Let me start off by saying that a Certified Nurses Aide (CNA) are the backbones of every Nursing home. Without our assistance, the Nurses job would be way more difficult than it is. Apparently CNA's have it so easy and our job is 100% stress free according to some Nurses that I work with. If our job is so easy then why are we in such high demand? Also if that were to be true, then why can't the Nurses (RN and LPN) handle their work plus ours in a 12 hour shift?
Responsibilities of a CNA;
1. Get residents dressed for the day.
2. Shower and or bathe residents.
3. Toilet residents.
4. Assist residents with eating if applicable.
5. Assist residents with Physical Therapy needs such as restorative walking or passive range of motion.
6. Provide emotional support to residents and residents family members.
7. Answer each and every call light as soon as it is noticed and accomodate resident with their requests.
Although the responsibilities of a CNA versus a Nurse differ vastly, and the nurses resposibilities listed look noticeably longer - a CNA encounters much more physical and mental stress in an eight hour work day than a nurse does in a twelve hour day.
Nurses want to *****, moan, and complain about how they have it so hard. To be quite honest, a nurse in a nursing home setting mostly does the following;
1. Pass medications when a QMA (Qualified Medications Aide) is not on staff for that shift. 5% physical work*
3. Check blood sugars (when a QMA is not on staff for the shift) 2% physical work*
4. Deliver insulins. 1% physical work
5. Resident charting. (medications, behaviors, vital signs, etc.) NO PHYSICAL WORK REQUIRED
6. Resident assesments. NO PHYSICAL WORK REQUIRED
For the most part, the above list is about all a Nurse has to do in a nursing home setting. The CNA has to lift heavy people in and out of bed, on and off the toilet, up and down out of a wheelchair...and get around 11 or more residents ready for bed each day. We only have eight hours to take care of 11+ people and have to provide accurate care following every step correctly according to nursing guidelines with no leway whatsoever at all.
I'm sorry but our job definitely involves way MORE physical and mentally stressful work than a nurses does, and whoever disagrees with me, so be it. I know first hand.
*Estimated percentage of physical work
**Estimated percentage with the assistance of a CNA or QMA
There are crappy nurses. There are crappy aides. I've worked with both, as both.
Next time these RNs are going on about how easy CNAs have it compared to them, call their bluff. Remind them that any RN can easily become a CNA. Of course they have to give up being an RN, but that should be no big deal if CNAs have it so much better, right?
You think nurses have it better, nobody is stopping you from being a nurse too.
I've worked as a CNA in a nursing home and a tech at a hospital.
I used to be stupid enough to think the nurses were "just sitting there."
Then I got RN after my name and learned better.
You want the nurses to help you do your job. But you can't call the MD, you can't pass the meds, you can't do the treatments, you can't [insert a whole lot of things here that the nurse has to do].
I've walked a mile in your shoes. Walk a mile in mine before you're so quick to judge. Or just continue being as naive as I used to be.
I'm sorry but our job definitely involves way MORE physical and mentally stressful work than a nurses does, and whoever disagrees with me, so be it. I know first hand.
How can you know this first hand?
You have never been a nurse.
However, any nurse that tells you your job is easy is being ignorant.
Both jobs are not for the faint of heart.
I did not know it was a competition.
But let us know how you feel about it after you become nurse.
I'm sorry that the facility you work for seems so divided. I don't expect my RNs to do my job because it is my job. We each work hard within our own right. But I feel like as an RN they have earned the right delegate tasks to me so that they can concentrate on things that are outside my scope as a CNA. I love the RNs I work with. We're a team. We work together in our roles to provide the very best care for patient. It doesn't have to be an us vs. them competition.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Healthcare is not for the faint of heart. It is physically and emotionally draining. Intellectually challenging. Every member of the team is just as important as the next. We are interdependent on each other. No one person worth more or less than the next. If the janitor is the first one hanging onto a rope above a volcano and everyone else is behind him, including the nurse and the CNA.....if the janitor lets go we will all burn together and will be equally dead.
Each person has their responsibilities and job descriptions. Each position is interdependent of each other. We need to acknowledge that we respect and admire the other person's participation to the care of the patient.
You have to give respect to get respect. I personally LOVE my aides and they love me. We work together and pump out baths, bed changes and whatever else needs to be done......so that at the end of the day when I need to focus on the duties performed exclusively by the RN the CNA has my back keeping my patients happy....and quiet.
it seems that the point of the original post was simply to demonstrate that the role of the cna is more physically demanding than that of the rn. having worked on both roles, i think that is entirely correct. generally, there is a lot more lifting, pushing and pulling in an 8 hour cna shift than a 12 hour rn shift. but there is nothing wrong with that; it is the way it is supposed to be! the main role of the rn is critical thinking, not manual labor. cnas often don't understand the much higher intellectual demands of the rn job. for instance, the cna might see medication administration as nothing more than dispensing pills but behind that mundane acitivity there is a ton critical thinking working on the background such as: a) are these meds appropriate for this patient? b) which side effects do i need to monitor for? 3) are there dangerous interactions between these 15 drugs i a giving this patient? 4) are there prior assessments before these drugs are given? it may look as you are just standing there passing pills but your brain is hard at work. and that is why rns go to school for much longer and get paid much more than cnas.
