Interview ‘Why do you Want to be a CNA?’

Schenectady, New York. Sonia describes the average day in her profession and her overall feelings towards her job. The purpose of this structured interview is to assess the behaviors, attitudes, feelings and perceptions of an ordinary CNA while understanding how theories of job selection, satisfaction and theories of stress can help explain the existence of the perspectives that the interviewee holds.

Sonia is a 21 year old nursing student who is currently a CNA at Ellis Hospital’s residential & rehabilitation center. Being raised by a single parent, Sonia was heavily influenced by her mother’s nursing career and had desires to become a registered nurse herself (RN). In addition to being influenced by her mother, Sonia also has a passion for giving aid to people who are unable to take medically care of themselves nor perform daily activities to fulfill their needs. After graduating from high school, she went into a certified nurse aide program at Schenectady County Community College and participated in field courses that prepared her to take the New York state nurse aide certification exam. It is mandatory in New York state to complete a nursing home nurse aide training program that is approved by the state. Then, the individual must take and pass the exam within 24 months after completing a CNA program. After completing the program and passing the state exam that was administered by Prometric, Sonia received her certificate and began working night shifts (11.pm-7:00 am) at Ellis hospital by the age of 20. While assessing the behaviors of her job, the interviewee describes how her average duties includes helping patients with daily needs/ medical procedures, recording and documenting vital signs, answering to personal requests and reporting issues to licensed nurses.

When assessing her feelings towards her position as a CNA, Sonia expressed the stressful nature of her duties. Working in the nursing home center at the hospital, the CNAs have to deal with the workload and demands of patients that can become overwhelming at times. She also describe the treatment she receives from impatient residents of the nursing home. During our interview, I asked Sonia to elaborate on the stressors of her job by giving an example. The interviewee gives an isolated sinearo where a patient was blurring out racial slurs at her due to being aggravated for no apparent reason. She then goes back to state that not all the residents are like this on her site, so she does not to allow bad experiences to influence her judgement of her job. She tries to control the way she responds to hectic situations by reminding herself that she’s a nurse aide and she’s the one who needs to stay professional not only for her sake, but for the sake of the patients who needs their help. Although she admits that the stress she receives at work sometimes influence her to not want to go to work at some nights, she reiterates her passion for the nursing field by claiming that there’s people “...who are struggling to perform the daily activities that we take for granted. They need us, so it's a rewarding job to have because you know there’s times when you’re appreciated and needed, even when they’re too frustrated to tell you that you’re needed, they still need you.” Sonia also informs me during the interview that she enjoys working for Ellis because of their ethics and positive treatment workers receive from the facility.

During the interview, we also touched on her perceptions on her co workers along with her overall attitude towards being a CNA. When talking about how the people working in her facility are satisfied with being a nursing aide, Sonia points out that not everyone who works at the nursing home truly enjoys or have a passion to take care of people. Some CNAs have displayed dissatisfaction working at the hospital along with being tired of the workload that is constantly required to be performed. She states how there’s nights when people would walk out during their shifts and never come back to work. However, she lets it be known that there’s others who, like her, also have a passion in the nursing field.

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