This is a speech recently given by Holly Edwards, a registered nurse and member of the city council in Charlottesville, Virginia. She gave the speech at a CNA Celebration Dinner on June 19, 2008.
Holly Edwards, RN
In today’s hospitals and extended care facilities, a nurse assistant is an important part of a healthcare team that includes many personnel outside of nurses. Nurse assistants are needed to provide routine care so that nurses can provide care that only they can perform as outlined by each state’s Nurse Practice Acts. The nurse assistant must not only be very skilled in the actual procedures being performed but must also be able to observe a patient’s condition and report that information back to the nurse. Due to other responsibilities, the nurse cannot spend large amounts of time in the room with the patient, so the nurse assistant is often referred to the as the nurse’s “eyes and ears.”
That overview or definition of a certified nursing assistant came from a Wikipedia web site. It went on to say that federal nurse aide training regulations are mandated in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, a sweeping government reform to improve the quality of nursing homes. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the first major revision of the federal standards for nursing home care since the 1965 creation of both Medicare and Medicaid. This required that state approved training programs must be a minimum of 75 hours and include 16 hours of supervised clinic training. Aides who complete the program are known as certified nurse assistants (CNAs) or State Tested Nurse Aides. Their names are is placed on a state registry of nursing aides. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act OBRA 1987 created the Nurse Aide Registry and Training Program that we know today.
The Wikipedia definition describes what you are, but as I pondered about what I wanted to share with you this evening, I realized that it lacked a description of how you do what you have chosen to do.
Somewhere in the midst of my contemplative state I could hear in the background my set of two-year-old twins destroying and ransacking something that clearly did not belong to them. I am still amazed at how whatever does not belong to them is a source of fascination.
They were systematically going through a drawer of old photographs. It was the sound of paper being torn in several pieces that ultimately got my full attention. But before I could scamper toward them and asked the illogical question- “What are you doing?” – Bernice handed me a picture of her sister Christen when Christen was two years old. They looked so much alike Bernice thought it was a picture of her.
When I looked at the picture a little closer I could see that it was taken as Christen was starting to cry. I could see a hand on her little arm that immediately after the picture was taken scooped her up to console her. I stared at the picture and became tearful when I realized that it was my mother’s hand. It took me back to that moment when I last saw her hands, when those hands were peacefully laid to rest.
I first traced it with my finger and then I looked at my own hand to see if it looked like hers. Mommy’s hand.
The moment took me back to a place that made me appreciate and miss those hands. It was then that I realized it is your hands that make you all the artists in caring. And what a precious instrument you behold! Just take a moment to look at your hands. When I thought further about the experienced hands of PCAs I worked with, I thought about all the tasks I have seen those hands accomplish with the same artistic perfection as a painter with a brush on canvas.
Hands that clean, serve, feed, change sheets, diapers, beds, clothes, wipe tears, wipe tables, hold hands, hold babies, chop food, wash, serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and several snacks, hands that take blood pressures, temperatures, prick fingers for glucose monitoring, start CPR, hands that hold the future, hands that hold the past, hands that take care of the present, the here and now hands that do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, now matter what. Hands that hold life, embrace death, Hands for healing and for many, many, many of the people that you take care Hands that do not hurt.
You are a vital link that often binds the patient to the health care team. The unique relationship you have cannot be replicated by any other health care provider — and, oftentimes, any other family member. Your role creates a unique entryway in the lives of the people you meet. No one can take your place.
And even with that said, how many times have you heard, “Have you ever thought about nursing school? You are so professional, have you thought about another job?” The PCA role can be a starting place for other careers — and not just in health care, if that’s what you choose. But let it be your choice.
I stopped counting the number of times I would go to the bedside of one of my patients and they would look at me and say, “Oh, I didn’t mean you.” I’d say “Well, the PCA is tied up right now,” and the patient would look at me and say, “I’ll wait.” Or they will call over the intercom and ask for a specific item from a specific PCA. It’s pointless, I learned, to intervene. There is even something in the way you put ice in a cup that creates a spirit of hospitality that is unlike any other.
At the bedside the PCAs provide reliable assessments and can detect subtle changes in a patient’s condition. I learned to pay attention to the PCA who says: “I don’t know what it is, but something’s not right.” I learned to rely on those hands.
As you are celebrated and recognized this evening, I’d like to leave you with the HANDS blessing. And just take a moment to look at your hands
H- Helper- you have a powerful presence-never underestimate your role and place on the healthcare team.
A-Advocate- you are the eyes and the ears for nurses, but more importantly you are a voice for patients that can’t always speak for themselves. You provide care but you also are a voice of fairness and justice
N- Necessary- Continue to rise above difficult work situations and people that are negative and do what is needed to be done.
D- Dignity- strive to maintain a professional demeanor at all times and do so with pride.
S- Spiritual- take care of your soul- your inner self- a synonym for the word Spirit is courage. Follow and speak your truth.
Congratulations! Peace and blessings to you all.
