Experiential teaching: infection control for certified nurse's aides

This article has described a self-care model of teaching infection control to CNAs in nursing homes. How the CNAs know and detect illness in themselves becomes the basis for learning about the presentation of acute illness in nursing home residents. This model begins with a discussion of the different meanings of feelings, then the awareness of changes during acute illness, and the factors affecting nursing home residents that change their perceptions of acute illness. With this knowledge, CNAs empathically detect the changes of common acute infectious illnesses in elderly nursing home residents to accomplish infection control. This model uses self-care as a motivational tool, blending greater knowledge with self-confidence.