I will probably make someone mad but I just needed to vent about this issue. I work at a hospital in Oncology/Medical. The cna/tech responsibilities are to do vitals, blood sugars, bathroom duties, and turn pt. I constantly hear some of them say that the nurses treat them like slaves when all we did was ask them to do a blood sugar. In the mean time I have one pt. dying, hanging blood on another, one is complaining of chest pain, I am getting a new admit, and still haven't charted, and they can't do a freaking blood sugar because they are too busy sitting on their a@# talking on the phone. I will say that not all of them are like that. We have a few that are wonderful at what they do and I let them know that they are greatly appreciated. I don't mind wiping a butt or doing blood sugars when the cna is busy, but if they are sitting there while I am running around like a crazy person and then gripe when I ask them to do something, it really makes me mad:madface:. Does anyone else see this behavior?
We're all overworked, underpaid, stressed out and burnt out. Short staffing is rampant on my floor.
I also have one aide that calls off usually 3 out of the 4 days she's scheduled to work, so we're working 1 tech short. Last night, there were 3 of us on evenings, and 2 of them got pulled at 7:00.
Yes, there are some that are lazy. There are also ones that run their bums off all shift and get nothing but grief from the nurses. What bugs me is if I'm running my butt off and a nurse that I'm not working with asks me to do something because they can't find their tech... and they get snotty with me when I tell them I'm in the middle of something and I'll get to it when I get this task done. I don't mind helping, but I can't drop everything and come this minute sometimes.
So, in conclusion, the "lazy employee" can be found on all nursing levels...no matter the pedigree, no matter the title, no matter the education.
That is a given. As adult human beings, many of us have life experience prior to entering nursing, and are well aware of this fundamental fact of human nature. This is not what the original post is about. The original post is about a specific situation.
Delegation is an integral component of being an RN. We are taught about the Five Rights of Delegation in nursing school, and when we get into the real world of nursing, we must delegate in order to keep our heads above water.
Many CNAs do not seem to understand this. Some CNAs do understand this, but don't care about how their lack of work ethic affects the nurse, and thus, patient care. Of course, if I don't want my post to be quoted and everyone be reminded for the three millionth time that not all CNAs are like that, I must insert the obligatory disclaimer that not all CNAs are like that and perhaps even go one step beyond and say how much I appreciate all the hard working CNAs out there, and maybe even add a smiley like this :bowingpur or this :heartbeat.
Just last night, I was blessed with the Amazing Disappearing CNA. I had a busy admit, who came in from another hospital on a heparin drip, and since the other hospital's heparin was a different concentration than ours, and all the tubing was different and incompatible with our pumps, the bag of heparin and all the tubing had to be changed. Plus the patient needed to be assessed, weighed, vitals taken, tele applied, admission assessment, medication list, etc. In the next bed was a gentleman who needed his JP pulled. Down the hall I had a lady who couldn't breathe. In the next room, a man who thought we were saving his urine to flush his IV with. All of my meds were due, and I was pulling the JP, when the patient said he needed to be cleaned up and would like to go for a walk.
Yes, I tried to "track down" the CNA to clean up the patient and walk him. I had so much on my plate that I needed to delegate this. However, she had disappeared. Gone. Poof. Nobody knew where she was. She had already had her dinner break and had returned. Maybe she was in the bathroom? For an hour? I don't know. At any rate, I had to clean up the patient, but I told him I could not walk him at that time. When I finally saw the CNA again, I delegated that task to her.
Even with delegating that one task, I still did not get my dinner break. I was far too busy. Part of the reason I was so busy was covering call lights while the CNAs were at dinner.
All I had to eat was a cookie before my shift started, and a cup of Pepsi on my way out the door so I'd have the energy to ride my bike home.
And this is with a four to one ratio. I cannot *imagine* how those of you with six or more do it. :bowingpur
Having a lazy anything affects the care a pt gets no matter what position the person holds.
If you have a lazy doctor, the pt suffers immensely. I have seen doctors do their "assessments" from the doorway and then write in the progress notes that "pt to be d/c'd" and have that same pt code a few hours later.
If you have a lazy NP, both the doctor and the NP mistreat this pt, and the pt sufferes.
If you have a lazy nurse, the pt is even greatly affected because we are the eyes and ears of the doctors, and if we dont' do our jobs, the pts die, plain and simple.
If you have a lazy tech, pts take much longer to heal. If a pt gets very little hygiene help, then that pt's time to heal will be extended ten-fold. I have seen a pt get a UTI because this particular tech refused to clean the pt's privates because "the foley was there. I was scared it was going to come out." Exact words.
If you have a lazy dietary delivery person, the pt doesn't eat on time or ever. This also affects pt care.
If you have a lazy cleaning tech, the pt lives in filth. God knows there are a ton of things that go on the floor: food, meds, trash, bodily fluids. If these were never cleaned in a timely matter, again, pt care suffers.
