this is for all nurses not just Pittsburgh area nurses!!!!!!

RNforLongTime · May 22, 2001

WOW! After reading all of the above postings about CNA's who call themselves Nurses, I just have to add my two cents.

sWolfie, I see that you are from PA. I am originally from PA and worked as a Certified Nursing Assisstant at a nursing home while going to college to earn my "piece of paper" also known as a BSN. Now, not once while I worked in the nursing home did I ever refer to myself as a nurse. I now live in Ohio and it is illegal here for anyone other than an LPN or RN to call themselves a nurse.

Nursing assistants to just that--assist the nurse! I think that CNA's tend to forget sometimes that I (an RN) can do their job BUT, as a CNA, YOU CANT DO MINE!!!!! I work in a hospital so therefore a CNA cannot pass meds or call the doctor or start an IV etc, etc, etc. Yet I can help answer bells, take patients in to the bathroom, offer the bedpan, etc, etc, etc. And I do help the Nursing assistants on my floor do that in addition to my own duties. In no way do I consider myself above any of that.

I take offense at a nursing assistant calling themselves a nurse because as others have so eloquently stated--CNA's are NOT NURSES!!! They do not have additional education or sat for boards. I worked damn hard to get to where I am at today and am very proud to tell people that I am a Nurse! :)

2ndCareerRN · May 22, 2001

This thread just about sums up a lot of the problems with the nursing profession today.

Is it any wonder that no one take nurses seriously, or that it is so hard to get proper recognition for the profession. Since I have been in Nursing, (does my time as an MA, CNA, EMT or LPN count towards my time in the nursing profession?)I have been somewhat taken aback at the amount of back stabbing, cat-fighting and plain mean-spiritedness I have seen. It is for this reason I have decided to attend grad school and to get out of the daily rut of gossip, back stabbing, and inuendos about everyone else on the unit.

I hope that sometime within the next 100 years or so nursing can become a profession that all people aspire to, but until we can learn to treat each other with dignity and respect, don't expect it to come from outside the profession.

Just my measly 2 cents worth.

arbley · May 22, 2001

sWolfie, Please, you are not a nurse. I worked as a CNA for a few years and now I work in an ICU that employs only RN's. I am a well-qualified, competent ass-wiper. I also have more letters after my name than you do. That does not make me a better person, just one with more formal education. I have learned alot from CNA's, NA's, etc., over the years. Your contributions to patient care are invaluable. Thank you.

In the state I live in, it is illegal for anyone not licensed as an RN or LPN to call themselves a nurse. People who do this have legal action taken against them by the State.

chili2641 · May 24, 2001

Boy, I am glad that I had the good sense to study something other than nursing. Realize too PROFFESIONAL NURSES that cnas do go to college. Unless you ask them you have no idea about someones educational background. I am not an RN because I did not choose to study nursing. I am also tired of hearing that all cnas want to be nurses. I can tell you I never day dreamed about doing your job.

nurs4kids · May 25, 2001

Chili, you have some DEEEEEEEEEP interest in nursing, you're here all the time. No one ever said CNA's can't/don't go to college.

Like it or not, CNA's are NOT nurses and any implication of such is purely a lie. If you want to be called a nurse, then dammit go to school and EARN the right to call yourself a nurse like the rest of us.

I love our CNA's and by no means do I think I am "above" them as a human. But the workplace is a different story. I am responsible for the patient, I am the one with the education and training, I am the one who will be sued, I am the one who will be blamed, and as this post suggest I am the one the media will point the finger toward. So, in the workplace? damn straight..I AM above a CNA.

I was a clerk while in nursing school. I took orders off, I ordered supplies, I answered phones/call lights, I ASSISTED nurses at the bedside...all that time wasted in nursing school..from the above standards, I could have called myself a nurse back then. I think I'll just start calling myself a doctor. After all, I do a PORTION of what they're trained to do.

mlvogt · May 25, 2001

sometimes it kills me to go into topics like this. why do we do this to each other we should work together and not against each other we should see the value of na's and rn's and understand why they are both important parts of healthcare. yes im sure rn's could do the job without na's but dont they make you life easier? I know my opinion dosent count because I am a cna but I am going to nursing school and I hope I never look down at a cna who has the potential to be great . :cool:

chili2641 · May 25, 2001

This B/B is good therapy for me. I have been a NA for eight years and I am still very young. I am at a transitional point in my life right now. I have an interst in nursing because I am a cna and it is my job. No it is not my career but I still have to put up with the same attitudes because I work there too.

