How safe is a career as a CNA in a nursing home?

I am looking into getting a job as a CNA at a local nursing home, but I am a little frightened of catching a disease or bringing it home to my 3 year old daughter. When I did the walk through of the nursing home there was a woman who was extremely contagious and required you to put full nursing garb on, mask etc. Could you please tell me how safe this profession really is, as this information will weigh heavily if I accept the job or not. Thank you!!

Honey, being a CNA in a nursing home is about as safe as putting your child in a filthy grocery cart at your local market and using the public pen the cashier (who has a cold) gives you to sign your debit receipt. You will be taught to use "universal precautions", in otherwords, you will be treating EVERYONE as if they had a deadly contagious disease! EVERYONE = Universal....
I would tell you to be more concerned about your "heart" for this job rather than worrying about catching something and bringing it home. If you do your job right, you won't leave with anymore than you came with. However, if you're just doing this for the "job" and not for your desire to help the elderly, I would suggest that you seek employment elsewhere. Having worked in these facilities as a nurse I can tell you it's not easy to watch people die or get sick; it's not easy but it's rewarding to know you're making a difference to someone who needs you. It's stressful. It's sometimes too much emotionally to handle; but sometimes...you get a good laugh that's worth it all. If you plan on treating everyone how you would want to be treated, go for it. Godloveya....

My mother worked as a CNA at a nursing home for 20 years (retired a couple of years ago) and never caught anything worse than you would anywhere else (i.e. flu and cold). Good luck to you.