CNAs deserve more appreciation in nursing!

Nurses Relations

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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.

I am a PCA in a hospital. When I introduce myself to patients I use the term "aide" because when I say "pca" i get a confused look. The older/hardrer of hearing the patient, the more confused. I just think its easier to say aide. I don't feel any less important. Whether Im called an aide, a PCA, a nurse (by accident,) or anything else, Im still wiping butts! I love my job but it doesnt add or subtract to my self worth.

I am a PCA in a hospital. When I introduce myself to patients I use the term "aide" because when I say "pca" i get a confused look. The older/hardrer of hearing the patient, the more confused. I just think its easier to say aide. I don't feel any less important. Whether Im called an aide, a PCA, a nurse (by accident,) or anything else, Im still wiping butts! I love my job but it doesnt add or subtract to my self worth.

Haha I do that, too. I totally know what you mean; I don't introduce myself to my hearing impaired patients as "The Certified Nursing Assistant" because they might hear "Certified Nurse" and that might generate more confusion.

I have always appreciated the assistants I work with, and make a point to call them assistant.. instead of a term they may find derogatory.

However.. they are NOT professionals.. therefore ,they are NOT in the "same" profession.

An attitude... is an attitude.. by any other name.

I agree with you on that one. Calling CNAs aids is derogatory. They do have their training and work physically hard than any other nurse on the floor. I had to take CNA training and get certified by my state before I applied to my BSN nursing program. This was awesome, bc it really shows you basic nursing care and makes you appreciate CNAs even further. I can also say that I personally didn't like it when I told strangers that I was an RN, and they would comment to their families oh she's the doctor's aid sort of thing....i think they used chamberlain if I had to quote them. I totally did not appreciate it this.....people look down on jobs, looks, what you have, don't have and in the end they are just words. "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" at least not physically but it will mentally for a few days...then I get over it...today a pt said to her friend ohh she's kind dumb looking...and all I did was to be super nice with her. Guess she likes it better when people just ignore her. Anyways I feel your frustration but the world is like that ANYWHERE YOU GO.

You know when I was 16 years old in 11th grade, I began a CNA/GNA program in high school. That program was 2 years long, yes 2 years. I learned a lot! It used to be an LPN program, but unfortunately they got rid of it 10 years ago for some reason unknown to me. Anyway, I graduated in June 2011, a few days before my high school graduation, I was tested and pinned as a CNA/GNA. I worked hard for it. We had 2 semesters of A&P, 4 semesters of skill practice and competency, medical terminology, CPR/First Aid, medication quizzes (very basic), a clinical rotation at both a hospital and a skilled nursing facility, and so much more. We were involved in different community outreach programs. I had an excellent instructor and the class became very close. Now at 18 years old, I'm in my second semester in college and have just applied for a clinical seat for Fall 2012. I've worked very hard for that too, keeping my GPA at a 4.0. During my pinning ceremony, my nursing instructor had a beautiful speech about nurse assistants and nurses, and there is one thing that I think stuck with me from that speech, if you look at the three major nursing titles, C.N.A, L.P.N, and R.N. all have that "N" and that "N" stands for nurse. The nurse assistants, practical nurses, and registered nurses work together to provide the best possible nursing care for the patient. It doesn't matter about general terms like "aide" or "caregiver" or "provider", as long as nursing professionals remember the true meaning of their work which involves their scope of practice in nursing, because every professional in nursing, C.N.A, L.P.N, or R.N. is a part of a care team and the goal of that team is to work together and give the best possible care to that patient.

This whole thread reminds me of Dwight Schrute... Assistant manager vs assistant to the manager haha

This whole thread reminds me of Dwight Schrute... Assistant manager vs assistant to the manager haha

Coudn't agree more. Not sure if this is about (a) really thin-skinned individuals, (b) acute title-itis, © people that haven't figured out that respect is earned, not purchased, or (d) all of the above.

