Dear Editor:

When I tell people I work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), they usually respond by saying that they could never do that job. They talk about how they could not deal with cleaning up all of the messes and the behaviors we have to deal with on a daily basis. I get puzzled looks when I explain it’s easy because I genuinely love my job; and I tell them about the deep satisfaction it gives me personally to provide the care I give.

At Cove’s Edge, long-term care staff is strongly encouraged to make the nursing home as close to a real home for the residents as possible. We are not only hired to look after the residents’ physical and nutritional needs, we are also hired to look after the emotional needs of those who live at Cove’s.

This means hand holding, sitting and talking, comforting, laughing, joking and developing genuine bonds with people who have had long lives, have seen a lot, and have many great stories. I have personally taken care of authors, senators, pilots and engineers, and with that privilege comes a wealth of new knowledge, experience and perspective I could not have obtained anywhere else.

Working at such a place, developing such deep personal bonds with residents, helps develop an equally deep bond with the staff at Cove’s. Going through the everyday lives of people as their main support and seeing them through to the end is a very unique experience not everyone understands and due to all of the staff going through the same journey with each resident helps nurture the relationship between staff.

I am looked to for support through these times by people who too often have no one else to turn to. The end of life is an incredibly intense time for residents, and thanks to the staff at Cove’s Edge, when no family can be there, we fill that role.

We as caregivers hold hands, we comfort and we love. We do way more than just keep people clean, and that is the most rewarding feeling I could possibly imagine.

Philip George

Newcastle