Help with Major CNA Problems

[JSBoston]

The facility I work with has a big problem with CNA laziness and bad attitudes. They refuse to work together for the most part, neglect the patients, lie in their charting, and if they do decide to wash a patient up it's with the help of the nurses and because we asked them to. They won't do anything without us holding their hands and leading them around for each task. This is not every CNA, but definitely the majority. They talk a good talk and rarely get in trouble for their actions.

I HATE asking every two hours "Did you turn this patient?", "Can we go wash this patient up?" and force them off of their butts to go do something while they glare at me. They have read and reread their job description and signed off that they understand what it is they are supposed to do at work. Patient care as a team with the help of the nurse and OTHER CNA's. But that never happens.

Our supervisors say WE (the nurses) are supposed to make them accountable. But all we get is backlash and bad attitude. I don't want to feel like a slave driver. I have very sick patients to monitor and at times critical issues to deal with. Of course I will help wash up patients, even by myself if things are busy, and be dripping with sweat in effort to help the team and have things go smoothly. But when I'm killing myself on the floor, not getting a break so the CNA's have their 2,3,4+ hrs of internet/social time, it really makes me upset. Especially when it's at the expense of the patient. NOT to mention I am not getting paid for doing two jobs.

My question is... HOW do the nurses make the CNA's accountable for their jobs without treating them like children and holding their hands? They really have no motivation to complete their jobs because they know they can get away with it. My complaints usually only go as far as the nursing supervisor, but I think I am going to start writing many emails to our nurse manager, HR person and our CEO.

This has been a problem for years, but I've recently reached my very limit when a CNA made me go cry in the bathroom because I was so frustrated with the bad attitude and being treated basically like dirt.

If anyone has any help or ideas to offer it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[TryVeganToday]

I AM a CNA on Med/surg, one of the good ones that nurses love because i run the whole shift to the point of collapsing and have won awards because of it. PLEASE!!! confront the lazy CNA's, because us good ones HATE them too!!! Keep writing them up! Make it official!! Wait with a stop watch forcing them to only take a 30 min lunch instead of an hour!! When they show up late, tell them to leave! They make our jobs so much harder when we get their dirty patients/rooms the next day or have to deal with a bad rash because they let them lay in filth for a whole shift!! Every nurse on our unit knows the PCT's that do absolutely nothing and LIE about care they chart as completed. I am actually happier when I have 30 patients all by myself then 16 with a lazy/lying CNA as my partner... Also, I have thought about working on a different floor just to get away from 2 techs. So if you let the bad ones stay on, you will be stuck with them and us good ones will just leave!

[Mepolajohn]

The aides on a particular shift at my hospital are some of the most rude and nasty people I have ever come across, however there has been no real support from management. These people are allowed to do what they want with no real consequences. Which is why my unit is always working short with 3 more nurses planning to leave. My director stated that the one with the worst attitude is their most prized cna with 30 years experience on that unit and she's very knowledgeable. That's great, hopefully when you have no nurses to staff the unit she can jump in and pick up the slack and work as a nurse because apparently she's well qualified:up:. She's so qualified she was able to prioritize that me text paging the MD from the computer about coming to asses a patient was less important than her getting the patient off the cart and into the bed.. It amazes me that management stands behind them and yet wonder why they can't keep nurses on their unit.

[Chickie77]

I'm a CNA and I HATE lazy ones. I once picked up a night shift in a LTC facility because we were short staffed and I regretted it...I also realized why I had SO much work to do on my regular morning shift! I saw the other CNA's TWICE the whole night! I saw them when we came on shift and again when it was time to clock out. I have no idea where they went the entire night but I was running my tail off down THREE halls catching call lights and tending to residents.

Day shift wasn't much better, the majority of my coworkers were rude and very lazy. It didn't help that much of our equipment was broken (lifts, hi/lo beds) and management didn't care. The last facility I worked at I ended up quitting after only 3 months after I injured my back pretty badly. When I left I reported every one of those lazy CNA's for neglect!

If you work at a job where the CNA's are NOT doing their job, they are neglecting their patients and should be reported! It stays on their record and lets the nursing board know who they are dealing with and may actually prevent lazy CNA's from becoming lazy nurses!

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

I AM a CNA on Med/surg, one of the good ones that nurses love because i run the whole shift to the point of collapsing and have won awards because of it. PLEASE!!! confront the lazy CNA's, because us good ones HATE them too!!! Keep writing them up! Make it official!! Wait with a stop watch forcing them to only take a 30 min lunch instead of an hour!! When they show up late, tell them to leave! They make our jobs so much harder when we get their dirty patients/rooms the next day or have to deal with a bad rash because they let them lay in filth for a whole shift!! Every nurse on our unit knows the PCT's that do absolutely nothing and LIE about care they chart as completed. I am actually happier when I have 30 patients all by myself then 16 with a lazy/lying CNA as my partner... Also, I have thought about working on a different floor just to get away from 2 techs. So if you let the bad ones stay on, you will be stuck with them and us good ones will just leave!

