[Ruby Vee]

Originally Posted by ceresk

To whom nurse it may concern.

Dear,

I cannot believe that, after finishing chewing each other's and eating your young's, you decided to take on CNA's and Nursing Students. That's very courageous of you. Maybe the DOCTORS are right, when they tell you that they are the ones with the Big Degree.

It assumes that the OP (and whomever else posted in this thread eats their young, chews on their co-workers and is mean and nasty to CNAs and nursing students. I didn't find that to be the tone of the OP at all.

[Ms Kylee]

Originally Posted by longhornfan1

We all have the same goal really. Impacting a life either positive or negative. All I want is a smile and then I know I have made a difference. God bless the aides that work till they drop, those are the ones who take the most grief and get the least appreciation. Most of my CNA's got earings or necklace for xmas. The one's that stand out and do without complaint, got $50 gift certs. and a new set of scrubs. They know I appreciate them. One LVN was telling a CNA to get this and that and then do this and after she just turned away and started to chart. I stopped the CNA halfway down the hall and said "Thank YOU Thank You Thank You" loud enough for the LVN to hear it. Even that little thank you goes a long way. I think the LVN got it though.

It is true... a thank you means a lot.. especially when you're having a pretty awful day.

[Ms Kylee]

Originally Posted by NancyNurse08

I can see how that might be degrading. When I was an aide, at the beginning of my shifts when I went room to room to check on each patient and introduce myself, I made my role clear to them by telling them that I am the one who brings snacks and warm blankets and helps them to th bathroom. Your nurse brings the medications and takes care of treatments, but I can check with your nurse if you have any questions. I didn't feel degraded at all because I accepted that my role was different from that of the nurse and went out of my way to let the patients know. I didn't feel that wiping butts was beneath me, because that was my JOB. I knew the nurses were too busy to do it, and that's why I was there. The way I see it, the patients have all these people that come and go, and it's hard to keep track of who does what. If I can explain to them at the beginning of my shift and make things easier, then why not?

I also include "I'm here to make sure you're comfortable. I can't bring your meds, but I can let your nurse know if you need them." Most patients are appreciative, but every so often you get the demanding one that is a PITB.

[pickledpepperRN]

This thread reminds me of a shift in telemetry when I received a transfer from ICU just when dinner trays arrived. Usually it was a priority to pass the trays before the food cooled off so we all worked together.
But this patient arrived with a minimal report given by the supervisor not the nurse who cared for the patient.

I needed to assess the patient and the chart. I discovered that the K+ was low and there was no evidence that it was reported. I called the ICU and the nurse said, "I just got an admit myself. We were so busy I didn't have time to check the morning lab results."

I had to cal the doctor and give oral potassium stat.
Boy did I thank the CNA's who passed trays and set my other patients up for dinner!

We have to work together for OUR patients.

[Virgo_RN]

Originally Posted by Tweety

Actually, they are there for the patients, not the nurses convenience, which is how some nurses treat their techs. But it is their job description to take direction from the licensed nurse.

Again, teamwork is the key, for the sake of the patient, but not all of us, licensed and unlicensed alike get this.

Semantics. If we didn't have aides, who would be doing all the things the aides do? The nurses. I agree we do it for the patient. I didn't think that needed to be said.

[chadash]

These post make me realize I work with great nurses. They never degrade me, they always are careful not to impose.
Real teamwork must be predicated on empathy.
Today I made a mistake in how I treated a nurse. I was holding on to an alzheimers patient to stop her from pulling her foley, and found myself telling the nurse how to resolve the issue. Really out of line. I guess I was just frustrated with my dilemma, and forgot to think before I spoke....hadn't had lunch....a million excuses. But, imperfection in ourselves is the best teacher. We are going to mis-speak, screw-up... and we need to allow our coworkers the same grace we allow ourselves.
I learned that from the nurses I work with, who have shown me grace over and over.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by ceresk

To whom nurse it may concern.

Dear,

I cannot believe that, after finishing chewing each other's and eating your young's, you decided to take on CNA's and Nursing Students. That's very courageous of you. Maybe the DOCTORS are right, when they tell you that they are the ones with the Big Degree.

