Category: General Health

Nurse Assistants and Communicable Diseases

Communicable diseases are those that can be transferred from one individual to another. These include the common cold, tuberculosis, the flu, and HIV, herpes, measles, chicken pox, lice, and strep throat. Are of these are highly contagious. For those who already have medical issues, their immune system has a hard time fighting off anything else, so they are very susceptible.

Communicable diseases spread by human waste including saliva, stools, urine, blood, and other bodily fluids. Airborne droplets from the nose and mouth are also a common transmitter.

Since communicable diseases often spread like wildfire if not properly contained, it is everyones responsibility to do all they can to maintain their own health. Washing your hands often is a very good place to start. Most germs cant survive soap and water. Nursing Assistants are encouraged to wash their hands more than most people because they are in constant contact with other people.

As a Nurse Assistant, it is your responsibility to immediately notify your supervisor if you develop the symptoms of any communicable disease. They can then determine a course of action. It may be recommended that you dont come to work until the communicable disease has run its course. Depending on the disease, you might be able to continue working with a respirator to prevent passing it to anyone else. In some cases, it may need to be reported to the health department.

Some communicable diseases can be cured with antibiotics such as strep throat. Others including the common cold will have to run their course. You can do your part by remembering to wash your hands, taking your vitamins, being current on all immunizations, and getting an annual flu shot.

Learning about these types of diseases is an important part of the Nursing Assistant program. Most medical facilities train all new employees in the area of communicable diseases. There is also ongoing training. While preventing the spread of communicable diseases is important in any work environment, it is especially important in a medical setting.

Each medical agency will have different processes and procedures for handling the spread of communicable diseases. Make sure you are well trained in identifying them, noticing the onset, and knowing how to handle each type of situation. Epidemics of communicable diseases require emergency procedures to take place. It is very important that you agency trains all employees in that area as well.

Nursing Assistances come into contact with bodily fluids of patients on a regular basis, and this is the most common method that they are infected with communicable diseases. You should always use rubber gloves when doing tasks such as changing soiled bedding and clothing and empting bedpans. The use of a sterile disinfectant while cleaning is important as well. If you do get bodily fluids on you, immediately was the area with soap and water, then report the incident. Your report needs to include what took place and what bodily fluids you came into contact with.

Communicable diseases are an area many people dont know much about. It is important that Nursing Assistants do some research on their own to make sure they fully understand the health risks involved with coming into contact with communicable diseases. While it is very rare, there have been reports of Nursing Assistants being infected with HIV and other potentially deadly diseases.

Nurse Assistant Training

Nurse Assistants play a vital role in our healthcare facilities. They provide patients with assistance in regard to their basic needs including bathing, feeding, and dressing them. The level of assistance depends on the individual needs of each patient. They also are an invaluable resource for the Nursing staff.

Becoming a Nurse Assistant requires completion of a certificate program. Such programs are available at several medical facilities and college campuses. The programs can be completed in as little as four weeks. Others run as long as twelve weeks. It depends on the curriculum, the requirements of the state the program is taking place in, and how many hours per day the course is conducted.

All Nurse Assistance courses will teach you the basic fundamentals of taking care of those under your care in a safe and professional manner. Your work will be supervised by licensed Nurses both during your training and regular employment. The training program will teach you to care for both the physical and psychological needs of each patient. Since you must successfully pass the Certified Nursing Assistant exam, the course will help you prepare for the information on that exam.

During the Nurse Assistant course, you will be involved in learning textbook materials as well as hands on training. The textbook material cover all the terminology and information you need to lay a solid foundation to build on. This information will also cover items that are likely to be found on the Certified Nursing Assistant exam. You will also learn ways to improve your communication skills. Communication is key to being a great Nurse Assistant. You will need to be effective at communicating with patients, their family, and the other medical staff.

The hands on portion of the training will give you the opportunity to practice the concepts you are learning in the classroom. Most training programs have special medical maniquins that you work with. You will practice proper bathing and lifting on them. You may also practice taking their vital signs as some are designed for that purpose.

The majority of Nurse Assistant programs work with in conjunction with the medical facilities in the area. This often means a large portion of your hands on training will take place as such a facility. This portion of the curriculum is called clinicals. During this process, you will tend to real patients with the close supervision of licensed medical staff. You will begin applying your knowledge in this setting.

Clinicals can be intimidating to some students. However, they are designed to give you the best opportunity to fully understand and learn your role as a Nurse Assistant. Generally, these clinicals are conducted with a very small group of students. Your class will be broke up into groups of at least two but no more than six. They take place in the actual medical facility. It is important to understand that you will not be paid for the work you do during these clinical hours of training.

