I completed my first week of Nursing Assistant classes today and I learned a lot about what I’d be getting into.
I entered the classes blindly not knowing what the subject matter would be or what kind of people I’d be dealing with because the school is only a community college.
Don’t get me wrong, community colleges provide a decent education…but I was brought up with the idea that community colleges weren’t as quality and well recognized as private institutions. My mom would tell me that she didn’t want to see me going to certain kinds of schools because of their reputation and how that may or may not effect my future job search. Colleges and Universities with well known names like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Saint Thomas, Macalester, Hamline and the University of Minnesota were Schools that a person could proudly write on their resumes because their reputations for providing a quality education proceeded them.
Minneapolis Community and Technical College wasn’t one of those school on my mother’s acceptable list. When I told her that I wanted to go there I was surprised to see her showing me support in it. I guessed it was because she didn’t want me not getting an education at all and she’d rather me get an education at some community college than nowhere. She supported and nagged encouraged me to apply for classes as soon as possible in whatever field I wanted.
The Nursing Assistant class at MCTC was not what I expected at all! Part of what I expected was loud and obnoxious ghetto acting black people with no respect for their teachers…why I expected this is because most low income people in Minneapolis seem to be black or of a race of color…and in my experience because these lower class minorities liked to follow the stereotypes that were put on them to oppress them they often acted in inappropriate ways with little respect for how they are representing their race in society….I spent most of my life fighting such stereotypes but I’ve grown to the realization that in Minnesota things won’t be getting better for a long time….But that’s a discussion for another day and another post.
Like I was saying before MCTC class NAHA1819 in pre-nursing was different than I had imagined.
The class is made up of about 15 woman most being minorities but some being white and we range from ages 30 to 20 some of the woman have children and there were men at the beginning but I feel they felt strange with the turnout and they all dropped the class. I’m fine with it because I think all the woman who are there actually want to be there and are cordius of their peers and everyone is working and helping each other succeed so far.
I was pleasantly surprised when on my first day I learned that I would be training to learn how to work in an Assisted living residence aka a nursing home. Working with the elderly “vulnerable adults” is what we call them or “Residence”.
I’ve never been uncomfortable working with the elderly and I was always told as a child that I remained calm in nursing homes while my siblings would freak out at the thought that people died in nursing homes.
I remember being told that I should be nurse by my mother after we had visited someone in the hospital once who was really ill. My siblings hadn’t liked the smell of the hospital but I felt comfortable and i really liked the atmosphere there. I didn’t want to become a nurse at first because I was highly against going into a field that is normally occupied by woman. A nursing career seems to be typically female dominated when doctors are often men. I’d hear about how women were only allowed nursing and teaching jobs in the olden days and I didn’t want to become another female nurse in the records that will be taken of now to become history in the future. I’ve had years to get over those negative thoughts toward the profession…and I have met men who are male nurses and (no offense to Craig) quite good looking.
I’ve worked in the healthcare field before while I was working at camp friendship and I was grateful for my experiences there. I learned a lot about how I handle situations where I have to assist people in their ADL (Assisted Daily Living).
Now that I’ve begun the class I’m kind of surprised that I’m enjoying it as much as I am.
I used to think my life’s calling was to become a teacher because teachers were highly influencial in my life and I wanted to help people and make a difference to them. But I can help people and influence people and save lives as a nurse, as a nursing assistant I will learn to make a person’s life easier as they grow older and cannot help themselves.
When I think nursing I don’t think changing adult diapers. But I realize that this is just one of many steps (though quite the messy one) I will have to take to get to where I want to be going.
I hope someday to see myself working in a children’s hospital with elementary students helping them learn. Or working in a infant care unit assisting with the delivery of a healthy baby boy or girl.
So far though I have completed 15 of the 104 hours I am required to do before I can take my NATO test and officially become a nurses assistant in a nursing home or hospital. I’m hoping that all these classes will fly by as fun as this last week has.
Great news so far too…I got 100% on my first test giving me a 4.0 gpa. :D
Wish me Luck!
Who?