You can work as a certified nursing assistant in a long-term care facility if you hold an active and valid CNA certification in your state. You will play an important role in the lives of patients at the long-term care facility where you work. Each day you will have a lot of tasks and duties to complete.
If you work in a long-term care facility, you will likely work with patients of varying levels of health. You will work primarily with elderly people. There might also be some individuals with severe and chronic health conditions who are not elderly. For example, sometimes people with progressive MS must live in a long-term care facility.
When working in a long-term care facility, you will help to record patient vital signs and other details. You will contact a nurse or doctor (depending on the instructions you are given when hired) if you notice that there is a decline in a patient’s health or if they are developing a new illness, complication or injury. You must keep carefully records when working as a CNA.
There will be some residents in a long-term care facility who need a high level of care. Some residents will need to be changed because they can no longer use the restroom on their own. You will have some residents that you will completely bathe, dress and groom. There are some patients who will need you to feed them so they can eat safely. If you have residents that are unable to move on their own, you will help to transport them when they need to go to other areas of the long-term care facility.
Nursing assistants play an important role in helping patients to avoid the development of bedsores. If patients are able to be mobile on their own, you can help them to get up and moving so that they are not laying in one spot too long. You will help to rotate and move residents in their bed to prevent bedsores if they cannot move on their own.
Some residents will simply need assistance with most of their daily activities. They might need a little help with dressing and bathing. Some residents will need some assistance getting in and out of bed and walking to other areas of the facility. Some residents will need you to push them in a wheelchair. They might also need help completing their range of motion activities.
When you work as a CNA, you will often respond to call bells. You will respond to residents when they need some extra help. Some residents will be in overall good health and will just need some light and general assistance throughout the day.
If you work as a CNA in a long-term care facility, you will help to protect a resident’s privacy when family members and other people are visiting. Throughout the day you will do your part to keep residents happy and safe.
In some cases, you might be helping to deliver medication to patients. This will depend on regulations in your state and the facility for which you work. You might also help to change dressings for patients who need wound care and perform some other basic first aid care.
There is a lot you will do while working as a certified nursing assistant in long-term care facility. You will be an important member of the team at the facility.
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