New Job

This past week was my first week as a CNA for my new employer, Creekside Hospice. When I got there the first day I was a little unsure as to what was going to happen because there wasn't really a lot of communication from the time I was hired until my first day. The day started off with eleven of us new hires gathering into a room and introducing ourselves. After the formal introductions were over, it was time for all of the boring stuff. The next three days consisted of meeting the heads of each department and introducing ourselves a hundred different times. On the second day of meeting all of the department heads we got a chance to meet with the head of the Bereavement department. From the moment she walked in we knew we were in for an interesting meeting.

When she first walked in she passed around a bag of candy for everybody to get some sugar into their system. She then proceeded to walk around the table with a box that contained sea shells and little stones. Each person grabbed one stone and one shell. After this she told us that we would understand in a little bit. At this point she went through her introduction and started telling us about bereavement and boy is it completely the opposite of what most people think. By the time she was done speaking I was so motivated and excited I wanted to go out and do things I had always been to scared to do. As we sat there on the edges of our chairs at the end of her presentation, she told us it was now time to use the shells and stones. As she held up a giant bowl filled with water she told us that we needed to share two positive affirmations, one was a lesson that we had learned from a loved one and the other is something that we are planning for and working towards for our future.

Finally after Wednesday, we were done with the meetings at it was time for real training. Thursday was completely designated for computer testing and training. I was initially planning on being there all day. Little did I know that I was going to go through training so quickly. I was done by 11:30 and didn't know what else to do for the rest of the day. I went to my trainers and they said to go to my department and speak with my direct reports. I went into their office and talked to them. They gave me the rest of the day off and told me to contact the CNA that I would be going out into the field with on Friday to shadow.
After I left the office I called the CNA and he told me to meet him at 6 AM at one of his patient houses and we would start. I woke up at 5 the next morning and did all my normal things that I do to get ready in the morning and then I was out the door by 5:30. I spent the majority of the day with him and when we were done seeing patients it was time to go back to the office to finish paperwork and turn in timesheets. At this point my supervisors gave me my schedule for the next week and I was off for the rest of the weekend.

As I walked away from the office I had a feeling that I was going to do a good job for Creekside and it made me excited for when I can get out on my own and start seeing my own patients and build relationships with them.