[MaryG]

It's true that the pay isn't great, but the rewards are so much greater than any monetary compensation. My residents love and trust me.....their families feel like they can always trust me....and my nurses and boss know that I take pride in my job and that the residents I take care of are taken care of the best way I know how. How do you instill that into others????? I've trained others.....but I don't think that they get it. Most are very young girls......some get it....some don't. Do you think there is a secret to showing them how important their job is????????

[cab631]

I know.......the crappy NAs all moved to PA from FLA! Unfortunately, not enough of them have left! I went from staff nurse to night supv. and I LOVED to catch people sleeping! First I would scare the hell out of them by standing there watching them sleep until they sensed me and woke up. Then I would tell them to go home and write them up EVERY time. And believe me...I got writer's cramp. But the situation improved, slowly....VERY slowly. You've got to document, document, document. And when the rest of the crew c/o that now they have to work short because so and so got sent home, I would just tell them that they are responsible too, because they knew "so and so" had disappeared from the floor and never bothered to look for her/him. The directors usually fired the sleepers after being sent home. People quit sleeping while I was on duty.

[tattooednursie]

LOL @ cab. How long until they sensed you? Thats funny. If they want to sleep on the job, they should get a job testing sleeping pills or something.

[cab631]

The depth of the slobber puddle was usually and indicator as to how long it would take to wake up.......I did a little throat clearing or chair-leg stumbling sometimes. It's the ones with their head on a book that usually woke up and said they weren't asleep! If they were students....I tended to be a little sympathetic, but if student or not....if it was a repeat offender, they had to go home...even if I paid for their cab!

[pcelest9]

Yah, I hear you frogglyleg! As the current prof. that I consider myself to be(CNA), I truely would never invite a coworker outside to duke it out. Just jokin!! However, my repsponse to an assault situation would not be pretty. professional license or not!

I still would like to know; just .......what are you nurses doing to people, for they have to respond with assault? Or, the the NA's you work with... just plain 'ole ignorant?

[Gator,SN]

I still would like to know; just .......what are you nurses doing to people, for they have to respond with assault? Or, the the NA's you work with... just plain 'ole ignorant?

I would say just plain old ignorant....and incredibly stupid!

Gator

[gingerzoe]

I think RN's should appreciate all nurses aides for the work that they do. I think it is the RN's job to make the nurses aides feel like they are a very important part of the team. It is a team process in health care. No one can do it all. I have always felt that the nurses aides are my eyes and ears, as I cannot always be with the residents. I think aides are more helpful if they are appreciated and not looked down upon. Why not use this as a learning experience. Alot of nurses aides are nurses in training and you as RN's could be helpful in this process. Yes, I have worked with bad aides but the majority of them were excellent. I have worked in health care for over 20 years.

[zoeboboey]

Originally posted by MaryG
They don't get to spend the same amount of time and I wonder sometimes if they feel a great sense of satisfaction............

You CAN be different!

Altho'...

I get peeved when the nurses and aides seem to get a lot of computer time at work and I am always working other than my two 5 minute breaks. Something wrong with that pictue!

But I am more satisfied I think because I know my patients are cared for. AND I make sure I get my own work done -- I used to be sitting down to start charting after 7 am while my happy cna's were punching out.

[AutumnSunfire]

I am a Nursing Assistant and we (NA's & RN's) all work together to make the lives of our residents better. Some of what I've read here is very disturbing to me...When I start my shift, the RN will let me know if there is something other then usual that needs done and we do our job. Also, the RN is there for us if we ever need her to help. We have a good working relationship and everyone tries to help each other...isn't that how it should be!? Also, where I work we (Na's) give meds...all except narcotics and injectibles....There's one NA for 10 residents, and they run their butts off daily....there's no room for slacking at our facility...so, to the NA's who do this....SHAME ON YOU....GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER...AND REMEMBER WHO & WHAT YOUR THERE FOR....>The residents/ patients! I love my job and one day will be an RN....Lastly, we have a committment to our co-workers to maintain healthy working relationships so that we can provide excellent service to the residents...we approach the person whom we have a problem with and try to reach a solution as adults....come on....we're all in this for the same reason...resident care..let's do our darndest to achieve it to the best of our abilities....GO AND HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!!!

[redhd5]

I have worked in LTC for 20 years now and have worn the hats of NA, CNA, Admissions, Supply Clerk, Medical Records Clerk, LPN, Wound Care Nurse, and Administrative Nurse. I feel one of the fundamental problems is lack of education. When I started as an NA and got certified, it required so much more than it does now. I recently asked several new CNA students who were towards the end of their training for the normal parameters for blood pressure, and no one seemed to know. Some of them didn't even know how to take blood pressures! Unfortunately, the staff nurse doesn't have the time to help CNA's hone their job skills, as this should have been done prior to getting certified. Times have certainly changed. I am finding that if I include and empower my CNA's in decisons--I get much better performance from them. They are not given the tools to do their jobs well. CNA's don't know about care plans because they don't cover that in class. They have to be taught and shown, just like anyone else. With a reasonable explaination as to why, most will do what is asked. Alot of the "attitude" has to do with not being informed as to why they are an important part of the care. With HIPPA, things are just going to get worse, I am afraid. But I make sure my aids get report, so they are informed. In a lot of long term care settings, the CNA's aren't even getting report anymore. Can you imagine working somewhere and not getting report and being expected to do everything right?
And there is such animosity in the nursing heirarchy. The administratvie nurses act like they could never pass meds, the staff nurses can't figure out how to take charge (because most of them don't know how), and the CNA's need direction because they lack basic skills. I have complained to the CNA instructor who brings her students into my nursing home about this, and she agrees that skills aren't what they should be. Well, I ask, "Who is responsible for this?" I work on an acute care unit in LTC at present and I try to fit in "teaching moments" as much as I can, instead of having a constant critical eye. My CNA's do everything I ask of them. I used to be one of them at my own facility, and I have never been given an attitude about being "too good for the job." I am an LPN and we hired an RN who was afraid to suction someone. This is a basic nursing skill for nurses. Instead of shaming her, or belittling her, I simply said, "Come on, let's go learn this together." She was thrilled that someone would help her.
Being on all sides of the fence has helped to put things into perspective, but the longer I work in nursing, the more understanding I have certainly become and I do commend those that become BSN's and run the facilities. There is a lot of crap out there with funding cuts and trying to make sure the right hoops have been jumped through, for funding. I wouldn't want that job.
But I certainly am supportive of their efforts to run the nursing home on a shoe string budget.