RN's forced to do CNA work

Nurses New Nurse

Published

I am a new nurse and was wondering if this is a standard practice. When my floor needs to use a CNA to sit with a patient, they often have an RN take on the CNA's job for that shift. The RN no longer does any RN work for that shift, they only do what the CNA would do. Their pay stays the same but their duties change for that shift.

I have great respect for CNA's. They have an essential and very hard job, but I don't want to be one. That's not what I went to school for. Is this a normal practice?

Giving me time to focus on my other responsibilities IS helping me to do my job. Read what I wrote, stop looking for things to criticize. CNA's by law certainly cannot help me with all of the things I have to do - so there IS a line between the two practices. If there wasn't, there would be chaos. And with the mentality of management these days, if it were possible to have nurses do it all and save money not hiring CNA's, then we nurses WOULD be doing it all - but there simply isn't time to do both and management knows this. This is the reason for training and hiring assistants for nurses, just as people in other fields have assistants, to do the work that their more extensive educations over qualify them for. CNA's have specific duties, just like nurses have specific duties. You may not agree, but this is certainly how it is laid out in employee handbooks, and by state law. If there is no such thing as CNA work, then heck, let the CNA's do the assessments and treatments and give meds as well. Pay them more too, maybe then they will show up for work.

As for your "humble opinion", it is anything but, telling people that they "absolutely" should not have become a nurse because they don't want to do CNA work. If you like doing it, goody for you, but nurses are not a bunch of robots who all like and want to do the same things.

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My comment specifically states that CNA's are there to help me to focus on my OWN responsibilities - which is the same as HELPING ME TO DO MY JOB. Do you all know how to read?

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ohhh...you are not a nurse. Wish I had seen this comment before I spent all that time replying. I misunderstood your position. I was fortunately in a good financial position before nursing school and did not have to worry about money...but I imagine it is very stressful. I hope you will be able to work less when you get accepted to school, so that you can focus more time on studying. At least with your attitude about CNA work, you can do that after graduating during the 2 years (on average) that it takes to find a nursing job these days...and it is expected to get worse with all the changes in health care. I would love to hear from you later, once you start working, when you are in the middle of trying to do 20 things at once that absolutely must get done, you are towards the end of your shift, and someone asks to be put on the toilet, a job that will take at least 15 minutes because they can barely walk and need extensive assistance...honey, I can assure you, you will be looking for the aide to do it because you will not have the time, and you will resent the time it will take cutting into your own work. And most employers will not pay overtime if you do not get your duties done in the shift time. Part of being a nurse is getting the CNA's to do their job so that you can do yours - not doing their job for them. I apologize for seeming testy in my other post, but it is very easy before you have actually worked as a nurse to sit back and say how it SHOULD be, or what nursing really is. I never said I would not do CNA work, I do do it. I help the CNA's whenever I can, because they are my eyes and ears, and I have to rely on some of them to do things I can't do - so I don't want to make enemies of them by acting as if I am too good to do their work. What I said was that I did not WANT to do it, and that I did not LIKE to do it. Do I HAVE to like it to be a good nurse? No, I do not. And I especially resent having to do it because management where I work cannot seem to hire and keep CNA's. So please, before you get all sanctimonious, make sure you are understanding what you read.

I work with over 20 nurses where I am employed. NOT ONE OF THEM likes doing patient care. Not ONE. For different reasons, but it all mostly comes down to time constraints. But judging by the way people get jumped on here, by people that are not even nurses, for goodness sake, I can see why no one wants to admit to it.

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My comment specifically states that CNA's are there to help me to focus on my OWN responsibilities - which is the same as HELPING ME TO DO MY JOB. Do you all know how to read?

I'm not sure if you work in LTC or in acute care in the hospital, but if it is the hospital, you should be thankful that you have CNAs at all. Most hospitals in my area, including my own, have moved to RN total patient care. We have no CNAs to help us. We do everything!

At least I am fortunate in the respect that I do enjoy patient care (I was an aide for 16 years) but it just gets frustrating when I'm busy with a pt and there is nobody to help answer the lights of my other pts.

At least you did say that you try to help your CNAs when you can. Nothing was more irritating to me when I was an aide, than when an RN would go answer a light and then spend time looking for the CNA to take care of the pts needs when the RN could've spent less time doing it themselves.

