I am seeking advice on how to help properly educate, inform, discuss, and assist nurses at all levels of experience. There seem to be many roadblocks in the ability to relay helpful and insightful patient care techniques. As a CNA I understand my current position and am well aware of my restrictions in the field of healthcare. I hold the utmost respect for nurses and the education they have received, as well as acknowledge the many hoops that they have jumped through to obtain their licence. This is a constant thought for me as I await resonances to multiple nursing programs.
Three of the things I have seen and wish to help improve;
*Techniques such as proper planing/ time management. (When going into a patients room understand and apply all foreknown needs, including materials required for either simple tasks or large procedures).
*Neglect of family members... I have noticed a large tendency for vital family members to be dismissed and considered as an annoyance. As I see it the family is one of the most if not the most important person in a patients care team. These are the people that are going to take care of patients after discharge and they also tend to have information that can be not only helpful but key to honing in ideal treatment for the patient.
*Patients are people too! The parts of care that nurses and everyone else provide that are out of my scope and I do not yet understand, may not allow me to fully appreciate my superiors and their roles, yet at times it feels patients are looked at more like numbers, experiments, or even best guesses. This approach of disconnection seems to push away the realization and understanding that all people have a base set of needs and all of those affect not only patient satisfaction but also outcomes.
As a CNA I see many approaches/techniques that I could share and pass on to other caregivers of all skill levels yet many things get in the way. Each shift I work, class I attend, and interaction I have with others, offers a learning experience and if I am lucky a teaching opportunity. It seems like egos, culture, rite of passage, or quite possibly my reassured ignorance and lack of understanding of my next role (Hopefully not!), are in the way of truly helping the people I have now dedicated my life to assist.
This quick bit of writing is hopefully a spark to something more. I have given three examples of things I see that I wish to improve, yet there are many more. My hope is that I can connect with people that share the need, want, and desire to help and care for others. Not only that I connect with these people but that we can share information in any form to help each-other help others.
Soooo, as a former CNA and a new nurse I think the first thing that has to happen is for nurse to get over themselves and stop acting as if they cannot learn from the people around them.
I fully expected for the OP to have her head chopped off and handed to her for even posing this question as it tends to be the norm for those who are at a higher station to feel that anyone "beneath them" should not have the audacity to even attempt to tell them how to do anything at all, whatsoever.
In my experience, everyone can stand to learn something from everyone. Doctors even have to have their coattails pulled by the nurses on occasion for doing something that puts the patient at risk. I have seen it done; sometimes its pretty, sometimes its not so pretty. The main thing, in my opinion, is in the approach. If its approached in a diplomatic manner, the chances of it being received in a negative way are lessened. However, there will always be those buttholes who think they are God and Jesus combined and you can't tell them anything. For them, you just have to recognize their personal insecurities and move on.
I also like the suggestion that concerns or new ideas be taken to the nurse manager. That's probably a better way to introduce your ideas to the masses.
Jaykalkyn, BSN, RN
144 Posts
Soooo, as a former CNA and a new nurse I think the first thing that has to happen is for nurse to get over themselves and stop acting as if they cannot learn from the people around them.
I fully expected for the OP to have her head chopped off and handed to her for even posing this question as it tends to be the norm for those who are at a higher station to feel that anyone "beneath them" should not have the audacity to even attempt to tell them how to do anything at all, whatsoever.
In my experience, everyone can stand to learn something from everyone. Doctors even have to have their coattails pulled by the nurses on occasion for doing something that puts the patient at risk. I have seen it done; sometimes its pretty, sometimes its not so pretty. The main thing, in my opinion, is in the approach. If its approached in a diplomatic manner, the chances of it being received in a negative way are lessened. However, there will always be those buttholes who think they are God and Jesus combined and you can't tell them anything. For them, you just have to recognize their personal insecurities and move on.
I also like the suggestion that concerns or new ideas be taken to the nurse manager. That's probably a better way to introduce your ideas to the masses.