And, for those keeping score here's my titles/credentials: CNA, CPhT, AA & BSc, plus licensed pharmacy tech (yep - California licenses pharmacy techs; so far as I know there's nothing like an LPhT title, just CPhT which you have to get separately). That said, I still answer to "Dave", at least most of the time.

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned so long as I get a little slip of paper with the words "Pay to the order of" with my name on it every couple of weeks or so I tend to ignore the snarkiness, unless I've genuinely done something wrong, in which case I need to know about it so I can correct it.

----- Dave

I guess it just really depends where you work at downsouthlaff. I work in the Intensive Care Unit, and yes the PCTs do contribute to the heavy lifting, but I also so all the manual care on my patient as well, as well as being legally responsible and accountable for the patient, which the PCT doesn't have any accountability for the patient. I also have to use my best judgment to titrate drugs when keeping the patient alive, and am responsible for all the other medications. Nurses get the blame for everything, even when it's not their mistake. I have to deal with the doctors and families, take the patient to MRI, CT scan, Nuke Med, and where ever else. I have to run the CRRT machine, even when the patient goes to the OR. There is a huge difference, even though PCTs think that nursing is so easy and we don't do anything.

Specializes in LTC.
I don't like to be called a nurse, because I'm not. I'm a CNA, and people can call me whatever they want so long as I don't fall into the "Unlicensed Assistive Personnel" category. There is a difference between a license and a certificate, but "UAP" just implies that I am a random, uneducated person that the company hired for "cost control."

I don't care if people call me an aide, tech, orderlie, etc. Whatever you want. But not a UAP.

EDIT: Once, I worked with a new grad RN who had little regard for me as a CNA. I did my work as usual, but karma hit her in the face when her med tech got sick and went home really early. Apparently without us little people, she was unable to leave the floor at 10pm and consequently had to stay an extra few hours passing out her meds.

The nurse that I recently got assigned to trusts my judgment and ability to carry out what he asks. I wouldn't say nurses don't appreciate us, because they do in many cases.

I didn't understand your post as you are a UAP. I worked as a CNA and I honestly did not care what I was called. I have been called an aide, cna, sitter and etc. The most important thing anyone could wear is confidence. I had to learn that. I didn't let little comments by anyone effect who I am. When I was a LPN I was often called, little pretend nurse. I politely corrected the person who said that to me and would often state that I didn't get my license from kmart. The only thing I personally did not like is when nurses said " my aide" no nurse owns a CNA.

Long story short. People are going to call you aide, uap or whatever. If you don't like it you can say something, but at the end of the day you will still have to hear these terms. You need to learn not to let it upset you so much and pretty much get over it. It is what it is. When people ask me what I do, I often say I'm a nurse. I like to keep it simply as the public don't know the difference in the terms CNA, UAP, LPN, and RN.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
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?

I completely agree with you - but I would like to point out that for many years CNAs were called "nurse's aides". I don't think anyone felt there was a derogatory meaning behind it at all. If a dinosaur nurse says that please don't assume he/she doesn't respect you. I've noticed many times people get offended at the term "my" before CNA or assistant. They say "what - I'm not "your" anything!" I don't "belong" to anybody etc - the important thing is our attitude towards each other, I hope so anyway.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

You don't like the term "aide," and when you are called that, you feel unappreciated and degraded?

If you feel unappreciated and degraded in your job, I hope it has to do with more than being called an "aide," otherwise you are just looking for something to get annoyed about.

Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.

I had been considering changing my title when i worked in hospitals because i had the darndest time getting my CNAs to do their own work, instead of hinting or begging me to do their job. As an RN i had plenty of my own work to do and the aides were barely assisting me. Fortunately i work in hospice now and never have to work with "aides" thank God! My new title in the hospital would have been NAA--stands for nursing assistant's assistant, because that all i was doing all day----assisting my nursing aide. Lol.

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