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

Seriously? Honey? Seriously?

Anyone who doesn't like patient care shouldn't be a (bedside) nurse. Patient care is all things related to NURSING. The profession that you joined. What, I'm not a nurse so I don't get to have an opinion? Well, I am a person and I am educated, and you stated that:

A) You didn't go to school to do CNA work, hence my comment. There is no such thing as CNA only work. Its all YOUR JOB which some of it can be delegated, yes, but its not like the CNA's are there to do those things so that you don't ever have to and that is how you made it sound. Is that not what you are saying? Some facilities have an all RN staff and all the above falls under the nurse.

and B) That you don't like patient care. If you don't like patient care why the crap did you become a nurse? Of course everyone has one aspect or another that they don't like but come on. That is my opinion. People who don't like patient care shouldn't be in nursing. Period. Or, they should be in an aspect of nursing that.....oh, I don't know, doesn't have patients. You are saying you don't like taking care of patients, because that's what patient care is. Do we have different definitions of the phrase?

No, I am not a nurse (yet) BUT i work alongside some wonderful nurses. Side by side with them and I see what its like. I watch what they do and although I haven't physically done it yet, I get it. Not in the same way I'll get It when I'm a nursing student and a nurse but its not like I deliver Pizzas. I totally get it when they are too busy to help me and they totally get it when I need help doing an occupied bed strip. They totally get it when I can't be two places at once and if they are able they go to my other patient for me. And in return I am there to help them do whatever they need me to. I'll collect a specimen, label it and send it to the lab, all things I don't have to do but if it helps them out I'm glad to do it. No, obviously I can't pass meds or hang blood but there are a lot of things that I can do and they appreciate it. And btw, legally I can do whatever they delegate to me in short of passing meds. I can put in foleys, do EKG's, draw blood ....whatever. Its not the norm but it is perfectly legal.

OH and I have a job waiting for me when I graduate because I work in a hospital and they are paying for my tuition. In return I have agreed to sign on with them when I become a nurse but that is beside the point.

I do apologize for my harshness but it really gets my panties in a twist when I hear a nurse insinuate that CNA work is beneath them or that they shouldn't have to do it and I am being honest when I say that I have never met a nurse who told me they didn't like patient care yet still liked and wanted to continue (bedside) nursing.

What I will add however, is that I do recognize that LTC is much harder than it is in the hospital and you likely don't have time to do much more than pass meds.

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Seriously? Honey? Seriously?

Anyone who doesn't like patient care shouldn't be a (bedside) nurse. Patient care is all things related to NURSING. The profession that you joined. What, I'm not a nurse so I don't get to have an opinion? Well, I am a person and I am educated, and you stated that:

A) You didn't go to school to do CNA work, hence my comment. There is no such thing as CNA only work. Its all YOUR JOB which some of it can be delegated, yes, but its not like the CNA's are there to do those things so that you don't ever have to and that is how you made it sound. Is that not what you are saying? Some facilities have an all RN staff and all the above falls under the nurse.

and B) That you don't like patient care. If you don't like patient care why the crap did you become a nurse? Of course everyone has one aspect or another that they don't like but come on. That is my opinion. People who don't like patient care shouldn't be in nursing. Period. Or, they should be in an aspect of nursing that.....oh, I don't know, doesn't have patients. You are saying you don't like taking care of patients, because that's what patient care is. Do we have different definitions of the phrase?

No, I am not a nurse (yet) BUT i work alongside some wonderful nurses. Side by side with them and I see what its like. I watch what they do and although I haven't physically done it yet, I get it. Not in the same way I'll get It when I'm a nursing student and a nurse but its not like I deliver Pizzas. I totally get it when they are too busy to help me and they totally get it when I need help doing an occupied bed strip. They totally get it when I can't be two places at once and if they are able they go to my other patient for me. And in return I am there to help them do whatever they need me to. I'll collect a specimen, label it and send it to the lab, all things I don't have to do but if it helps them out I'm glad to do it. No, obviously I can't pass meds or hang blood but there are a lot of things that I can do and they appreciate it. And btw, legally I can do whatever they delegate to me in short of passing meds. I can put in foleys, do EKG's, draw blood ....whatever. Its not the norm but it is perfectly legal.

