All of us at In the Know are honored to have Corey Anne Rotella, CNA, lend her very special voice to our blog as a regular contributor. Corey has worked on the frontlines of long term care since 2008. As she states, “Sometimes, you pick a career and sometimes a career picks you. In my case, the latter is true.” (You can read more about Corey below.)
Here, Corey shares her thoughts about CNA Week:
Another National Nurse’s Assistant week is upon us. Every year, I am deeply moved that others in the medical field take a moment from their own hectic schedules to show us their appreciation, often in creative and thoughtful ways.
There are times when our job can feel thankless and, sometimes, we might forget that we play a vital role in the health and quality of life of those for whom we care. I know, for me, any lovely words of encouragement and tokens of appreciation from the nurses, administrators, and doctors mean a great deal.
Recently, as CNA Week approached, I found myself thinking of how much I appreciate my fellow CNAs–my partners, my teammates on the frontline. It occurred to me that every year, as we celebrate together and feel appreciated by others, we don’t necessarily stop to say thank you to each other. I would like to take the opportunity to do so now.
Thank you, my fellow CNAs. Thank you for showing up to take care of your patients, even when you feel under the weather. Thank you for staying late when necessary. Thank you for helping out even when it’s not your patient or resident, for being a team player. Thank you for helping me find that invisible dog for my patient with Alzheimer’s disease, for risking your back with heavy lifting and for bravely cleaning up any number of bodily fluids. Thank you for being my grief counselor, and allowing me to be yours, and for sharing laughter and tears and frustrations. Thank you for being my teachers and for shining the light of humor during the toughest shifts.
Most of all, thank you for caring and reminding me, by your example, of the value of what we do. We are the eyes, ears, hands, legs and voices for those who cannot fend for themselves. I know this truth in my heart of hearts because you have taught me. I take great pride in walking this path of purpose with all of you and you are deeply appreciated. Always know that you make a difference in this world. I thank you for that!
Until next time,
Here’s more about Corey Anne Rotella, in her own words:
“At first, I worked in the housekeeping department at an assisted living facility until I could afford to take the state test. Then I moved up to CNA. I also have my Medication Aid certification, but my heart is on the floor, where I can interact, observe and care for my residents. My priority is taking time with my residents so that they know they are valued as human beings. At the end of the day, don’t we all need to know that?
What I love most about my job as a CNA is that every single lesson I learn at work can be applied in all areas of my life. A lifelong chronicler, I began to fuse my two passions and write about my work experiences, my perceptions and the issues that we all face in the healthcare system–patients and workers alike.
What impresses me most about the nurses behind In The Know is that they shine a light on the problems that exist in the healthcare field and offer practical, well thought out solutions that are effective and embrace individual accountability. I am both extremely grateful and incredibly excited to contribute to their mission in any way that I can.”
Awesome writing and heartfelt message. Thank you for writing and sharing your thoughts.
Well said, Corey. I taught Nurse Aides in a NC community college for 15 years. There are very few jobs where employees work harder, doing back-breaking, often heart-breaking AND rewarding work, caring for those who are no longer able to care for themselves. Praise is scarce, but so deserved.
Keep supporting each other for the amazing work you all do:)
Hi there,
I’m a Compensation Analyst for the LTC world. I fight everyday to prove that the CNAs of our industry are the heart of the centers and need to be recognized more for their efforts.
With that being said I am attempting to design a bonus plan for CNAs. My goal is to give CNAs the ability to control their earnings based on their performance. Since I am not in a center I don’t have first hand knowledge of how a CNA effects a center’s success.
I’m reaching out to you to help me design the perfect CNA bonus structure for individual performance. Things to consider:
What should a CNA be measured on?
How easy would it be for a Supervisor to keep track of CNAs performance?
Should a CNA be rewarded on a Monthly basis or Annual?
What are some fair eligibility rules?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, not just from me but the 6,000+ CNAs my company employs nationally.
Respectfully,
Marie
Hi, Marie,
Thanks so much for your message. And, thanks for “fighting the good fight,” helping CNAs be rewarded for their efforts. We applaud you for putting together a bonus plan based on performance!
At In the Know, we create continuing education materials. So, while we stay in close touch with both nurse administrators and nurse aides, like you, we are not involved in day-to-day client care.
However, we are happy to give you some opinions, based on our nurse writers’ experiences.
What should a CNA be measured on? We assume your company completes annual performance evaluations. Perhaps the simplest bonus plan would be to tweak those to include some “above and beyond” measures. So, for example, getting to work on time would be a basic measure, expected of every employee. But, some items could signify superior performance include 1)ability to work as part of a team; 2)time management skills; 3)positive attitude, with clients and co-workers; 4)ability to serve as a preceptor to newly hired CNAs; 5)completion of more than the required number of continuing education courses per month or year…you get the idea. The bonus could be based on how many of these “extraordinary” measures each CNA achieves. Each measure should have some guidelines…”as evidenced by…” so that it’s not just a subjective opinion by each supervisor.
Putting more tracking work on the shoulders of supervisors may set a bonus program up to fail. So, it’s got to be fairly easy. That’s why the annual performance evaluation is probably the simplest plan. You could also have some similar measures for a three month evaluation (for newly hired CNAs). This might provide some motivation when the going gets tough for new staff members–and help reduce turnover rates for CNAs.
In our opinion, all CNAs should qualify for the bonus, whether they are full or part time. The bonus could be prorated depending on FT or PT, but no one should be excluded. There is enough exclusion going on when it comes to nurse aides!
We hope this is somewhat helpful. If you would like to discuss it further, feel free to call Linda Leekley at 919-403-8979.
Thanks again for touching base!!
Linda Leekley BS, RN