CNAs deserve more appreciation in nursing!

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Specializes in Nursing Home.

Before i go any further with this i would like to say that i totally understand that only a Nurse should be called a nurse, because they work very hard to get that title. But, its ashamed that most Nurses and Society degrade nurse assistants, and call them Aides, Orderlies. It is ashame that most nurses pretend like a CNA has nothing to do with being a nurse, and it shall be forbidden and un godly to mention the two in the same sentence. They blow it way out of proportion when a patient who is uneducated or knows little about medcine might call them a nurse. Some nurses act like "O my god how can you possibly c onfuse some orderlie aide for a nurse" when CNAs hold a professional certificate in the NURSING and MEDICAL field. Patients may often make the mistake of calling a Physical Therapist Assistant a Physical Therapist, they may often refer to a Physician Assistant or Nurse Practicioner as a Doctor, some may call a Deacon a Priest, an EMT is sometime referes to as a Paramedic!! I know that you should correct it if you catch it, but its not that uncommon, since these careers are so closely related. Its no different in nursing. I really hate when somewhen calls a CNA an aide. An aide can be any lay person of any profession with no education or training . A CNA is a certified nurse assistant. It cost alot of money and takes at least 2 months of education to get that title. How would Nurses like it if people would interchange their title with "Bedside Attendant" or "Doctors Aide" or "Hospital Maid". You Nurses work hard to get the title Nurse, and it cost you lots of college costs. Nurse Assistants work hard to get that title CNA. They should be called by that respected title CNA rather than Aide, Patient Caregiver, or orderlies. THE GOLDEN RULE. Whether Nurses like it or not since 1987 CNAs or in the same profession as Nurses, the Nursing proffesion. Not some janitor or custodian.

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Just trying to be clear here? You hate it when a cna is called and aide? But we nurses should not get upset when a cna is called a nurse? You do see that we get upset for the same reason you do, right? You seem to be contradicting yourself.

Anyway I love my PCTs (where I work we have PCTS and Aides, and there is a difference but we need them all as part of our nursing team) and know a good one is worth their weight in gold. I also know that they can make or break how my shift goes. I do not undervalue them at all.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

I didn't see any belittling on the examples you gave. The A in assistant also means "aide". If you feel this bad about hearing the word "aide", then you must have inferiority complex. Because that is what it is, refusing to be called "aide" doesn't tell me anything but a complex. I don't know about "orderlies" though. I have never heard this term until I read your post.

Now at work, I don't know why it matters when people just say aide instead of CNA. Do you call nurses "nurse" or actually RN or LPN, etc? When patient asks for their pain med for example, do you say "I'll let your nurse know" or "I will let your Registered Nurse know." ?

Hence, this post doesn't have anything belittling in it, in my opinion. You need to get over yourself.

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CNA stands for certified nursing assistant, isnt assistant and aide kind of the same thing? I dont know why the term aide or patient caregiver should offend you. I dont see them as derogatory terms. I worked as a patient care tech (just another term for cna) before I graduated, so I understand that its easy to feel belittled by some nursing staff, I felt that way too. But I just dont see those terms as being negative. JMO.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

FYI, getting CNA doesn't take at least two months. There are different lenght of courses like a 2 week long ones.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

im sorry if calling you an aide or certified nurses assistant is degrading to you

aide [eyd] dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif   example sentences

[table=class: the_content]

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[td][color=#333333]main [color=#333333]entry: [/td]

[td] aide  [eyd] dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif show ipa

[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]part of [color=#333333]speech: [/td]

[td]noun [/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]definition: [/td]

[td]assistant

[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]synonyms: [/td]

[td][color=#333333]abettor, adjutant, aid, aide-de-camp, assistant, attendant, coadjutant, coadjutor, deputy, girl friday, helper, lieutenant, man friday, second, shop, [color=#333333]stooge, supporter, troops [/td]

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[td]notes: [/td]

[td]aid is [color=#333333]assistance or a source of assistance; aide is an assistant [/td]

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[/table]

that being said, i would be nowhere without my aides. they make the difference between a good night and a bad night.

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Ok you say most nurses degrade CNA's?? I think not. Good nurses understand the importance of CNA's and respect what they do.

If someone who is alert and oriented called you a nurse and you are not a nurse then you should make sure they know that you are not a nurse. Do not allow them to continouly call you a nurse without explaing to them that you are an assistant. The fact is that CNA's are nurse assistants not nurses. It is illegal to impersonate a nurse wether you mean to or not. Medical Assistants do more nursing type duties than CNA's do but they are not nurses either and should not let people think they are nurses. CNA's do have something to do with being a nurse but they are not nurses. Nurses to more than what CNA's do. Thats not being mean its just a fact.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Sounds like you're dissing the janitor and custodian. I wonder how they'd feel about that.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

In Indiana, my certificate says "Certified Nurse Aide."

I really think you're splitting hairs with arguing that we should not be called "aides." That's like saying that RNs should not be called nurses because it's too general and the world should know that they're REGISTERED nurses…. meh...

All I ask is for mutual respect in the workplace.

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Specializes in CV Surgical, ICU.

I'm not at all bothered when a patient mistakenly calls a CNA a nurse.. it's when that CNA answers to 'nurse' and does not politely correct the patient/resident, that's when I get bothered because its deceiving.

In addition, and just as an aside, when I worked as a CNA I always referred to myself as an aide because in the population I work with (the elderly) many get confused by the term CNA and don't seem too familiar with it. Most however know who the term aide means.

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Specializes in Nursing Home.

I have never heard a Physician Assistant, Physical Therapist Assistant, Surgical First Assistant, reffrerd to as an Aide, in fact the last i checked a Physical Therapy Aide and an Assistant are two completely different jobs, one is a highly paid licensed proffesional, the other is just an equipment and clerical tech trained by the therapist!!! And im not saying that all Nurses dis CNAs, but i know personally i worked in a Nursing Home as an Activity Assistant for a year, and there were alot of nurses who were bleeps to Nurse Assistants!! To the ones who value Nurse Assistants, and respect their training im on your side 100 percent and theres no need to to lash out about this, but to the ones who want to be called Nurse, thats fine you deserve it 100 percent, you put in endless nights of study, but treat others as you want to be treated! Respect the education of others!! Getting a CNA is not easy, being a CNA is not easy, my tuition cost me over 1000 dollars, they deserved to be called Nursing Assistants, because thats the title they earned, not Caregiver, Orderlie or personal care aide, yon can get those jobs with no education! What if someone with no education was called the samething as you such as PCA wich i often hear some CNAs reffered to, when you had to work hard to get the nurse assistant certificate!!!

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Specializes in Nursing Home.

FYI In the state o Louisiana, the only way to become a CNA is too take a 8 week course, no exceptions, ive seen some that go o either three or four months but 2 is minumum here, and alot of you are saying well the patients dont refer to nurses as LPNs or RNs, or the term CNA, but how hard is it to say well ill tell the "Nurse Assistant" or "My Assistant" to get you a glass of water, rather than ill tell your Care Attendant or Aide, or personal needs attendtant?

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