Happy New Year!!! :)
You know how I say that God works in themes in my life? The theme for this post-grad season is His steady and strong presence. In college, I experienced a lot of change and God became my home, my refuge. But last year (2015) brought some spiritual turmoil. I began by getting baptized on January 4th, and then experienced spiritual dryness so deep that I doubted my salvation and commitment to Christ. I wanted God, but I didn't know how to reach Him.
Slowly, I began to seek more earnestly and He graciously began to reveal His presence. He opened the door to a job in hospice home care, an area I never dreamed I would find myself. He has shown Himself to be faithful over and over, even though I continue to think that each new misfortune is unsolvable. My job is amazing but hard in so many ways, and I have to completely depend on God.
I often work long days and I have evening commitments, and when time to relax was limited or nonexistent and sleep deprivation was on-going, He was the only thing I could count on. When patients were frustrating or I was running late the whole day or I had a migraine (which I did for three straight weeks), He was my strength. When I felt like I was never going to get it right and I wanted to give up, I trusted that He had placed me in hospice care for a reason.
I've now been at my job for over three months, so I'm not really new at it anymore, and it shows. I am growing and being stretched so much. I have always had a hard time with transitions--for example, I can't make a spare 20 minutes between things productive because it's impossible for me to effectively switch my brain (and body) in and out of something that fast. So when I started a job that is based on 5-10 major transitions per day, in a time crunch, naturally that was challenging for me to say the least. Instead of one facility or hospital floor to familiarize myself with, I had 15-20 different locations in a week, over 20 patients, and even more caregivers to learn.
Sometimes I thought I was never going to learn all the sets of details for each patient and all the caregivers' names and where everything is kept or put away in each different place. But like I said in my last post, I learned to give myself grace and time to get better. And you know what? I have. I can get an appointment done faster, I've memorized lots of details (including all the addresses I visit), I am efficient, and I have developed relationships with my patients and their caregivers. I have gotten better at going with the flow when things turn upside down (though this is often tested), and I recognize that this job will constantly teach me. I really enjoy working as a team with the nurses, social workers, and other staff, all of whom are patient-centered and just generally great.
It's exciting because not only am I learning how to be fully reliant on God, I am also gaining valuable skills that I will use as a PA for the rest of my life. Being able to keep track of multiple patients and pertinent details, working with other providers and keeping in the scope of my training, interacting with family members, and so much more. I am learning a lot and I love it.
One major lesson that I've learned has caused me to decide that I believe every person going into medicine should work as a CNA (certified nursing assistant). Sure, the job is not explicitly "medical" in the sense that we don't perform procedures or diagnose anyone or make major decisions or create disease management plans, but it is undeniably healthcare.
I spend my days giving people showers or bed baths, brushing teeth, clipping nails, and getting them dressed. While hygiene is important for preventing infection, these things are even more important for a person's psychosocial health, and dying and dependent people are no exception. We don't think about what a privilege it is to be able to take a shower or use the toilet until we interact with people who've lost those abilities. Caregiving comprises tasks that are physically difficult and can easily be embarrassing or awkward--but they don't have to be, and they are so important.
Helping individuals with basic human functions, which is the main purpose of a CNA, teaches you how to take care of people. That is the lesson, and I think it is critical for healthcare providers to learn because that is what medicine is fundamentally about.