OH and I have a job waiting for me when I graduate because I work in a hospital and they are paying for my tuition. In return I have agreed to sign on with them when I become a nurse but that is beside the point.

I do apologize for my harshness but it really gets my panties in a twist when I hear a nurse insinuate that CNA work is beneath them or that they shouldn't have to do it and I am being honest when I say that I have never met a nurse who told me they didn't like patient care yet still liked and wanted to continue (bedside) nursing.

What I will add however, is that I do recognize that LTC is much harder than it is in the hospital and you likely don't have time to do much more than pass meds.

You go, Girl! You sound like the type of CNA that I once was. You are going to be an AWESOME nurse!!!

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.
You go, Girl! You sound like the type of CNA that I once was. You are going to be an AWESOME nurse!!!

Thank you very much :-) I can't freaking wait.

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Seriously? Honey? Seriously?

Anyone who doesn't like patient care shouldn't be a (bedside) nurse. Patient care is all things related to NURSING. The profession that you joined. What, I'm not a nurse so I don't get to have an opinion? Well, I am a person and I am educated, and you stated that:

A) You didn't go to school to do CNA work, hence my comment. There is no such thing as CNA only work. Its all YOUR JOB which some of it can be delegated, yes, but its not like the CNA's are there to do those things so that you don't ever have to and that is how you made it sound. Is that not what you are saying? Some facilities have an all RN staff and all the above falls under the nurse.

and B) That you don't like patient care. If you don't like patient care why the crap did you become a nurse? Of course everyone has one aspect or another that they don't like but come on. That is my opinion. People who don't like patient care shouldn't be in nursing. Period. Or, they should be in an aspect of nursing that.....oh, I don't know, doesn't have patients. You are saying you don't like taking care of patients, because that's what patient care is. Do we have different definitions of the phrase?

No, I am not a nurse (yet) BUT i work alongside some wonderful nurses. Side by side with them and I see what its like. I watch what they do and although I haven't physically done it yet, I get it. Not in the same way I'll get It when I'm a nursing student and a nurse but its not like I deliver Pizzas. I totally get it when they are too busy to help me and they totally get it when I need help doing an occupied bed strip. They totally get it when I can't be two places at once and if they are able they go to my other patient for me. And in return I am there to help them do whatever they need me to. I'll collect a specimen, label it and send it to the lab, all things I don't have to do but if it helps them out I'm glad to do it. No, obviously I can't pass meds or hang blood but there are a lot of things that I can do and they appreciate it. And btw, legally I can do whatever they delegate to me in short of passing meds. I can put in foleys, do EKG's, draw blood ....whatever. Its not the norm but it is perfectly legal.

OH and I have a job waiting for me when I graduate because I work in a hospital and they are paying for my tuition. In return I have agreed to sign on with them when I become a nurse but that is beside the point.

I do apologize for my harshness but it really gets my panties in a twist when I hear a nurse insinuate that CNA work is beneath them or that they shouldn't have to do it and I am being honest when I say that I have never met a nurse who told me they didn't like patient care yet still liked and wanted to continue (bedside) nursing.

What I will add however, is that I do recognize that LTC is much harder than it is in the hospital and you likely don't have time to do much more than pass meds.

working as a cna and observing nurses is not the same as being one. Respectfully, it is always the ones who have no idea who think they know the most. where you live and work also has a lot to do with your duties. where I work, and in most large cities, rns do not do patient care on the same level cnas do. you seem to be stuck on changing diapers and schlepping bed pans as all a part of "nursing", and while that may technically be so, it is not practical for an rn to stop what she is doing and run to empty a bed pan every time a bell goes off. the more interruptions a nurse has, the more likely it is that she will make a mistake. This is a proven fact.

