CNA Personalities

[fuzzywuzzy]

I'm sure we have all run into every one of these people at our jobs!

The Martyr- Anytime this CNA does the tiniest little thing that's not on her assignment, she has to roll her eyes and announce it to everyone, thereby making what could have been a pleasant surprise for someone else into a reason for them to feel inadequate.

The Nag- This person does everything by the book. She is annoying to work with because she lectures everyone on the way you're supposed to be doing things... even if you ARE doing them right, she still brings it up for no reason.

The Hysterical One- These people go ballistic over everything. They could have the easiest assignment in the whole building working with the best crew and everything going swimmingly and they will still find some reason to panic irrationally about what they have left to do.

The Workhorse- This CNA busts her butt doing everything for everybody and is constantly offering to do other people's work. But she would rather die than have to ask anyone else for a favor and so she is easily taken advantage of.

The Lazy One- This person doesn't bother to do anything beyond the minimum. To them, mouthcare, repositioning, and toileting more than once a shift are all optional. After her assignment has been "finished" she sits down and pretends to do paperwork, leaving her coworkers to answer call lights and fend for themselves.

The Boss- This person thinks that the only way to give good, thorough care is HER way. She's very bossy and if you don't do everything the way she likes it, she tattles on you.

The *****- Someone who is gloomy, aloof, or crabby all the time for no apparent reason. Either way, she seems miserable to be there. Working with her is no fun unless you're a part of her clique.

The Headless Chicken- Another aggravating person to work with. She means well, but she can't get by without someone bailing her out. This type of CNA is often ditzy and forgetful too. Every day is like her first day on the job.

[makingitright]

No, it does not take an RN to understand this. It takes a person with a heart and compassion to get at the gist of the matter. Yes, those people suck! They suck to all hell! I can say this, there is no room for lazy and cumbersome people in our field. They make it hard for everyone else! I commend you for your resilience and wish to do what is right. For what you have written here it is not easy for you. Ok, when it comes to all of your responsabilities, no I do not carry such burdens and I am very sorry that you have to. It is just not right.

But what made me mad at you was the fact that you wrote that all cna's are worth nothing more than two cents and that is just not true! I could say the same for some nurses I have had the great "pleasure" to meet and work with. Somehow I just do not wish to stoop to their level, they are not worth my time or effort.

I feel, I honestly feel thought that despite all the negative crap, that this is what I am suppose to do with my life. Maybe that keeps you going to work and facing all that you do every day too. There is a deep love there, although in my own experience of late not so easily seen and felt. There has to be a way to balance things out.

[NP Sam]

Johnny Bravo, Wooowww. I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience.I never worked in a hospital before, but I have heard of nurses doing what CNA's and PCT's are generally supposed to do. The CNAs you may have worked with may be incompetent people not worth two cents but there are awesome ones out there, they probably just all work in long term care like I do;).

HOW IN THE WORLD DID A AWESOME POST ON FUNNY PERSONALITIES TURN INTO THIS?

[linda5467]

I heard that! This post just went from funny post to a . I think I'll go somewhere else.

[johnnybravo8802]

I apologize for grouping all CNA's in the same category-I used the wrong wording. As I stated before, I was a nurse tech and know what the job is like but I have seen a lot of nurses who have never been on the other side and didn't respect the tech. I respect that it's a difficult job and commend the one's who are working hard. I just wish I could have worked with more. I can't count the number of times I've spoken to a tech and told them that "I didn't care if they didn't like working with me or didn't care if they weren't making enough money, they needed to put that aside and take care of the patient." A lot of the CNA's I've worked with didn't understand what it's like having the responsibility of a license(They didn't think we were working when we charted) and would take it out on the patient by not doing what was asked-That's where I get mad!!! Put yourself in the patients shoes when they are laying in feces for an hour!!!!!

Yea, I think I lead this in a different direction but I had a lot of flashback's to some bad memories. It's not too cute when, as the nurse, you're between the MD and management, and trying to explain why something didn't get done after you had asked the CNA to do it because you were up to your eyeballs doing assessments, treating SVT, and taking care of a post-op all at the same time(I think that was a run-on sentence). It's especially nice when management is threatening to take your license(After working 6 yrs. for it)because you made a mistake after being overwhelmed doing so much tech work, you couldn't do your job. Sorry for the rant. The truth is, I no longer practice as a nurse because of these kinds of things and a lot of others and I get really angry thinking about how hard I had to work to get my license. I had a lot of hard knocks along the way.

I too started out young and had a happy attitude and then got hardened along the way and it changed me and made me an angry person. I only wanted to practice medicine(I have a lot of advanced ICU training and float ICU, neuro ICU, CCU, CVICU, charge) but couldn't because of all the other crap. The only good memories I have of nursing are the lives I saved and the hands I held in their time of need-I miss that-the patient always came first!!!! I still like to help people but am still struggling trying to get the old happy self back. I purposely try not to post on here because of all my anger but I slip and get on my soap box sometimes and you'll have to overlook me. Take care of those patients.