Completing your Nurse Assistant training at a medical facility not only gives you hands on experience, it may lead to a job offer at the end of your training program. Many medical facilities that host the clinical training are watching out for students who show potential. They are looking for punctuality, attendance, attention to detail, a willingness to learn, and a positive attitude.

Home Health Employment with a Nursing Assistant Certification

Many individuals who are certified as a Nursing Assistant become frustrated with the medical facility environment. The often have to work as scheduled including holidays, deal with internal issues among staff, want more pay for the work they are doing, and dont feel appreciated.

Home health care offers a great alternative to Nursing Assistants who want more freedom as well as the opportunity to get to know those they are caring for on a more personal level. Home health care is exactly that, offering basic assistance to those who need it in the privacy and comfort of their own home. Nursing Assistants will be performing many of the same tasks including feeding, bathing, and dressing the patients.

Most Nursing Assistants interested in working for home health seek employment with a home health agency. These agencies contract with the patient or their family to offer them services to be able to remain in their home rather than an assisted living facility. However, Nursing Assistants need to be aware home health care agencies generally offer additional services that they will be required to perform including paying bills, running errands, picking up medications, and taking the patient to scheduled appointments. In addition, there may be cooking and light housekeeping involved.

Many Nursing Assistants love home health care because it allows them to develop a schedule that works for them and they get to know their patients. Home health care generally allows you to make your own schedule. It will be reviewed by your supervisor as well as checked with the patients. Every effort is made to accommodate all involved. It is very likely you can customize the schedule around holidays and other events, giving you those days off.

Getting to know your patients while doing home health care is a perk you dont often get in a medical facility. You sometimes can if you work in a long term care facility, but even then time is often limited and Nursing Assistants have to run to complete the workload they are given. Getting to know the patients in home health care can make the job more enjoyable.

Since home health care takes place in a persons home with very little supervision, the background check is more intense than what is done to work in a medical facility. This is for the complete protection of the patients. You will have complete access to their home as well as be interacting with them one on one. Therefore any time of issue on your background check can keep you from being employed in home health care.

Nursing Assistants are more likely to earn more at a home health agency than in a medical facility. On average $2.25 more per hour. They are also more likely to be treated respectfully by their employer and co-workers. They want employees to be happy as this will help keep them as quality employees. Patients do not like for their assistant to continually change. They dont like having that many new people in and out of their home. The home health care agency has to properly balance keeping the employees and the patients happy.

Explore other Medical Fields as a Nursing Assistant

Employment as a Nursing Assistant offers you a unique opportunity to explore many avenues of the medical field. You will primarily be working with the patients, their families, and the Nursing staff. However, it is not uncommon that you will have interactions with many other areas including physicians, X-Ray, surgery, specialists, and emergency staff.

Since you will be working with so many types of individuals, having quality communication skills is a vital quality to have for being an effective Nursing Assistant. You will be responsible for meeting the basic needs of your patients including feedings, bathing, and dressing. They level of care with vary depending on the individual needs of the patient. In addition, you will be providing them and their family with emotional support.

Your position will involve working closely with the Nursing staff on a daily basis. This will be the medical professionals you deal with the most. From providing vitals for all patients to offering assistance with whatever comes up, the nursing staff needs to know they can rely on you. This means showing up as scheduled, completing your tasks to the best of your ability, paying attention to detail, and being willing to work as part of a time.

Depending on the type of medical facility you work in, physicians of the patients may be stopping in to check on them. They often as questions of the Nursing Assistant. For some, this is intimidating. If a physician is asking you for information on a patient, take it as a compliment. Physicians often recognize Nursing Assistants as having more one on one interactions with the patients. Therefore, things that you observe can help them with treating the patient.

For example, a doctor may prescribe a new medication. You will be able to let the physician know if the appetite of the patient has changed as well as if the patients level of being coherent has changed.

Working in the medical profession, you will be exposed to a variety of other staff from different medical fields. This is because of the changes in the needs of your patients. You may be asked to take patients to X-Rays or to help get them prepared to be moved to the surgery unit. There will be an array of specialists checking on patients, again based on the individual needs of those you are serving.

Working with emergency staff is very important. Their interactions can make all the different in some situations. It is vital that you are trained on when emergency staff should be called. You need to have detailed information of where to call, who to call, and what information to give them. This should all be secured prior to any event actually happening.

In this type of situation, you will need to work with emergency staff to provide information. Anything you can tell them about the events that occurred as well as the events before the incident took place can be of importance.

The role of a Nursing Assistant is one of many hats. You will have the opportunity to provide quality care for patients as well as be exposed to many other arenas of the medical field. The more you are able to effectively communicate with these other professionals, the better service you will be providing to those in your care.