I am a CNA.(Only we are not certified in my country and go by other names. I use the term to avoid confusion on this site)
There are bad nurses, and bad CNA's.
The nurses on my unit are great. Most of them will change patients, get commodes etc. IF they are not in the middle of something more pressing. I appreciate that. Our unit is great. I had to stop a DOCTOR walking a patient to the toilet once and say "I can do that... you have more important stuff to do!".
I was a CNA before I became a nurse, and let me tell you, most days I wish I was a CNA again. While the physical demand is much less, the stressful MD/family calls, changes in patient condition and constant worrying when I go home at night are extremely taxing. I used to go home at night after working a shift as a CNA tired but satisfied that I did a good job. As a nurse, I go home at night and wonder about all of the things I think I have done wrong, or could have done better.
I am a charge nurse at my Ltc facility and the way I was taught in school is that cna work is in my scope of practice.. I always tell my cnas that if they see me in the hallway or need help (brief change, transfers, anything) to ask and that if it doesn't interfere with my nursing responsibilities at the time I will help. I also tell them how much I appreciate extra things they do for me. I also tell them I did goto cna school but just as a pre req for lvn and never worked as a cna and could not handle what they do. But on the other hand I works my butt off in nursing school to be where I am amd they chose cna, we both chose our paths and now we take them. But team work is essential in Ltc.
OP: You are WRONG. You try convincing those people to take meds, let them do treatments, hunt down supplies, call MDs, call therapy, deal with every whining PRN pain med request, deal with families, deal with our managers, deal with state, pack and ship meds, do orders, deal with pharmacy, reorder meds, make calls on when to send someone to ER, do vitals, fingersticks, assessments, charting, start IVs, manage therapies adn med therapies, plus take care of anything urgent and manage all other care, including participating in many of the tasks of the CNA as well, on top of dealing with CNAs who were doing something wrong or not doing something right, etc., which is rough on its own. I was a CNA before I was an RN. It was more physical but there was less critical thinking involved (or for some aides, none), much less stress, and it was a much easier job overall, despite it being hard as heck. But you need to grow up and stop hating on nurses, you have no idea how hard they work. I appreciate my aides and they work hard, and I need them, but if you only knew the workload a nurse has. Honestly, OP you are obviously clueless and hateful. I helped my aides if I could, but no one is there to pick up the stuff I didn't do, my work has to be done by me and your work has to be done by you. In the end all responsibility is on the RN and they have the right to delegate any task within the scope of practice of the CNA/STNA to that CNA or STNA and they should accept that task if it's reasonable and stop whining. If you hate your job so much why did you become a CNA? If you think nursing is so easy, just try to be an RN, your tune will quickly change.
Come to me with that attitude and Ill be an ******* right back to you and have you do more of the work that I could help you with.. Respect flows both ways. I loved working and helping my CNAs that recognized we both had it rough.
I was a CNA before I was a nurse. When I was A CNA I got to take a meal break off of the floor for a half hour and always left on time. I worked my rear off as a CNA. I have been a nurse for just over 3 years and I can count on one hand how many meal breaks I have received away from the floor and I rarely leave on time. The huge difference to me is the responsibility. I miss being able to say "I will get your nurse". I thank God when it is not one of my patients that needs the attention because I am usually overloaded. I usually eat a sandwich while walking. It is so crazy. I appreciate my CNAs also but I know I work harder because they are usually sitting while I am running. Where I work the CNAs get 6-7 patients while the nurse gets 5.
One really needs to experience both sides before they make judgements.
To the original poster:
I am sorry you are not appreciated. That is a shame because the nurse would NEVER be able to do her nursing tasks without you guys/gals. I thank my CNAs after every shift and try to do as much as I can for the patients without calling the CNA. I would look into going to school. It doesn't have to be nursing but I don't think anyone can stay a CNA in LTC for many years without it taking a toll on their bodies.
Wow! That sure is an awful lot of venom pouring out of you. Perhaps it is way past time for you to move on and find another line of work? I am hoping this ludicrous lashing out is because you are beyond burned out and that is what is causing your totally self absorbed tunnel vision.
If not, then really it still would be best for you to look for another job before it is no longer your choice to do so. Carrying all that hatred around towards your supervisors is not healthy for you on any level and certainly not helpful in retaining your job.
wooh, BSN, RN
1 Article; 4,383 Posts
There are crappy nurses. There are crappy aides. I've worked with both, as both.
You think nurses have it better, nobody is stopping you from being a nurse too.
I've worked as a CNA in a nursing home and a tech at a hospital.
I used to be stupid enough to think the nurses were "just sitting there."
Then I got RN after my name and learned better.
You want the nurses to help you do your job. But you can't call the MD, you can't pass the meds, you can't do the treatments, you can't [insert a whole lot of things here that the nurse has to do].
I've walked a mile in your shoes. Walk a mile in mine before you're so quick to judge. Or just continue being as naive as I used to be.