Today marks a month of going to nursing homes and putting my Certified Nursing Assistant skills into practice with actual residents.

In Health Science Clinical, our first nine weeks were dedicated to learning and practicing the 23 Prometric skills we’ll be tested on in the lab. This involved practicing skills like dressing, feeding, and bathing, usually practiced on my classmates or mannequins. But now that we’re working with residents, I’ve been able to apply these skills in real situations.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how different it feels to perform these skills on an actual person compared to a mannequin. For instance, putting socks on a mannequin is easy because the plastic allows the socks to slide on smoothly—unlike with a real person, where you have to be more gentle and mindful of making sure you’re not hurting them.

In addition, I’ve noticed some differences in how skills are adapted in the nursing home setting. For example, rather than washing hands between every resident, as we practiced in the lab, the nurses often use hand sanitizer for convenience.

While I’m still adjusting to some of these differences from lab training, there are positives to working with residents that go beyond the technical skills. I have absolutely loved building connections with the residents. Even from brief five-minute conversations, I’ve learned so much, from hearing about their favorite hobbies to listening to stories from their younger years.

Getting to finally work in the nursing homes as a CNA has been such a rewarding experience. As I drive to the nursing home every morning on A-days, I look forward to the new moments I’ll experience.