The wide range of topics that are covered during the CNA training program are aimed at helping nursing assistants to deal with all types of demands and eventualities in the profession and one of the most crucial of all topics that are covered is in dealing with death as CNA. This is particularly important when a patient who the CNA has been caring for, for a long time, passes away.
Role of the Certified Nursing Assistant
The job of a certified nursing assistant is to care for patients who are ill and dependent on them for their daily routine chores such as bathing, eating and dressing. In addition to the elderly, there are many other patients who may have met with accidents and are confined to their beds because of being unable to take care of their own creature comforts. The job of the nursing assistant therefore is a challenging one, as they have to deal with the demands of these patients every single day. Many CNAs sometimes begin to develop a close rapport with the patient as they spend most of their waking hours with them.
Coping with Stress and Emotions
Even when it is expected, dealing with death is never easy. When a patient dies, the CNA who had been dealing with the patient all along could experience a range of emotions that could include sadness, shock, grief or anger. Very often, CNAs become confidantes to their patients and are privy to some of their emotional problems, whether at home or at work. When the patient dies, the CNA is more than likely to take the loss personally and needs the help and support to be able to cope with this situation. Sometimes, the nurse may feel dejected at the death of a patient and feel they are responsible.
Dealing with Death as CNA
Some facilities have a high turnover rate of staff members while in others it is reduced to the bare minimum. Most long term facilities will have fewer turnovers so there is more interaction with nurses and their patients, which can bring about negative results and even cause the nurse to give up the profession when the situation becomes too overpowering. Most often the CNA may have to attend counseling classes to learn how to deal with a patient who is dying or has just passed away. This is because they may have become attached to a particular patient and it is difficult to see the dead remains of the patient in front of them. CNAs therefore are given special classes to learn how to deal with patients who are dying as well as how to cope with their own emotions when a patient dies.
Nursing assistants are provided extra training session’s especially in hospices and different palliative associations to learn how to cope with the death of their patients. The book, “Core Curriculum for the Hospice and Palliative Nursing Assistant” explains in detail about dealing with death as CNA. It is important to be able to handle patients sensitively when they are dying and also to communicate with the family members respectively and handle the ethical or cultural issues that may arise on the death of the patient.
