Caregiver.

I have had numerous occasions where I have been asked “ Why didn’t you study to become a nurse?” or “Why are you still a C.N.A after so many years?” No one seemed satisfied when I would simply say that I love what I do and why not continue doing the job I love to do.

It isn’t easy choosing a career notorious for poor pay, poor treatment, and sometimes a lot of heartache.

Along with the bad though I do enjoy so much more good. I am there for many people who are at their most vulnerable, I am there when many are scared, tired, weak, confused or just need me to hang out with them. I cant pin point exactly why I absolutely love being someone’s joy when they are at their lowest but in any case why does it matter why? I just do.

Joy is exactly what I want to be when someone needs a hug, a listening ear, or compassionate care when they are and feel that life has betrayed them for allowing them to have to depend on the kindness of a stranger to help clean them up, feed them or just rely on intuition to care for them and decipher what they are trying to tell me, when they can no longer speak. So many of my favorite moments are when I have provided care for someone for so long, and when the time has come that they can no longer use words to communicate with me, I can tell by their eyes exactly what they are trying to say.

I have been someone’s joy when I just meet them and I meet them in their journey when their brain has them in another world, I simply disappear with them into that world, meet them where they are at, relieve their anxiety and gently coax them into their comfort zone.

That’s the definition of a caregiver, a C.N.A or a family member tasked with the job of providing care. Joy. Pure Joy. Can a nurse do this, of course they can and many do, so do many other people who take care of patients, but the truth is it is the caregiver who is present with the patient 90 percent of the time.

To be a caregiver I may not have a degree, I may not have the luxury of the pay offered with the title that these universities give but I do have compassion, patience, love , endurance, and drive and those skills cant be taught, You either have them or you don’t.

I have so many years of memories, so many lessons taught to me through my patients in my care. I have shed so many tears…so …many…tears, but I wouldn't change what I do for the world. Caregivers are always going to be where my heart lies, its what I am it’s what I do. Much love.

Pauline