Denise Akinsanya always told her mother she was going to be a nurse. But
marriage and children put her career ambitions on hold -- until tragedy struck.
Akinsanya, a certified home health aide in East Haven, Connecticut, turned
to the profession when her marriage ended and her mother became ill. "After
the divorce, I knew I needed a job that would pay enough to carry us through.
And then my mother, who is a diabetic, suffered a stroke and I wanted to understand
her illness and help take care of her."
She found, however, that "this career is nothing you can be trained for.
Anyone who is going into this profession should have a compassionate attitude
to start with. Every person you're going to be dealing with is different.
Personality is important."
Akinsanya says working in home care has a lot of variety. "You don't always
have set patients -- sometimes you're on call."
Her supervisor, Tara Lepro, says hospital work is a little more routine.
"There is more stability working in a hospital. The other patients are right
in the next bed."
Billie Kozinckovich is a former nursing aide from Orange County, California,
who went on to become a RN. "When I was a nurse's assistant, I liked the knowledge
and experience it gave me for my future career in nursing. It also helped
me as a student nurse. I like helping the helpless, so nursing assistant,
and now RN, are good matches for me."
She is proof that some of the same satisfactions can be found working in
a hospital. "I could tell you many stories of how wonderful it is to see the
gratitude in someone's eyes because of something I did or said that was more
than just 'required.' Good care or bad care, it will all come back to you
one day in one way or another!"
A career that sounds so rewarding would be appealing to many, but Kozinckovich
advises caution. "[Nursing aides] work very hard for the $8 to $10 an hour
they are paid here in California. There is such a big demand for nursing assistants
that you don't have to pay to go to some school to be trained. Any hospital
will train you -- just fill out an application."
Ronald MacLeod, a registered nurse who co-owns a home care service, employs
and supervises several nursing aides. "The people we employ feel like they
have more value here. Hospital pay is better, but the employment situation
is not great and the workload is quite high."
MacLeod says nursing aides are very valuable. "We use more of them than
nurses because as a private duty agency, the price of nurses really adds up.
Eighty percent of the nursing aides are going into people's homes, usually
with the elderly. Usually when the client is able to do most care themselves."
What does he look for in a prospective nursing aide? "I look at how they
treat the patient. They must be a caring individual, not getting into the
profession because it seems like an easy job with quick training time. They
must be very dedicated. Sometimes they work long hours. Sometimes they don't
work at all. As far as personality, the people are pretty easygoing."
If you want to get into this career, MacLeod says, "Visit a community college,
visit the department, and then take one of the courses to see if you're suited
to it."
Lepro, who works one-on-one in training and supervising the aides, says,
"Look for an agency that's been established and get a feel for what type of
patients you like to work with. The field is changing -- you can specialize
in working with Alzheimer's or psychiatric patients. New equipment and technology,
such as improved lifts, is making patient care easier and safer."
Kozinckovich says you should be careful about why you are getting into
the occupation. "People who go into the medical field, especially hospital
care, just for the money do not last long. You have to love helping the helpless,
or it won't work for you," she warns.
Akinsanya seems to have found her niche. She says she's going to pursue
her lifelong dream of a nursing degree, but stay in home care. "I want to
do more hands-on care. There's a more personalized feeling with home care.
It's phenomenal to be one-on-one with the patients. There's no way you can't
get attached to them."