My point is that everyone has a role to play and that role is key. Maybe one position has a bit more authority and responsibility than the other, but they are all important. We are a vital team for pts. We are there for them and only them. If one position is lazy, then everything else, more importantly the pt, is affected.
So, in a way, we're all slaves because we are all assigned to these pts and must give the best care possible in order to help the pt heal. No position is more important than another. The only real person that matters is the pt, and that's who we need to look out for. If there are people in the care team who are not doing their jobs, then they need to be counseled about it.
I know this is totally off topic but I think we all grasp the theme of how important it is to work as a team...yadda, yadda, yadda.
That was my point. We all know the importance of teamwork, and that there are lazy people in every occupation. That is NOT THE ISSUE here. The original post was about a *specific* situation involving an RN using delegation.
Why is it that an RN can never post about this issue, which seems to be very commonplace, and thus important for nurses to be able to discuss and offer constructive solutions, without the thread degenerating into diatribes on the importance of teamwork, how there are lazy RNs too, and how not all CNAs are like that, ad nauseum.
Yes, we know that! It's a given! That is SO not the point.
That was my point. We all know the importance of teamwork, and that there are lazy people in every occupation. That is NOT THE ISSUE here. The original post was about a *specific* situation involving an RN using delegation.
Why is it that an RN can never post about this issue, which seems to be very commonplace, and thus important for nurses to be able to discuss and offer constructive solutions, without the thread degenerating into diatribes on the importance of teamwork, how there are lazy RNs too, and how not all CNAs are like that, ad nauseum.
Yes, we know that! It's a given! That is SO not the point.
That was my point. We all know the importance of teamwork, and that there are lazy people in every occupation. That is NOT THE ISSUE here. The original post was about a *specific* situation involving an RN using delegation.
Why is it that an RN can never post about this issue, which seems to be very commonplace, and thus important for nurses to be able to discuss and offer constructive solutions, without the thread degenerating into diatribes on the importance of teamwork, how there are lazy RNs too, and how not all CNAs are like that, ad nauseum.
Yes, we know that! It's a given! That is SO not the point.
Wow...Well, I guess I should have pointed out in my post that I had only read the opening post of this thread and didn't realize that my post would have been redundant. As I said, I apologize for having had said something that others already spoke about. :)
Mave, WSU, my comments were not personally directed at the two of you. If you read the original post and then the responses that followed, you will see that the immediate response to the OP was what I described. And my question was not rhetorical. I really would like to see an intelligent discussion on delegation without everyone jumping in to point out how important teamwork is, that not all CNAs are lazy, and that there are lazy RNs too. Again, we know this. How about some constructive feedback on how to delegate effectively? I think that's what the OP was looking for, and I think it would be useful information for many RNs who find themselves in similar situations.
Mave, WSU, my comments were not personally directed at the two of you. If you read the original post and then the responses that followed, you will see that the immediate response to the OP was what I described. And my question was not rhetorical. I really would like to see an intelligent discussion on delegation without everyone jumping in to point out how important teamwork is, that not all CNAs are lazy, and that there are lazy RNs too. Again, we know this. How about some constructive feedback on how to delegate effectively? I think that's what the OP was looking for, and I think it would be useful information for many RNs who find themselves in similar situations.
ITA. My job is stressfull enough without the one person that is always causing chaos and grief. Good teamwork relieves that stress and actually makes the job enjoyable. It would be wonderful to have a constructive thread about how to deal with that one person that doesn't want to work. Preferable within the next 20 minutes before I have to go deal with that CNA. . I dread the nights when I have to go in and she's on. I wish it was as easy as to get rid of that person, but when you are unionized, you need an act of God to get rid of them. So they are mine to deal with for the time being.
Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.
I dont mean to seem like a big head but I am one of the best CNA's on my floor according to Press Gainey lol, but when an RN delegates to me it helps to know that they say "please" and "thank you.", those little words go a long way. And if you see they are flustered and its not a dire emergency just say "when you have time." You will get your way when you are nice and as I tell all new graduate RN's if you want your CNA to do as you ask treat them nicely and you will get everything you ask for.
I saw the quote and I just had to put it in!!! :chuckle
. I dread the nights when I have to go in and she's on. I wish it was as easy as to get rid of that person, but when you are unionized, you need an act of God to get rid of them. So they are mine to deal with for the time being.
Ms Kylee
1 Article; 782 Posts
We're all overworked, underpaid, stressed out and burnt out. Short staffing is rampant on my floor.
I also have one aide that calls off usually 3 out of the 4 days she's scheduled to work, so we're working 1 tech short. Last night, there were 3 of us on evenings, and 2 of them got pulled at 7:00.
Yes, there are some that are lazy. There are also ones that run their bums off all shift and get nothing but grief from the nurses. What bugs me is if I'm running my butt off and a nurse that I'm not working with asks me to do something because they can't find their tech... and they get snotty with me when I tell them I'm in the middle of something and I'll get to it when I get this task done. I don't mind helping, but I can't drop everything and come this minute sometimes.