CNA licensing authority?

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My state board of Nurses Examiners states that it exists to protect the public against nurses who are, for whatebver reasons, unsafe.

My point then is this, the CNA comes into contact with the public as much as and, in some cases, more than the RN or LVN yet, to my knowledge, they are not in any way answerable to any authority outside of their facility and, as such, nullify the raison d'être of a state board of nurses examiners.

I have recently had an issue with a CNA whereby she acted unprofessionaly in front of a pt by telling him several times "I hate your nurse" that nurse being me. Furthermore, she acted outside of her scope of practicewith the same pt by disconnecting an IV line connected to a dilaudid PCA pump (for purposes of changing a gown). As if that weren't bad enough, she then jeopardized the pt's safety by tossing the running IV line onto the dirty floor and interefered with his therapy when the pt hit his PCA button twice only to have his medicine leak out onto the dirty floor. What's more, I observed her falsify a legal record record by entering 20 resp/min in her VS log sheet while I stood right beside her and counted 12 (for the same pt). This is the second time I have caught a CNA/PCT not recording an accurate repsiratory rate for a pt on a PCA pump. Needless to say, I am furious.

My question then is this does anybody know of an authority beyond the immediate employer that regulates their ability to come into contact with the public? I have already sent letters to my chain of command but if they refuse to fire this person I want to go higher. What's more, I feel she is a threat to the public's safety and should be barred from working in a situation where she is providing "care" for the public. If she were a nurse, her license would be forfeit for these violations of the NPA. Her lack of a state licensing authority and the overall increased demand for CNA's should not be a license to act with impunity. Any thoughts?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Seems like there is interpersonal issues between you and the CNA that need to be hashed out from reading your above account. "Hating your nurse" type responses from aides shows lack of team work. How one responds to these type comments sets the tone...does your response dampen or ignite further your co-worker? Are other staff RN's concerned over this aides performance or are the two of you oil and water together???

CNA's have a certificate they work under in all 50 states. Who is responsible for mainitaing certification varies by state: some are under board of nursing, others like in PA are under the board of health, divison of long term care. From what you have written, re-education by faciliy Nurse Educator would be in order....not enough to loose certification as no actual patient harm.

Please consult with your educator on ways to handle this situation if managment is non-supportive.

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There is a serious lack of teamwork at my facility which becomes painfully evident every time we have "one of those nights". This was one of those nights for sure. It still doesn't excuse anything as far as I'm concerned though. What would happen to a nurse who behaved in this way? I'm pretty sure he or she would be looking for a new carreer, a new job at the very least. And as far as interpersonal issues go, there were no issues until this individual was asked to do a little honest hard work by someone whom she refuses to accept as an authority. Anyways, thanks for the input. I haven't been back since the incident but I'm going in tonight. We'll see what, if anything, has transpired in my absence.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Hemodialysis.

it is my understanding that a cna can lose their certification for things such as pt endangerment/abandonment. i hope you can resolve this issue and i agree 100% that this person needs to find another field to work in. i believe that management should back you on this.

disconnecting an iv line, falsifying records, letting open iv line touch the ground :angryfire ...yes these are serious! and i know all about the falsifying respirations, i know of several cna's where i work that ALL of their pts seem to have 20 rr/min. i think the problem is they truly do not understand how important respirations are. i've given my reason for the substandard cna's out there on several other posts, so i won't get into that here, but i feel it is a BIG problem. i am a student nurse/cna and i give all the nurses that i work with the respect that they deserve.

i wish you lots a luck with this issue. hope you have many great shifts.

sincerely,

jay

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it is my understanding that a cna can lose their certification for things such as pt endangerment/abandonment. i hope you can resolve this issue and i agree 100% that this person needs to find another field to work in. i believe that management should back you on this.

disconnecting an iv line, falsifying records, letting open iv line touch the ground :angryfire ...yes these are serious! and i know all about the falsifying respirations, i know of several cna's where i work that ALL of their pts seem to have 20 rr/min. i think the problem is they truly do not understand how important respirations are. i've given my reason for the substandard cna's out there on several other posts, so i won't get into that here, but i feel it is a BIG problem. i am a student nurse/cna and i give all the nurses that i work with the respect that they deserve.

i wish you lots a luck with this issue. hope you have many great shifts.

sincerely,

jay

jay its true once the cna certi is pull by state there no way if getting it back.

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