Certified Nursing Assistants and Social Norms

Just like any other career path, medicine has its own hierarchy of workers with doctors and surgeons at the top, nurses ranging the middle and unfortunately, a history of certified nursing assistants being at the bottom in terms of just about everything. However, this attitude is slowly changing due to the increased demand on nurses and doctors from the greater numbers of elderly needing assistance as well as the day to day demands of working in the medical field which leads to doctors needing more help and more certified nursing assistants being needed on the job.

Frankly, the snobbery towards being a nursing assistant is counterproductive for everyone. Becoming a CNA may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but compared to jobs such as working in a fast food joint, it?s far superior; better pay, more rewarding work, and a real chance at advancement. Besides which, certified nursing assistants are getting more and more in demand nowadays as more people require the care of places such as nursing homes, hospitals or even want careful home care that their doctor just wouldn?t be able to provide. So even though you may feel as though you are at the bottom of the rung, remember that the bottom is where the foundations are and without that, the whole structure will topple over!

There is also the fact that since becoming a CNA is relatively quick to do and inexpensive, you can launch yourself into your career without a ton of schooling and decide if medicine is what you really want or if you?d rather do something else without wasting a lot of time and money. Most high end jobs won?t let you do something like that, so it?s worth at least trying the CNA job to see if you could do everything that would be demanded of you and enjoy it. Starting out at the bottom is the best way to see if you?d even enjoy being at the top or if you should look somewhere else for your career path.

Finally, being a CNA gives you real insight into how patients are; you get to forge bonds of friendship that would be a lot harder to do if you were a nurse and almost impossible if you were a doctor. As a CNA you have the most contact with your patients and this gives you a window into their lives that for many CNAs is well worth the lower pay rate and the snobbery.

There is nothing wrong with starting out as a certified nursing assistant and many things that are good about it. You get to start out at the beginning and have a job that pays well for the small amount of schooling you need and a real chance of advancement. You get to connect with others and you are an integral part of the system. It doesn?t matter how low on the ladder you may be seen to be; you are still important and there are always chances to go up if you want to. Remember though that you should be doing something you enjoy regardless of others see it and that as a CNA, you will be working hard to help others and those are the things that are truly important.