Tessa Chase, a senior at RAHS, works as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at St. Johns Hospital in Maplewood. She says that being a CNA is “mostly personal care,” which includes making sure “patients are clean, eating and don’t need anything.”

Chase works at the hospital 2-4 times a week. She says that during a typical shift, she and other CNAs “start out by getting a report and seeing which rooms we have”. Next, they introduce themselves to their assigned patients and take their vitals, followed by getting a more in-depth patient report, which includes doing glucose checks on their patients and ordering dinner for them.

After finishing her initial tasks, Chase says that they “answer calls [they] have from their rooms.” Calls from patients can be for help walking somewhere, getting out of bed, using the bathroom, and more.

Working as a CNA has many benefits and challenges. One of Chase’s favorite parts of her job is working with her patients and getting to work in different units in the hospital. A challenge she mentions is that “you grow a connection with patients and you see them leave”, which she said is “hard mentally and emotionally”.

Chase will be majoring in nursing and minoring in psychology at Minnesota State University Moorhead. She says that her dream job is “to work as a pediatric nurse and continue [her] education to become a nurse practitioner.”

For anyone interested in becoming a CNA, Chase says that while becoming a CNA is mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging, “if you are wanting to get into the health care field and don’t know where to start, becoming one is a great idea.” She says that “most community colleges have a program to become a CNA, and some job opportunities do as well.”