Can they do anything to me?

Editorial Team / Admin · Jun 1, 2007

Hello and welcome to allnurses.com

Glad to have you with us.

I moved your post from an off-topic thread to its own thread in the CNA forum for a better response.

Hope you enjoy the site.

Woodenpug, BSN · Jun 1, 2007

When I was a CNA we routinely cared for 25 patients on night shift. We often could only see our patients twice a shift sometimes only once. The ultimate responsibility for the patients is on the RN. They would be doing well to help the CNA's. Another approach which may work for you is to talk with each of your RN's and ask them which of their patients are in most need, since you will not be able to care for all 24 patients. (I'm guessing you're talking about a day shift.) Best of luck. Some of us nurses definitely help the CNA's. The truth is the CNA is helping me.

jb2u, ASN, RN · Jun 1, 2007

Communication is the key. I would suggest you find out from each of your nurses exactly what they expect you to do. Sometimes the nurse will do all the v/s, if you do all the baths, feeding, etc. or maybe they will say..I will do rooms 4 & 5 if you can bath rooms 6 & 7. Of course, at some point, you have to tell them if you CAN NOT get to certain tasks. They are responsible for the task getting done, so you should let them know if you can not get to it. I already have 8 total care patients to give baths to and 4 patients to feed, so could you get the noon v/s. At that point, the nurse may say, well don't worry about the baths just get the noon v/s or they may say ok no problem, I will get the v/s. Really, it all comes back to communication. There is not a such thing as a cna to pt ratio because cna's are there to assist the nurse. If you find that you are always responsible for too many patients and your facility and nurses still expect you to do ALL the basic care (baths,feeding, dressing, v/s, I&O, etc) then personally, I'd find another facility. I wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Jay

chasingmydream · Jul 11, 2007

i can tell you my nurse does not think i m there to help her. she is a bear. she does NOT offer any help, only nit picks, and puts little digs in all nite. she is cranky , moody mostly and humiliates the cnas in front of everyone when there is something she doesnt like. seriously she is stressing me out. so unprofessional its ridiculous.

AprilRNhere · Jul 11, 2007

I'm so glad I'm done with CNA work, and I vow to never treat CNAs that way.

Just be honest about what you can and can't get done. I never worked in a hospital as a CNA...but in LTC it's normal to take care of that many people. It is the nurses job ultimately to make sure it's completed, so work with them with what is possible.

Lin19687 · Jul 15, 2007

I personally think it is BS to have that many patients. I do not think (nor do the RN's or staff) think that a PCA (PATIENT CARE assit) is there to help the RN. Our job is to help the Patient. Either way it sucks that they would give you that many. Personally you do MORE as a PCA then the Rn's do all night, when you tally in Baths/Feeding/VS/ etc when do you have time to do anything ??? I work on an Oncology floor in a Hospital, RN's get up to 5 patients, and PCA's get up to 10-15 some nights !! OUT RAGEOUS !!! And do you think that the RN's answer call lights??? :down: No wonder Patients feel they are not getting the care they deserve ! I bust my orifice to accomodate ALL my patients, especially the Cancer patients, but we get all the spill over from the other floors, so I get alot of whiny :angryfire PITA people who will ultimately go home and LIVE .......... most of my Cancer patients I know I will see again in a week or 2 to come in to die that is if they even GET to go home at all.

I do love my job, I do not know how you all that work at a Nursing Home continue with staffing so low, pay so low, and work load SOOO high !! I know I couldn't do that and keep my mouth shut.

ok sorry, off my soap box

icuwant2rn · Jul 15, 2007

Our hospital has a patient to CNA ratio of 10:1 on our floor. The ratio for nurses is 7:1. We do help answer call lights, give baths, turn patients, etc. I think 25:1 is way too many for anyone. Of course the other responders are correct in that it ultimately is the nurses responsibility to make sure things are done, then again, I know of a floor in our hospital where the chances of getting a nurse to answer a call light is slim to none. I think that you were right to stand up for yourself and refuse to take that many. Administration is always willing to give as much as you will take and you would have set yourself up to have that many patients on a repeating basis.

Just my $.02.

chasingmydream · Jul 15, 2007

our patient ratio is 55 patients to 3 cna's. IF everyone shows up for work. there are plenty of times, more than 50 percent of the time , when we only have 2. our nurse does not, and will not answer bells. she charts, and gives meds. thats it. im not downing nurses, as i want to be an rn some day. but i dont even care she dont do that stuff. my complaint is how she treats us. she is demeaning, degrading. ok..im done venting. this isnt even my post. lol

casi, ASN, RN · Jul 15, 2007

ChasingMyDreams,

I've read many of your posts on here and you seem very unhappy with your job. Have you tried looking around for other job options? One can’t guarantee that another CNA position will be better, but it’s worth a try. Ratio’s may not change as it seems the norm for a CNA to have 20+ patients/residents on noc shift, but you maybe able to find yourself in a more supportive environment.

caliotter3 · Jul 16, 2007

We have always done best when CNAs work in pairs. It is a lot easier and quicker to do anything for residents when two people work together to go through the shift. If your nurses have not assigned you this way, there is nothing to stop you from teaming up with another CNA and doing it on your own. The nurses won't care as long as the work gets done. The number of residents that you state as being assigned per CNA is too high. When that happened at a facility that I used to work at when they were downsizing personnel, several CNAs walked off the job. However, if you decide to quit your job, make certain that you work out your shift or you can be accused of patient abandonment. The nursing assistants who walked off the job, were turned in to the CNA authorities for patient abandonment because they quit after initially accepting their assignments. Always finish your shift first.

wrobelchic · Jul 18, 2007

I'm just curious. I've been a CNA for almost 8 years now and I've ONLY worked in LTC. So, maybe I'm out of the loop as far as what goes on with CNA's in a hospital, BUT, I work the 3-11 shift at my job. Sometimes, it gets quite rough. On a good night, we'll have 4 cna's with 10 residents each. Other not so good staffing nights, we'll have 13 or 14 each. Then we have nights where there are only 2 cna's so we get 20 residents each. I can tell you that though none of us are ever happy to find out we're working with 2 aides, we work together. I guess I'm fortunate. I know *(from experience) that there are alot of places people don't work as a team. I think it's MUCh better that way, not only for the staff but the resident/patient as well. Things get done in a much more organized manner. I don't know which shift the poster works, but I know I wouldn't be able to handle 25+ patients (and I consider myself to be a solid and hard working cna) if I had to single handedly perform all their adl's and care.