CNA's keep removing the patients alarms off of the beds

[Blackcat99]

What to do? Of course, I was blamed for not checking the bed alarms every minute. It's always the nurses fault, never the CNA'S.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

We only had one or 2 residents I think an alarm would have been useful for, one that constantly fell and another that got up unattended a lot and would fall about half the time. The others, why have the noise? Either way though, if the aides are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, write them up. The ones that are decent workers will follow rules so why worry about the rest? You're there to do your job, not make friends with lazy employees.

The problem where I worked--a bed alarm was placed on anyone who had even a remote risk of falling, even if they never tried to get out of bed unattained (for example, they were A&Ox3, always rings to get OOB, they are only a fall risk because they have an unsteady gait). Then you have bed alarms for practically everyone when it is only useful for a few of them. Talk about big time alarm fatigue. Let's use a bit of critical thinking!

[FLmed]

We only had one or 2 residents I think an alarm would have been useful for, one that constantly fell and another that got up unattended a lot and would fall about half the time. The others, why have the noise? Either way though, if the aides are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, write them up. The ones that are decent workers will follow rules so why worry about the rest? You're there to do your job, not make friends with lazy employees.

Doesn't make for a therapeutic environment to heal, does it?

[cienurse]

It ultimately is the nurse's responsbility to make sure the CNAs are doing what they are supposed to be doing, that's why the nurse has the license and the CNA does not. Grab the alarm list and take it with you on the med cart so you can multi-task. Nurses aren't getting blamed for falls, they are getting blamed for not taking charge of the floor and the employees they are overseeing. When everyone is allowed to do whatever they want, that's when things like falls, pressure ulcers, and weight loss happens. The nurse is responsible to oversee the care given to those residents she is assigned to, up to and including checking up on the CNAs if you feel they aren't doing their work. Too often, the nurses are so busy that they "trust" that the CNAs will do what they are supposed to. The reality is the nurse went to school in order to be able to accept more responsibility and provide more advanced care for patients and not just hands-on care. And with more responsibility comes more accountability, so I would be making sure that the aides I'm working with know what the expectation is.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I ran a facility that used to put alarms on ALL new admissions for 72 hours and they wondered why the residents were cranky. No assessment was done...just put an alarm on them because that's what they always did. I told them that when I had my hip replacement I would NOT come to that facility because as an alert, oriented, self-directed person I would find an alarm offensive and annoying. The light finally dawned on them and the policy was changed.

[n'ville]

Then that alarm just became a RESTRAINT.