Being Ignored

[clarinets]

I am a bit upset and frustrated. I am a CNA at a hospital. One time I had a question about a new patient's diet because he has not eaten for hours. This person was a direct admit from ER. I tried to call he primary nurse in charge of the patient twice but got no response. Therefore I went to the charge nurse who was staring at a computer and literally said nothing hen I asked the question about the person's diet and told them I could not get a response from the primary nurse. Meanwhile other nurses were saring at me. I almost too it upon myself to feed him a regular diet because he did not want to wait. Another time happened when I was asked to do something for patient by the charge nurse, then in the middle of that activity I was asked by another nurse, who was next to the charge nurse, to do something a a similar level for a different patient. The charge did not say anything, and when I asked her for help. she said nothing but stared at a computer. Meanwhile I am bombarded with what the nurses want me to do. Not fair trade...This has happened to me a few times on day shift.

This is not to slam anyone here, but I really need some help here. I would like to be on the same page with all the nurses. If this happens again I am going to the boss!! Any advice please.....

[clarinets, CNA]

I meant task delegated to do.

[quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN]

The way I read it, when the nurses asked her to do a couple of tasks, she was not sure how to proceed and asked for help. It is up to the nurse to make sure that a task she delegates to a CNA is understood and the CNA has the knowledge to to it. If the CNA does not, the nurse either needs to teach her or get another CNA to do it.

As has been said about the diet, there may not have been one ordered yet. I do think it was rude for them not to tell you that they were waiting on orders and that being one of the. Until the orders are there, then the patient would be NPO.

You might want to determine how it was that you asked the questions and see if there might have been a different way to ask to get a response. Listen to how other aids ask for things.

[ambr46]

If the patient was a new admit, it's likely that there were no diet orders yet. If the nurse isn't answering her phone, it's likely that she's in the middle of something else. It's safe and appropriate to let the patient know that you're waiting to see what their diet orders are and will follow up with them. This is not a circumstance to "go to the boss" about.

I don't typically ignore people at work, but when I do, it's because they're repetitive and unreasonable. If you were ignored one time, that may be an issue with the person ignoring you. If everyone is ignoring you, you may need to look at your own behavior and expectations.

I wouldn't ignore someone if they were asking about a patient diet or anything else for that matter. It seems like everyone is so ready play the blame game. If what the OP had stated is true then she was merely trying to advocate for the patient. Yes, frequent interruptions do get annoying at times, but you know how patient's are about their food. They aren't going to let up until they get it. I think the CNA is just trying to do her job and isn't getting the support she needs from the staff.

It's quicker to just answer the question than it is to deal with repetitive questions about the same issue.

[clarinets, CNA]

I am a he by the way....

[canigraduate]

1) Don't get upset if the nurse doesn't respond right away. Keep asking respectfully until you get an answer.

2) If they are truly ignoring you, take it up with the unit manager. That is BS. If someone is completely ignoring you, they are either a) not hearing you, b) unable to talk to you at the moment, or c) being unprofessional. Only take it up with the manager if you are sure it's C.

3) Patients are often hungry and unreasonable about food. Don't give in to their power play games. Never, ever get someone food if you don't know their diet. They may need to be NPO for a reason. If they whine or complain, let the nurse know. You shouldn't have to put up with that, that is for the nurse to deal with.

4) Just because someone is staring at a computer, it doesn't mean they aren't doing anything important. They could be putting in orders, looking up critical labs or imaging results, or looking for information for a provider. Take stock of the situation and realize that your needs, while important, are secondary to the doctors' and patients' needs. The nurse may be taking care of a critical situation and doesn't even realize you are talking to them.

5) Say the nurse's name to make sure they know who you are talking to and to let them know you need to speak with them.

6) Hungry is NOT an emergency. It takes days and weeks to die from starvation.

[LuvScience]

Are you absolutely positive that these nurses are deliberately ignoring you? I have a tendency to become hyper-focused during some activities such as reading. If someone approaches me while I'm reading a chart, they might think that I'm ignoring them when I'm actually just unaware of them. I think that my coworkers have learned over time that if I'm focused on something then they will need to speak up to get my attention. If I haven't acknowledged that someone is speaking to me then I probably haven't heard them.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

I'm sorry that you feel you are being ignored. At our hospital the techs have access to see the diet, the unit clerks have access as well. That way if a pt calls out asking for something, it can quickly be seen if they can have that item (coke vs. diet coke for diabetic diet, etc.)

If you feel you are being ignored, state the nurses name clearly, and wait until you have their attention. It could be that they are so focused on the task at hand that they aren't hearing you. Otherwise I wouldn't say that it is unreasonable to go to your manager, as this will ultimately effect the pt.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

I don't care how busy you are or how persistent someone is - ignoring someone is downright immature. Instead, it would be beneficial for the nurse to speak with the CNA if they were needing too much hand holding, etc instead of being passive aggressive and pretending they aren't there. You all KNOW how crazy a hangry patient can be, they will complain until your sitting in a meeting with your boss due to their poor patient satisfaction score. While it's not an emergency, it's definitely something you want to get done in a timely manner considering our performance is now based on how happy the patients are with their food/errand service.

OP, you had a lot of good suggestions like stating the person's name then asking the question, asking a trusted tech if able, etc. If it continues, I would just ask the nurse in question why they are ignoring you and see what they say. This is a work place not a playground, no one needs to be ignored.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

thread moved for best response

[johsonmichelle]

If this is truly a common problem then communicate with your manager. Poor communication is very serious problem, patient have died due to breakdown in communication. It does need to be communicated in a timely manner about patient diet (not right away but it should not take the whole day), sometimes patient need to npo for certain procedures so that needs to be effectively communicated. Also if the nurses have a problem with your communication skills then they need to let you know instead of ignoring you, professionalism is key here.

[paramedic90]

I have this happen quite often at my job as a nursing assistant. I think nurses often forget that we are by ourselves. I am the only tech for the whole unit, which is only about 8-10 patients, but we do EVERYTHING including blood draws, EKGs, basically everything shy of med administration and dressing changes. Our floor usually has a lot of total cares also. I often get pulled here and there by the nurses and often get attitude if everything is not done right when they ask. Never mind there are 7 other patients that also need my full attention. But anyways, I think ignoring a patients request for food is not a good idea. What if the patient is diabetic? Getting that diet order in is imperative, and if the nurse did not know then she should have told you, she did not know yet instead of ignoring you. And if the charge nurse is also ignoring you, then this is something that needs to be addressed around management to get their attention. You are trying to give proper patient care and you are not able to without all the information you need!