Nurse/CNA dynamics are a big part of our day and sometimes we need help to deal with it and come to understanding. Please allow us this. We are not "taking them on".

[Kunzieo]

Originally Posted by NancyNurse08

What I find frustrating is that I am expected to understand things from an aide's point of view (which I do because I was one), but I don't feel that the nurse's point of view is understood by the aides. It's like a one way street. That's why I can shake my head and smile that the aides that are in NS will someday understand. And most likely, they will be embarrassed at their lack of understanding when they were an aide.

I am so SICK of people saying that. "Oh...just wait until you are a nurse..then you'll know how rough it is..."

What makes you think that an aide doesn't "understand" what all your job entails? Believe me, I KNOW what nurses do (at night anyhow.) I've watched them do it for over two years.

I know they are responsible for all cares and treatments, no matter if it is myself or the nurse performing them. I know that they have millions of miles of charting to complete. I know they also have to cater to certain patients and families. I know they have supervisors breathing down their backs, always pushing the latest patient surveys and new campaigns for patient care. I know that they are fighting with the docs to get the right course of treatment for their patients. That they are constantly assessing everyone and everything in their head, constantly evaluating, prioritizing, and re-prioritizing when a really sick patient throws everything off schedule. And they do all this without taking more than a 10 minute break, sometimes not having time to eat, sometimes hardly having time to pee.

When I complain about certain nurses, it is NOT because they are misunderstood.

Respect is earned, not given.

And having an RN after your name does not automatically mean you have earned respect.


/rant.

[pebbles]

I *am* really sick of CNA's who don't understand my work dissing me and my work, and deciding what is or isn't important about patient care.

I had a CNA tell a new nurse the other day that "this patient isn't really an ICU patient anyway, the alarms don't matter, she shouldn't even need a monitor". Well, actually, that patient was pretty darn sick. But the CNA couldn't understand that because the pt wasn't on a ventilator.

I've heard and been subjected to countless ******** sessions about nurses being lazy - I really believe that these less-educated CNA's do think that RN's get paid to sit around all day. The ignorance about the work of nursing and what it is that nurses are paid to do - is what leads to that disrespect. And I am sick of it.

I don't feel that I disrespect the CNA's or their work, so why are they so disrespectful to mine????

[Virgo_RN]

I have a lot of faith that most of the aides I work with are compassionate people doing a very difficult and demanding job.

I've been working on getting together with the aides at the beginning of the shift to give a report and let them know the things that need to be done, but often I don't even see an aide until halfway through my shift, when they approach me to let me know they're going on break. Frustrating, yes. If I need help, I typically have a choice between doing something myself or spending ten minutes trying to find an aide. Typically I do it myself, while all of my other work is piling up relentlessly.

I wish the solution were as simple as communication. Communication can't happen if you don't have someone to communicate with. I think the solution in my case is that we need to hire more aides. But that's not happening, so how can I make the best of the situation as it is? I need help. Without help, I don't have time to look up labs or imaging results, or keep up with chart checks, or take my breaks, let alone to pee or get a drink of water. I feel that patient safety is at risk because I'm so busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off, that I might miss something.

I'm not just griping. I am trying to change things at work. I'm just frustrated because it seems that my efforts are continually stymied, and a big part of that is the attitude of the aides. An example of that; the other night, the aide approached me to let me know that they were going to dinner. They hadn't done VS, and I said I'd like to go to dinner too, could they please do some VS before they went. I'd do some and they'd do some, and we'd both go to dinner after. Team approach, right? No. This didn't work for the aide. Rather than argue or debate, I said fine, I'll get all my VS, you go to dinner. I had to call another nurse to help me get VS and do the med pass so that I could go wolf down a half a sandwich and get back to the floor right away.

Or later, I asked said aide to get a set of orthostatics on one patient, because I was behind and desperately trying to catch up. "No. I'm behind on my ice waters and I don't have time.".

Or, the aide reported a negative hemoccult to me, and I asked them if they could please chart it. "No. I don't remember how.". Fine. I'll chart it, but could you please get the lot numbers off the card and the bottle? "You're kidding me, right?". Fine. I'll go into the patient's bathroom and look at the card and the bottle so I can document the lab test that you did.

Yes, I understand being busy, and I understand teamwork. Just wish I could get a little.