Clinicals

     Things have been quite busy lately.  I have been taking a nursing assitant training course, which involves a lot of hard work memorizing and practicing skills.  During this week, I was given the privilege of going into a nursing home and following around an actual nursing assistant.  Her name is Rosie, and she is very good at explaining processes, showing me specific ways to do a task, and allowing me to help the residents with their activities of daily living (eating, toileting, changing clothes, taking vital signs, oral care, showering, etc.).

     Eight other students from the training insitute are also learning with their preceptors, and we have had fun getting to know each other.  I will be sad when we finish up the course and leave, because I probably won't run into these people again.  It has definitely been an experience that I would not have missed for the world.  I have had so much fun working with residents and learning new skills; not only has this been a fun experience, and hard work, but also a rewarding one.  It feels very good to know that through all the backbreaking work we do, peoples lives are made better for a little while.

     There are times when I feel grossed out, or extremely tired, or frustrated when working with a specific person.  But these are the times when God really uses these things to teach me a lesson.  In 1 Corinthians 16:14 we read, "Let all that you do be done in love."  I'm not going back to the nursing home until next Thursday, but when I do go back I want to remember this verse, so that whether I am doing a 'dirty' job or a 'clean' one, I will do it all in love -  for the glory of Jesus Christ.