CNA=Slave???

ChristineN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

*sigh* Didn't we just have a thread about lasy aides?! Yes, what you are experiencing is sad, an aide should want to do their job. However, I can say from experience as a PCT in the hospital setting, that if your aides have large pt assignments (it was common for me to have 20 pts of varying accuities) then it is very easy for them to get burnt out. Let the good aides know that their help is appreciated, and let the lazy ones know that we all need to work together to keep this unit running smoothly.

Ms Kylee · May 9, 2008

All the time... one nurse in particular. All she wants to do is pass her meds and sit on her butt.. and while she's doing that, she's bragging about her son buying this new house in Arizona and how much room it has, how much it costs, etc.

Meanwhile, she's bossing me around complaining that the new admits (I had 5 in half an hour) don't have their water pitchers or the goodie bags yet. Here I am, one person, not Superwoman the middle of trying to get 5 sets of admission vitals, getting them settled in bed, my regular Q4 vitals, and my AC blood sugars.

I just wanted to scream at her get up off your lazy rear end and help me out. All of the other nurses do.

When I talked to another PCT on the floor, he assured me it wasn't just me. She rides all of the aide's rears. Yesterday, I was not assigned to her, and she kept babbling on like I was. It was such a pleasure to tell her "Joe is assigned to you tonight, not me."

Sadly, we have 3 times their patient load, and all we get is grief for stuff that doesn't get done on their schedule, not ours.

This is not a gripe about all nurses... just 3 in particular that think you are theirs and only theirs for the shift and forget that you have other patients with other nurses.

deftonez188 · May 9, 2008

They get busy too.

If they aren't doing jack and just sitting there doing crosswords or something - ride them

HeartsOpenWide, RN · May 9, 2008

LOL, I find if funny that some one misunderstood this post and complained about lazy nurses and how they do not ever help out the aids...I guess the grass is green on the other side. They do not even have aids in the hospitals where I work, they got rid of them and all LVNs and the RNs do everything that the OP is complaining about the aids not doing...not ragging on you or anything, I agree that it is wrong that they are not doing their jobs...our hospitals cut CNAs and LVNs to save money. Maybe you should warn the CNAs that if they do not do what they are going being paid for and the administrators see this and see that the hospital still runs, they will see that they do not "need" CNAs and fire them all like around my area.

FireStarterRN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

There are lazy people in all occupations and walks of life. You can't generalize.

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

There are lazy people in all occupations and walks of life. You can't generalize.

I disagree, You can generalize.

Roles that require significant dedication to education and training are going to weed out anyone technically competent to perform the role but isn't sufficiently ambitious or motivated to do so.

You don't tend to see a lot of lazy advanced practice nurses, doctors, lawyers, and so on- they've all had to dedicate a huge chunk of their time and limited resources to achieve their goals and as a result aren't prone to being "lazy" at their jobs.

On the other hand, with the exception of people just starting out in an industry, anyone that maintains a job with minimal education and training requirements and has little desire or motivation to further their education is significantly more likely to be lazy.

I can say with n= close to 20 that some of the laziest people I've ever met are those in low end jobs for many years simply coasting by life doing the bare necessary to pay bills. Many such people were nurse's aides-- I know, because I worked with them as an aide for over three years and I had to pick up their abundant slack.

Many of the aides I've worked with that I respected for their dedication and care have gone on to nursing school and many are now nurses with the same level of dedication and care.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

I disagree, You can generalize.
Roles that require significant dedication to education and training are going to weed out anyone technically competent to perform the role but isn't sufficiently ambitious or motivated to do so.
You don't tend to see a lot of lazy advanced practice nurses, doctors, lawyers, and so on- they've all had to dedicate a huge chunk of their time and limited resources to achieve their goals and as a result aren't prone to being "lazy" at their jobs.
On the other hand, with the exception of people just starting out in an industry, anyone that maintains a job with minimal education and training requirements and has little desire or motivation to further their education is significantly more likely to be lazy.
I can say with n= close to 20 that some of the laziest people I've ever met are those in low end jobs for many years simply coasting by life doing the bare necessary to pay bills. Many such people were nurse's aides-- I know, because I worked with them as an aide for over three years and I had to pick up their abundant slack.
Many of the aides I've worked with that I respected for their dedication and care have gone on to nursing school and many are now nurses with the same level of dedication and care.

Interesting. I ran into a former co-worker just yesterday who told me how "lazy" the aides were on the floor I used to work on. I disagree with lumping all the aides on a floor together like that because some of them are very dedicated and care very much about their patients. One of them that trained me and truly cares is not in nursing school and will never go----but she sees being a nurse's aide as a great accomplishment seeing how she's a high school dropout in her late 40's.

So, please, don't lump all PCT's that aren't in school as lazy. Some of them no more tricks of the trade concerning direct pt care than the students who are aides.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

BTW: don't think just because an aide is a student nurse that the aide will provide good care. I've worked with some students as aides that provided some of the worst care I've ever seen. They didn't care about their pts, they were just their to get a paycheck. (not to lump all students together, because my pts do get excellent care)

hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

I never said to lump them all in. There's a difference between stereotyping and generalizing.

You can make generalizations on population based on observed and known characteristics, but to apply these individually is stereotyping.

All I am saying is that job education requirements and responsibility level are inversely proportional to the percentage of lazy or underachieving personnel. To ignore or deny this is naivety in the name of political correctness.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · May 9, 2008

Back to the OP. Yes, I have seen this behavior. There are some CNAs who are lazy. Some CNAs are burnt out. Some CNAs have no idea just how much the nurse has to juggle. Then there are the wanna be nurse CNAs.

I think, with a CNA like this, ask nicely, and if they give you grief, get firm. You have to not care about being liked by them. If they still give you grief, then you need to report the insubordination.

Hausfrau · May 9, 2008

I'd be upset, too!! I just can't believe that anyone would act that way. I'd be thankful I had a job there and try my best to keep up.