Kelsey Mosesman: First Place

Kelsey MosesmanQuality Center for Rehabilitation and Healing, Lebanon

We wake up living through each day. Planning on tomorrow and reflecting on yesterday. Then all of the sudden we look into the mirror and realize that we have more life behind us than we do in front. Our knees get wobbly, our eyes cannot see well, and we forget what we are talking about mid sentence. Our bones grow weaker and we attend more funerals. Then all of a sudden we end up in an unfamiliar bed, with unfamiliar walls and unfamiliar people. Now it is my job to make the experience not so strange and unfamiliar.

Imagine walking into every new room, opening the door and finding a pair of shoes right there in front of you. Now before I even address my resident, I theoretically slip their shoes onto my feet and walk into their room. To walk in another’s shoes is to understand them as the individual they are.

After I have put on my resident’s shoes, I introduce myself. In this busy world that we live in today, often times we forget to just simply introduce ourselves. As much as you want to know who I am, and what I am doing in your room, I also want to know who you are, what’s your story, and what brought you here. We are now starting to form a relationship.

Now we all know that we cannot have a relationship without trust, so before I start my first task, I hold my resident’s hand and look into their eyes. I acknowledge that I understand that they are scared or nervous and I tell them that we will get through this together. I walk my resident through the steps ahead, reassuring them that I will be there through the whole thing. We perform the task and now you see that I do in fact have your back. We are now forming trust.

Now that I have started building a relationship with my resident, it is just as important to build a relationship with their family. It is incredibly difficult to watch a loved one grow weaker or sick. I believe the number one thing we need as a family member is assurance. I will assure their family that rain or shine, I will be the eyes, ears, advocate, and protector for their loved one. I assure them that I will be there for their family in this time of need. It is my job to make sure that when they walk out of the door and head back to their car, that they are confident that their loved one is being cared for by the best. That is what I believe builds relationships with residents and their families.

To be a CNA is never just a job. It is a reward. As we are young, we are taken care of by our elders, and as they grow older, it is then our turn to take care of them. I am honored to put my scrubs on every day and greet my residents each morning with a warm smile and a gentle hand to help. I cherish the relationships that I build with my residents and their families. I go to bed each night knowing that I have made a difference, and that to me is what makes life worth it.