CNA Supervisor or all under DON/ADON

i_love_patient_care · Feb 22, 2013

Hello everyone, as some of you know I am an EMT. As most of you know EMTs do NOT get paid well at all. Don't get me wrong i do alright, but I'm finding myself having to work mor and more shifts in Long Term Care Nursing Home facilities as a CNA with gas prices continuing to rise and all the other economic falls, And cuts from the Ambulance service, anyhow I work 48 hours on 120 hours off so I still have plenty time to take extra shifts and have time off. Anyway I've worked at a few LTC facilities and all of them had a CNA Supervisor, who basicallyMade the Schedules, Hired CNAs, took disciplinary action against the CNAs, helped out on the floor as needed, and assisted the DON with clerical functions when necessary. However, at one facility I worked at the DON was the dictator of the entire nursing department, did all hiring and disciplinary actions, but there were Crew Chief CNAs and Crew Chief LPNs at this facility. Just wondering how this was managed at different parts of the country, CNAs do you have a CNA Supervisor (M-F 9-5) or is the DON the head honcho of everyone?

I have never heard of this. I've worked at places where CNAs thought they were part of management. Lol. I live in CA, and yeah not anywhere I have worked at.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Feb 22, 2013

Wow, I guess this is in this area only. The majority of facilities I've worked at had a Monday-Friday CNA Supervisor who hired, disciplined, made schedules, and assisted nursing administration. All but one facility I've worked at had one. The other facilty had Shift Charge CNAs, who worked a hall like a regular, but who made sure vitals were done iced was passes the whole nine yards. I've even worked one place that had both.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Feb 22, 2013

And I say I've worked at many different faculties not because I'm a job hopper and can't stay anywhere, LOL, I am employed Part Time/PRN at One facility, but I also am employed at a Nursing Staffing Agency PRN, so I've been to many different nursing homes in the area lately.

Kdrenee · Feb 22, 2013

I have also never heard of this. I live in Texas and we do not have CNA supervisors, leaders or anything. A CNA is just a CNA.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Feb 22, 2013

Wow I thought this might have been a regulation or something to have a CNA Supervisor in LTC facilities, apparently it's exclusive to this area. Surely somewhere else there must be CNA Supervisors right? Lol I don't wanna sound crazy. Now I have never seen this Acute Care though when I worked staffing. Just LTC.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Feb 22, 2013

And when I say CNA Supervisor, I do not mean CNA Supervising the entire nursing department with the DON/ADON, this CNA DOES NOT supervise Nurses, they strictly Supervise CNAs and the CNA functions on the floor, and at these faculties the DON does ask the Nurse consults with the CNA supervisor and refers them to him/her before writing any CNA up. And during the CNA Supervisor hours the Nurse cannot write up CNAs only DON or CNA Supervisor actually can. This is just how it is ij my area interesting to see that it's not like that anywhere else LOL

funtimes · Feb 22, 2013

When I worked in LTC there were times when we did have sort of a charge CNA for each shift. Sometimes this was unspoken, and other times it was stated explicitly by the DON that this person was in charge of certain things, such as making out assignments for that shift, or they at least had the final say.

I dont have any real problem with it. In some ways it worked better, since the CNA knows better than the nurses and supervisors which residents are more work than others and what can be realistically expected of the CNAs. It obviously works better if the charge CNA is mature and fair and more experienced than the others, but that can be said for any supervisor, RN or not.

I'll also mention that Ive basically done the same thing youre doing. Worked as both an EMT and a CNA at the same time, and one thing I would advise you never do is try to act like you know more than the CNAs you work with because your an EMT. If a CNA is put in charge, and they say this is the way its going to be done, dont try to claim that being an EMT makes you more knowledgeable. They are two very different jobs and knowledge and experience in one doesnt translate to the other and will only rub the other CNAs the wrong way.

downsouthlaff, LPN · Feb 22, 2013

Thanks for the advice fun times, and your right. It does seem to take stress off the DON, to have a Lead CNA who can do that staff. But the CNA supervisors that I have seen, or clearly spoken. They are salaried workers who work 8-4ish Monday-Friday. And your right, i would never try to act like I'm smarter than other CNAs. EMTs and CNAs are different areas. I didn't here the word C-DIFF one time in EMT School. In CNA class I did. The only thing that's hard sometimes to refrain from doing is not handling the oxygen as a CNA, and not taking control of a code, but I can pretty much close the EMT knowledge door of my brain while im working at the nursing home. Codes do not happen often. For the most part I try to leave EMT at the door when I clock in. But when I'm on EMS duty I was told by the LTC Nurses that I was one of the few EMTs who drained catheters ?. Thanks for your reply funtimes and good advice.

ybanurse · Feb 23, 2013

Ive worked at many facilities where the CNA scheduler had more power than the Lpns. It seemed like they were in mgmt.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2013

I'm in Texas and have worked at multiple LTC facilities. Some local facilities use CNAs to do staffing and have given them the fancy title of "Staffing Coordinator" or "Staffing Director." They generally work banker's hours from Monday through Friday, have some supervisory duties over the other CNAs, and can do upper administrative tasks such as hiring when the DON is not in the building.

Other LTC facilities in this area prefer to use licensed nurses to fill the staffing coordinator role. LPNs are preferred for this job because their hourly rate is typically lower than the RN's.

nguyency77, CNA · Feb 23, 2013

As TheCommuter said, we had a "staffing coordinator" when I was a CNA in a LTC/SNF. The person was a CNA; she was actually the person who hired me. She worked central supply, hired new CNA and med techs, and drove the van occasionally. However, discipline was always left to the ADON or DON.