll be working alongside them, and may be able to ask them questions about what they like and dislike most about their job.
Also, you’ll be seen as a valuable member of the team in whatever work you choose. Nurses have a lot of responsibilities and are constantly in demand. When they know that they can count on you to handle some of their burdens, you’ll quickly assert yourself as someone who’s committed to the job, by doing nothing more than showing up to work each day and giving it your best effort.
With this career path, it’s certainly possible to make a living while also impacting lives in a memorable way. Far too often, people are tempted to pursue jobs that bring them income but fall short when it comes to helping others. Choose to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant and get the best of both worlds.
Jim Lighten writes for nursing education sites. You can find the Best Certified Nursing Assistant Programs listed on the internet.