I wish I could write them up, but my hospital says that I do not have the authority to. So I complain and complain to the supervisors, with specific examples and documentation, but they don't do a thing. Maybe they "talk" to them, but I haven't seen any real changes. All I can really do is keep complimenting the CNAs that are on top of it. I compliment them often, they make such a positive improvement to my shift. And I do see the hard-working CNAs getting irritated with the lazy ones too.

[NOADLS]

I saw the other CNA's TWICE the whole night! I saw them when we came on shift and again when it was time to clock out. I have no idea where they went the entire night but I was running my tail off down THREE halls catching call lights and tending to residents.

You haven't learned the hiding spots, have you?

[Springdaisy04]

I feel your pain. I am a registered nurse and mostly work at LTC facilities. I deal with lazy cnas all the time. Some of them are very negligent and don' t really care about their patients. It makes me wonder why they entered health care in the first place. People like that can really put your license at risk. Quit your job and find someplace else to work. It is not worth the stress or hassle to stay there. For your own well being, best thing to do is look for another job.

[brightdays]

I did not know that many CNA's did not choose the field, but rather were offered "free" training in exchange for a commitment to work for an employer, for a specified amount of time (some say 2 years). In a poor job economy (depending on where you are), the CNA's will likely be at lesser social advantage than others. They are initially excited at the prospect of the training and employment. The entry level pay is below a living wage, in many states, and at some institutions, the average CNA is responsible for 12 or more patients. Ive seen a population of CNA's at one facility who were just miserable. The management was so strained. These CNA's were considered well off if they had their own barely functioning transportation, and did not live in the local projects. They were required to stick it out, even if they found the job was not a good match for them (when fresh out of training), as they had signed a contract in exchange for this "free" training. Management, without really understanding the dynamic, were finding themselves trying to manage a group of unhappy, impoverished, indentured servants, who were not able to leave due to contract. These CNA's turned on each other, their own management, and did not enjoy their work, which can result in poor patient care. Not one CNA, did I meet, paid for their own training. The good CNA's all left, as they had a luxury to leave ,and find other work. Administration needs to address these issues, not the nurses. Change the CNA/Patient care ratio to a reasonable one, have mandatory drug testing of all employees, annual CORI checks, and "raise the bar" by increasing wages, and requiring at least an associates degree with some experience in the field. If where you work sounds like this, all you can do is get out, and be grateful that you could.

[Tippyrn]

And I thought where I work was bad

[Cowgirl07]

I also do treat my CNA's as co-workers as do many nurses but unfortunately that doesn't always work. I'm so glad that you seem to have had better experiences and I also work hard alongside them but they do have a scope of practice as well and when one works in the busiest unit in the hospital as I do we are not super human and need our CNA's to aid us in keeping our patient outcomes the best they can be. Some CNA's just have bad attitudes and wait for the end of their probation to show their true colors because they know how to get away with it. They pick and choose who they will help the most and that is the reality of it. Again, not all of them but it only takes one to cause chaos on a unit and upset the whole.

[leigha16]

I have been a CNA for 14 years.There are both nurses and CNA'S that are lazy won't do anything to correct there selfs.I work in a hospital and I have compassion for my co workers and Nurses,But you have to understand about some CNA'S they don't won't to listen to what the nurse tells them because they are the lazy one's.Also you have your lazy nurses that just sits behind the nurses station does nothing but just be bossy,I have seen this for 14 years,that isn't good.But as far as bashing us as CNA 's you really need to consider what is going on with your aid,talk to her tell her that your there for her when she is in need of help.I personally don't have no problems cause I work my butt off everyday to do my personal cares for my patients because they are first before anyone in the hosptial.I will respect my duties and my nurses and I will listen to what I'm told to do.

[El rad]

I just got my cna license. I was working in a hospital and got fired for doing things that the nurse should have done. All I got was thank you and when I reduced the sound of the iv and notified the nurse because it was going on for 15 minutes, the nurse reported me to hr, who let me go. So not sure if it's ok to be too helpful. I got along well with 99.9 % of the nurses and they were ok with me. No mercy for trying to be too helpful!

[JBudd, MSN]

I just got my cna license. I was working in a hospital and got fired for doing things that the nurse should have done. All I got was thank you and when I reduced the sound of the iv and notified the nurse because it was going on for 15 minutes, the nurse reported me to hr, who let me go. So not sure if it's ok to be too helpful. I got along well with 99.9 % of the nurses and they were ok with me. No mercy for trying to be too helpful!

Hmm, in your original January post; you emptied a drain you weren't supposed to, were playing music on your cell phone (even if it was "for the pt"), and you turned down the alarm on an IV pump.

That is quite a bit different than "I turned down the sound". Doing things far out of your scope and against policy, is not "trying to be too helpful".