I only hear honesty in the op's attitude. Just because he or she does not want to do the dirty part of patient care does not make he or she any less entitled to be a nurse. You have no nursing experience, but feel the right to judge someone on their career choice because they don't see it the way you do? nursing is a varied field with endless options. we are not all robots who leave nursing school thinking the same way and wanting to do the same things. And the op is 100% spot on about time constraints. nurses do not sit around all night reading avon books and waiting for call bells to go off. often they have more duties than they have time for, this is the way it is in most Nursing Jobs. not sure where you will work, but what sums it up is too many patients per nurse and very little time for comforting and plumping pillows, its all run run run, and run some more. you are likely to have a change in attitude when your responsibilities increase, a day will come when the 5th call bell for toileting goes off and there are no aides around to get it. having to stop what you are doing to take care of "cna work" every half hour adds up to a lot of time at the end of the night that you will have to stay past your clock out time to try to finish up your work. time you are not likely to be paid for.

you are entitled to your opinion, but there is a huge difference between the two jobs. while the line between the two may occasionally blur, there is a reason why one requires a college education and one does not. There is a reason why one pays well and the other generally does not. while a nurse may occasionally have to help out with patient care, it is her job to delegate most of it, and this is in black and white on the job descriptions for RN's at places that employ both CNAs and RNs.

Being humble and not coming off like you know everything there is to know about nursing, and other nurses and their motives, will help you immensely once you get out of school. Just an FYI to keep an open mind and realize that not everyone, including some great nurses, sees things as you do. Best of luck.

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Specializes in Pediatrics; senior care.

I'm a CNA who works as a Clin tech.. I plan to go back to shool to be an RN .. I am so glad the RNs I work with did my job prior .. They rock!!

Nothing is below them and we are a super busy floor.. But I do see their work load increasing and if they are doing any hiring it is hiring more techs. That being said with the squeeze coming it is apparent if you don't roll with the punches .. You are gonna roll somewhere else:)

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

Ok, I said my peace. I just know what kind of nurse I don't want to be, and that's a good thing. I'm not going to have this argument over and over. It's just my opinion and God knows it doesn't count for much since I'm not a nurse yet. I appreciate your insight, and will consider some of it.

Just more notes to self.

Cheers

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I actually enjoy "CNA" work and wish I had more time to provide basic cares and get to know my patients on a more personal basis. As it is, on most nights I am so hurried with assessments, meds, and documentation that I seldom get to interact with my patients much more that hi, bye (exaggerating, of course).

We have been very short on aides though, and from time to time an RN works as a CNA on our floor.

Maybe I don't mind assisting patients because I originally trained as an LPN and is was seen as honorable. I used to work with a doc who put himself through medical school as an orderly and he would volunteer to help clean, turn or boost a patient.

Yes, this. I appreciate a CNA **** once in a while for a break from all the charting and calling doctors, not to mention that I kind of see CNA work as the base of nursing. We just don't do it so much as nurses because there's no time to do everything if you have 5-7 patients.

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Ok, I said my peace. I just know what kind of nurse I don't want to be, and that's a good thing. I'm not going to have this argument over and over. It's just my opinion and God knows it doesn't count for much since I'm not a nurse yet. I appreciate your insight, and will consider some of it.

Just more notes to self.

Cheers

No one said you are not allowed to have an opinion, but like many of the CNA's that have responded to this post, you seem to be taking it personally when someone says that they wouldn't want to do cna work. I think your feelings are coloring your judgement. I know a lot of great nurses who never worked as CNA's. It is not a prerequisite for nursing. And all of this is strongly dependent on the type of nursing you choose - a hospital or rehab nurse with 5 or 6 patients may have more time to pitch in with patient care than a LTC nurse, some of whom might have up to 30 (25 of them incontinent) patients to medicate and do treatments on every shift. With the average 2 med passes, that puts you at approximately 60 times you are medicating - and with the elderly, you don't just give them a few pills to swallow and that's it. Pills have to be crushed, BP's have to be checked, there are peg tubes and there are neb treatments, there are blood sugars to be checked and insulin to give...and don't forget, some patients with dementia can be combative when you try to get them to do things. So you have to be pretty creative to get them to participate sometimes.

Your attitude and willingness to do it all are commendable, but may not be realistic in a good deal of nursing situations. I am sure you will be a great nurse, though. Good luck with school, it's awesome that where you work now is paying for it, I have never heard of that for a CNA. In fact, seems that even paying for furthering education for RN's is becoming a thing of the past. Where I work used to do it, but not anymore. With all the cuts recently, this has become one of the first things to go, and I live in an area where there are a lot of people, and a lot of new nurses because we have so many nursing schools. Competition for jobs is brutal. Guess all the hospitals and nursing homes could go broke trying to get us all our BSN and Master's degrees.

Anyway, I do wish you well. Not my intention to argue, just to show a different view.

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