Being made to work as an aide...need advice

Talk to your DON. You've proven your willingness to be a "team player." She needs to know that you are hurting yourself in trying to help out. I am sure that your co-worker would appreciate the break, as well.

She uses the excuse that she never worked as an aide before therefore she wouldn't be any help.

This excuse is nonsense. I never worked as a CNA either, but I learned to do all that "stuff" the aides do in LPN school. Anything she didn't learn in school, I am sure someone in the facility can teach her. The management should not buy this excuse for a second.

I'm an NP now and haven't worked in the hospital in years, but if push came to shove I could still bathe, clean, feed, reposition, etc etc. Your co-worker doesn't want to do that stuff and your management is letting her get away with it.

If you talk with your DON and things don't change, you need to find another job!

She's just making excuses not to be a "team player" herself! At my job, we are short staffed on aides so to be fair, we have a pull sheet we sign each time we work as an aide, that way, each person takes a turn. We know who did it last and who hasn't done it in a while. Maybe you could suggest that as a fair way to distribute the work?

You need to talk to the DON. They need to make life fair. At the same time you need to use the words "workers compensation" in requards to your back. Let them know that if your back goes out and you need medical care due to work, they will be paying for it and any time off that you need. You should have the support of all the staff on the floor if you need to turn, lift someone (including those that are working as the lpn).

"The RN supervisor over the weekend said that if I refuse to accept the aide assignment she would write me up for neglect and I would lose my job. I just don't want them to think I'm not a "team player"."

Well, that's just great. There is your typical "team player" attitude in action. You are hired as a nurse and if you don't accept an aide postition you get fired. But worse they are going to charge you with neglect. I really don't think they can make it stick, but they may try anyway. I too went to school because I could no longer doing aide work. I don't mind helping out when necessary during a shift, but if I want to do it an entire shift, I will apply for an aide position. Personally, I would say no and let the chips fall where they may. Let them decide if they want to lose a good nurse they will be needing in a month or save face by carring out the stupid threat. If they do the latter, you are lucky to not be there anymore.

I am sorry about your injuries. Nursing work is hard. However, "aide work" is part of nursing work. I have been an RN for 21 years. I am very used to working without an aide. I do all my own baths, lifting cleaning poop, etc. People don't realize how hard we work. It can be very hard on the body. I can't see doing this in 15 years and I will still have to be working. I am looking into getting an advanced practice degree so i can use my years of bedside experience and knowledge as a paper pusher to help others who remain at the bedside when i am older (already 41). As far as the other LPN who won't do it because she never did, it is part of EVERY NURSES JOB. Every nurse must know how to do what aides do, as it is the fundamentals of nursing.

Sounds like the DON is playing favorites, and sorry to say it, but you aren't it.

They should have a rotation book, everyone takes their turn, period. Eventually the ones who "wont" do it will be gone because they wont be able to be a team player. They will call in sick to not have to work aide duties and that should take care of them. However, be careful there may be a family relationship there that you dont know about.

Truthfully though, if they arent showing team efforts now, it wont be any better once everyone is in place. I think id be looking for another great job. Leave this place to fall all over themselves, because they will. The infighting later will be intolerable anyway.

Equal pay for equal work. You are all professionals and everyone should be a part of the team and work together. TOGETHER meaning not put all the grunt work on just a few individuals. There is no reason you couldn't split the patients up equally and all do primary care.

Not sure how correct this is, but I thought that once you became a nurse, you could not be an aide, just like when you have your RN you cant work as an LPN, and once you have your AP, you cant function as an RN. Maybe this is just in my state.

I HATE it when people talk about "aide work" or whatever...in my opinon, it is all patient care and that is what we are there to do. I think if nurses are not going to be "working as a nurse" and doing things that only nurses can do, that it should rotate...we all need to use our skills to maintain them. I can't deny that one of the reasons I went to nursing school is becasue I wanted something less physically demanding, but I am in no way above doing baths and peri care and all of those things that are normally delegated to the CNAs.

Not sure how correct this is, but I thought that once you became a nurse, you could not be an aide, just like when you have your RN you cant work as an LPN, and once you have your AP, you cant function as an RN. Maybe this is just in my state.

As far as I know, there is nothing that an aide does that is unique to aides, no matter what state that you work in. Virtually every duty that an aide has is something that is done by a nurse on many units - especially in that many units do not have aides, whatsoever.

What is notable is that if you hold a job position, designated as an aide(hired exclusively as an aide and working exclusively as an aide) while licensed as an RN/LPN, and something untoward occurs, legally you may be held to a higher standard of care, than the standard aide without a license.

I know a number of NPs that still work per diem as floor RNs.

As a traveler RN and a team player, there have been times when it is appropriate and fitting for me to step up and work in the "LPN" or "aide" roll. Big Deal!!!!!!!! As long as I am doing nursing, the assignment is fair, and I am being paid my RN wage, there is no problem. It is really silly when there are too many "captains" and not enough "soldiers", and the battle fails because of this. And you lose "soldiers" because they are overworked, and they see the tacky ego battles of who will work with them, who won't....when it is all nursing care.

If it occurs occasionally, it is no problem. If it happens too often, notify your boss and examine why you do not have enough aides (could it be the put downs they see, when Nurses don't want to do "aide" work?). And all need to share the wealth, no LPN/RN should get off by saying, "But I've never worked as an aide".

As far as back problems go, there should be safe lift guidelines in place. If there are not, this is a separate issue and should be addressed. ALL pesonnel (aides, RNs, LPNs, orderlies) deserve safe lifting assistance.