Celebrating Our Certified Nursing Assistants

When your family member stays at an NHC center, you can trust that they’re in the best of hands. Not only do our patients and residents receive excellent medical treatment, but they also build strong relationships and emotional connections with the partners who care for them every day.

This is especially true with our Certified Nursing Assistants, who are responsible for many of the day-to-day tasks that keep our centers running. CNAs do everything from checking patient vitals to helping them with grooming to caring for wounds to making sure their rooms stay clean.

In honor of National CNA Week, we wanted to shine a spotlight on our amazing CNAs and give you a closer look at the care your loved one will receive at any of our NHC centers.

Building Genuine Connections Across Generations

Because CNAs see their patients every single day, they are often the people whom your loved one will form the closest relationships with.

“I had a stroke patient one time, she was my age. We became really bonded, and she was like my best friend. We talked, we had children the same age, and we just became really, really close,” shared Bridgette, a CNA who has worked at NHC for 32 years.

Bridgette says the relationships she’s built are the things that motivate her to keep coming back day after day.

“The atmosphere is family oriented. It’s the best place to work,” she shared. “I’ve worked in other nursing homes before, but this is my home. I love it.”

One young CNA shared that she’s loved the opportunity to learn from the seniors she works with.

“I started working here when I was in high school, and just being able to tell them my stories and then being able to hear theirs was amazing. They just provide so much wisdom and entertainment,” said Madison.

This atmosphere exists across our centers, whether your loved one is coming for a short-term stay after an injury or is entering long-term care.

“I love my residents. I like to see them get better and go home, because I work on the rehab unit, mainly. But I also like to go visit the long-term unit and see the residents that I’ve met through rehab who get to stay with us,” shared Lynda.

Discovering a Passion for Nursing

Many of our CNAs start working at NHC in high school, or they come to us through one of our free CNA classes. These classes give people an opportunity to explore a career in nursing and become certified as a CNA by the end of the program.

“At first I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect,” one CNA shared about her class experience. “As you go through all the steps and you go through the learning process of how to do things, everything just becomes natural to you if you are a nurturer like me.”

Sometimes the people who start as volunteers or Temporary Nursing Assistants in our centers fall in love with senior care and decide to get certified.

“I’m going to take the CNA classes at NHC because it’s a great opportunity. It’s fully paid for,” shared Luke, a Temporary Nursing Assistant who plans to become a CNA. “[We can] give [patients] a sense of hope and a sense of positivity, whatever might be going on in their life. Because we all need that as people. We’re always looking to be known by someone else.”

The next time you see a CNA in one of our centers, be sure to stop and thank them for all they do!