[GCTMT]

Are these comments coming from CNA's or nurses? I'll give you my opinion from the perspective of a 16 yr. veteran RN who has been in multiple hospitals and multiple units-I was always a float nurse. I started out as a nurse tech when I was in nursing school and worked two years wiping tails and doing everything under the sun. Since I was in the BSN program, I had a vested interest and wasn't there for just a paycheck-I busted my tail and did my time!!!!! I could write a book about CNA's but will sum it up like this-"CNA's are by far the laziest group of people in a hospital and aren't worth $2 cents". The ones I worked with were absolutely useless and should have been working at Burger King instead of with people where you're suppose to care. I know I will get the third degree for this but, again, this is based on multiple hospitals over 16 years-All the nurses I worked with had the same opinion. Bottom line, if you don't like your job, LEAVE!!!! There are plenty of people in the unemployment line who'd love to have a job. If I have to do my job and the CNA's, what good are they. My take is, take responsibility of yourself and your actions and be an adult. People who don't care have no business in the medical profession. Put yourself in the patients and families position with a bitc@#$# CNA!!!!!!!! Who wants that!!!!

Have you been a nurse for 16 years in another universe? Were you "lazy" when you were a CNA? I guess you're the exception huh.

I don't care who you are or how long you've worked in healthcare. Most of the aides I work with are hard-working, dedictated individuals. It's a job, and the bottom line is it's a paycheck. But not many people would go through so much BS for so little.

I will be a nurse in a few years. But, for the time being, I hope I never work under a nurse like you. You sound like you would be a terrible person to work under.

[johnnybravo8802]

Have you been a nurse for 16 years in another universe? Were you "lazy" when you were a CNA? I guess you're the exception huh.

I don't care who you are or how long you've worked in healthcare. Most of the aides I work with are hard-working, dedictated individuals. It's a job, and the bottom line is it's a paycheck. But not many people would go through so much BS for so little.

I will be a nurse in a few years. But, for the time being, I hope I never work under a nurse like you. You sound like you would be a terrible person to work under.

Actually, you're right on, I did work in another universe-Spock and Tweakee(From Buck Rogers) were patients of mine once and they got excellent care.

As far as being a tech, I busted my orifice everyday w/o complaining about the pay and that's why I get ****** at lazy CNA's who gripe all the time instead of doing their job(I'm not saying all CNA's).

As far as working under me-You'll be lucky to find someone who is as good to work under-I treat everybody very fairly and am always busting it to help other nurses and techs. I tell all techs at the beginning of a shift to call before they do something so I can help them(You won't find that in a lot of nurses). In fact, I help so much, I get taken advantage of and then the tech has a reason not to do anything.

I will tell you this, at least you are a CNA first and will understand both sides of the story-you'll know what I'm talking about one day. Good luck with your career.

[dannyc12]

I could write a book about CNA's but will sum it up like this-"CNA's are by far the laziest group of people in a hospital and aren't worth $2 cents". The ones I worked with were absolutely useless and should have been working at Burger King instead of with people where you're suppose to care.

I have no doubt that you are being honest and accurate about the CNAs you have worked with.

However, the fault for the situation lies with management. They are the ones that create the situation that leads to poor performance and even go so far as to reward the worst of them. Some of the laziest, worst CNAs at my facility have been there for a decade or more. Almost all the good ones are CNAs while they are going to school and they certainly don't stay.

If you take a group of people and treat them like crap, they are going to perform like crap. This doesn't excuse their behavior, but it is important to note that leadership created the situation.

[my_jenni]

I was a CNA/Student Nurse for a little over a year in a hospital before accepting a position as an RN/Supervisor at a LTC facility. Here's what I can tell you for certain: just like all other people, CNAs have multiple personalities and levels of professionalism. I've seen fantastic, hard-working, compassionate, helpful, team-playing CNAs that I absolutely loved working with. I've also seen lazy, constantly MIA, cranky, excuse-filled CNAs that make my life and the lives of all of the other CNAs complete hell. When I began supervising my crew (which is 3-11 shift), I told them that I was a CNA before I was a nurse and understood the dilemmas and pressure they are faced with, and that I was always available to help. However, I also know a line of crap when I hear it. The bad thing about my facility at the moment is that we do have lazy CNAs, and we're short staffed. The good thing is that management takes my concerns seriously, and we're weeding out the trouble makers.

To all of the hard-working, professional CNAs on this site- I applaud you. Its a tough, often thankless job, but without you, our patient's care would suffer. To those CNAs just looking for a paycheck and a place to hang out while your patients are up to their eyeballs in pee, shame on you. I hope your days of holding a license are numbered.

[eveningsky339, LPN]

Oh good grief... Someone start another funny thread. This one died.