CEN35 · May 25, 2001

Everybody has contributed chaos to this thread? It started out as one subject, and has turned into a bashing thread as so many others have on the BB.

The only comment I have is this; This thread clearly show why nursing is in dissarray without one common organization/goal.

The motto for the nursing as a profession might as well be "It's all about me", or how about "Whos' the best", or even better "We are professionals, even though we act like we are three".

I'm done with this thread.....later.....out

fiestynurse · May 25, 2001

This post is an example of why it is so important for the person who posts the topic to monitor and respond periodically to keep people on track.

fiestynurse · May 25, 2001

This post is a good example of why it is so important for the person who posts the topic to monitor and respond periodically to keep people on track. In addition, the topic heading was vague. When you post a topic, you need to be very specific on where you want it to go, otherwise you obviously have chaos!

RNPD · May 26, 2001

I think I understand the original poster's intent. The networks promoted the story by using the term "nurse"-a term that is legally protected to include only those licensed professionals that have an LPN/LVN or RN. It turned out that the alleged perp was neither, but was a "personal care aide". It is not as dramatic to say that a patient's aide molested him. A nurse is a licensed professional, who by virtue of that license, is expected to be a person of good character and education. While a "personal care aide" may be just as educated and honorable as anyone else, the word "aide" does not carry the same sense of professionalism and therefore is not as dramatic in a headline as a ratings grabber. Please note I am not saying that an RN/LPN or any other professioanl is incapable of a heinous crime, only that with education, background checks, and licenses that are regularly renewed it is much harder to fall between the cracks and therefore much less common for a licensed professional to be accused of a crime-especially one involving the very people that they worked so hard to be licensed to care for. So it is therefore a much greater attention getter when you hear that a nurse (or doctor, or lawyer, or any licensed professional) took advantage of a client. The network used the term "nurse" illegally (the perp wasn't a nurse) and sensationally (it surely got everyone's attention).

As for the idea that nurses don't understand the work of CNAs or respect that work, it is nonsense. I have met probably hundreds of nurses during my years of practice and I would say 90% of them either started out as a CNA or worked as a CNA for some time during their educational & licensure process. But we were not then nurses. We were ASSISTANTS to nurses. It does not make you a nurse until you are educated and licensed as the same. You may have a PhD in an unrelated field, but if you work as a nursing assistant, you are a nursing ASSISTANT, and will never be a nurse no matter how bright you are or how hard you study, or how ever many degrees you get unless you take the prescribed courses for nurses and pass the licensure exam. Only then can you legally call yourself a nurse.

[ May 25, 2001: Message edited by: RNPD ]

[ May 26, 2001: Message edited by: RNPD ]

night owl · May 26, 2001

This is really something! I can't believe what I'm reading ! How can some of you sit there and type such harsh comments about your fellow health care providers? Aren't we all in this profession to care for the sick, injured, newborn, elderly or mentally handicapped person TOGETHER as a nursing team, one member relying on another for the betterment of the pt? :confused: Granted one may have more education than someone else,(although reading a couple of posts from a few people who are SUPPOSED to have an education certainly could have fooled me!)but we are supposed to be working together no matter what initials we have behind our names. The CNA assists the nurse whether it be LPN OR RN who inturn works with the physician(s). We are supposed to be helping each other. No wonder the nursing profession is in such disorder when we can't even get along on a disscussion board. Some need to get some sense: NAs are just that- Nursing Assistants, some need to act like they HAVE an education: RNs are REGISTERED "nurses", and LPNs are LICENSED PRACTICAL "nurses" and yes, we all need each other in every way. How are things ever going to get any better for us acting like this? It doesn't suprise me, but it does bother me enormously...