Spoiled for life

Everyone has met kids that clearly have not ever heard the word "no". They are the "little princesses" that get everything they want. You meet those same bratty kids later in high school, who have clearly never worked a day in their life and have everything they ask for. I use to think that all bratty kids eventually grew up into normal adults. I no longer think that.



I'm a CNA and I absolutely love my job, most of the time. We'll go 90-10 on the love. 9 of that 10% of hating my job is due to a few select personality types (to put it nicely). I am well aware that these people are not able to do everything for themselves and I am more than happy to help, when it is a legit need. See its those bratty spoiled kids, that are still bratty when they're 80 and in the nursing home. They can't understand that I am taking care of multiple people and they get mad when I'm not at their beckon call to fetch them a snack or fluff their pillows. I have one person that needs to use the bathroom, another person who is a fall risk climbing out of bed without me there, call lights going off, alarms beeping at me, and a running to-do list in my head of who needs to use the bathroom, who needs to be put to bed, who is diabetic and needs a snack, etc. and there I stand, listening quietly as I am being yelled at for not having their snack to them after I have just spent way to much time fluffing their pillows and making sure everything is exactly to their specifications and they are comfortable. And all the while I'm holding my tongue when I'm asked to move the pillow a quarter inch to the right and then back two centimeters. Then when they have finally relesed me I walk into the next room and nearly burst into tears when I see the elderly gentleman who has fallen asleep in his wheelchair while waiting for me to help him get into bed. No call light on, not upset when I wake him up to let him know I'm there and apologize for the delay. Just smiles and says "I'm ready when you are."



I think all people should be required to work in a school and patient care prior to having children. They'll think twice about how they parent.



Now, after my little rant, I have to add that I really do love my job. I tolerate the 9% that make me want to slam my badge on the nurse's desk, rip my certification in half and burn all my scrubs, but it's the other 90% that are the reason I do what I do. The sweet little old lady that looks at me with tears in her eyes and says the most heartfelt thank you I have ever heard, all because I helped her get ready for bed and tucked her in. Or the little old man whose face lights up because I brought him some ice cream. Or another lady who daily tells me she doesn't know how much I get paid but that its not enough, and how thankful she is that I'm there. Or when I see them slowly making their way down the hall in their wheelchair and come up and ask if they want a push, knowing they never would have asked but that secretly their arms are exhausted. Or when the sweetest lady's face lights up because I saw a pair of cute slippers in the bin and grabbed them for her. Or when one of them is crabby and by the time I have them in bed they are laughing. It's those smiling faces that warm my heart and bring tears to my eyes. Yeah, there are those people that make my blood pressure sky-rocket, and yeah my nose no longer registers stink until its off the charts bad, and yes when someone pukes I am now the one running in instead of the one the one bee-lining for the exit, but I have an endless number of those sweet moments and smiling faces, and its those moments that tune out all the bad, and are the reason I'm a CNA.