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.

"it is my opinion that nursing home or ltc nurses, dont use any of their medical skills, aside from passing meds, and supervising aides? i hope when i finish nursing school in 15 months hospital jobs are still available!!!"

well, you've changed your screen name since you posted this a while back, but it seems that you yourself are guilty of the same disrespect that you deplore of in others.

You bring up some valid points, and i do understand your reasoning, but theres one title for LPN, onetitle for RN, one title for PA, there should be one title nurse assitant, nurse aide is understandable, but caregiver, personal care attendtant, and orderlie is not to me! Personal Care Attendants and orderlies could be anybody who appiled to be one, you cant just apply to be a Nurse Assistant, or Nurse For that matter, This whole post is not that big of a deal to me, its just something that was on my mind that i wanted to know what every one else thought!! patients are going to continue calling CNAs nurses, and CNAs are going to continue to be calles Aides theres nothing i can do to change it, and im surely not going to back talk my boss, or nurse, or condemm anybody because they call me that!!! Why do you think theres so few CNAs that last in jobs? Because they are so disrespected by staff, but i dont worry about what the staff thinks, its my job to soley make sure that residents are satisfied, and have everything they need, and make sure that nurses can focus on the very essential task of attending to the complex needs of the residents/patients its a team process!!

Actually, in many places you CAN just apply to be a nursing assistant. Some places care if you are certified and some do not; they will train you on the job. I'm not saying this as an insult...just a FYI

HA! Mazy, I remember that post. Didn't realize it was the same person. What a joke.

You need to learn not to let it upset you so much and pretty much get over it.

I'm not upset; the OP is, haha. I'm not claiming that CNA should be considered professionals, because we aren't.

I just don't like that UAP is a euphemism, and in my state UAP is associated with people who have never been trained and do things that are borderline illegal (i.e. crossing into the LPN/RN's scope of practice simply because the hospital says it's ok to). That's all. I know the difference between being certified and being licensed.

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I was an AIDE for years back before my state had a CNA register.My generation does not consider that demeaning but I can see your point.There are numerous posts on here full of outrage regarding people passing themselves off as RN's,LPN's etc when they are not so you are entitled to your opinion. I think maybe you MIGHT perceive a demeaning attitude where none is intended.I think I'll ask a few of the cna's I work with and see what they think-I'm thinking it may be a generational thing.

Specializes in Nursing Home.

It just seems to me how "Nurses" value their title so much, and if it s interchanged with in any way their gonna raisded seven kinds of haides, but know one else has that right? To all the LPNs out their how would you like itif you were called RN Assistants, because in all actuality (no disrespect) that is how you are viewd? Not by me anyways i happened to prefer soe LPNs than RNs but anyways its the thought!! And to someone who said about the emphasis of the term nursing, well yoyr darn right it should be emphasised, not everyone can calll themselves nursing professionals, but CNAs can, they earned that nursing in their name!! I dont know where yall or getting the Janitor custodian disrespect from!!! Your speaking to a former housekeeper/janitor in the nursing home before becoming an Activity Assistant, i know first hand what they do!! :)

I have a question? What is a PCA ,and what training do they go through? When I worked in the hospital a PCA was a Patent Controlled Anesthesia Machine.I have been working in a Dr.'s office for the last 15 years! :lol2:

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

As an LPN for almost 25 years I have , at times,been considered to be far less then an rn's assistant and you know what? At this point in time I couldn't give a rats orifice.I KNOW what I know,I know what I have done and am capable of doing.I don't need to find my self- esteem in others.That's my point-the titles of LPN and RN are legal and protected,it is against the law to use them if you have not earned them.You have to realize that an 8 week course for certfication is VERY different fom a college education.You post does not offend me in anyway-it just reveals your ignorance about the roles and responsibilities and scope of practice of the LPN and RN. Are you an "activity assistant" or a "cna"? I don't understand from your conflicting posts.In your history at one point in a post you claim you are beinning an LPN program and then later going to enter program to become a cna.I believe you have not started that program yet? You should walk more then a few miles in those shoes before you make judgements and accuse others of stereotyping and demeaning others. (PCA can be "patient care assistant") Now hand me my PCA button-I NEED a bolus.......

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i am also thinking it's a generational thing. Yes OP, your accomplishments are worthwhile and the $1000 tuition you paid was certainly quite an endeavour... and those of us with a few streaks of gray in our hair can appreciate that your generation (as i noted in an earlier post that you are about 17) is accustomed to getting a pat of the back for every accomplishment and a trophy for just showing up. But unfortunately you've begun to enter what us oldsters refer to as the real world. You will need to accept the fact that despite your "professional title" you're still going to get called an "aide". It's not demeaning unless you take it to be, and in the overly politically correct world that your generation is creating (by raising cain over trivial issues as this) soon every word that comes out of our mouths will be considered demeaning. (something tells me that the OP is not as quick to correct a patient that refers to him/her as "nurse" as one that calls him/her "aide") A lot of people out of work would be happy for the job, whether they're called, CNA, aide, orderly, tech or assistant.

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 find it thoroughly irritating that, in the course of shouting out in indignity about respect for one's work, one will actually show disrespect for another person's work.

"Some janitor.... Some custodian"...

Really?

I don't recall working hard for my certification, either.

CNA class is a walk in the park.

The job, however, if the aide does it right, is very hard and unforgiving.

I was probably one of the best darn aides out there.

I was so proud of my work and did it for over 20 years.

I was an "aide" and I don't get the problem.

This is silly.

Is this for real?!?

Whoever holds the job of PCT, CNA, PCA, or whatever the colorful acronym is at the moment, their job is to HELP me. I usually say "my aide". "My assistant" is too many syllables, LOL!

His or her job is to aid me in doing mine, hence, they are a nurse's aide. Period. Insisting on the word "assistant" is meaningless, and makes the person stomping his or her foot over it look foolish. Present this argument to a patient, and I can guarantee the patient's eyes would gloss over and they'd say "whoever you are, could you get me my nurse now?!?" For what it's worth, I worked at a hospital where you needed no "education" whatsoever: complete the in-house orientation to learn how to take vital signs and clean a patient, and you're set. No one knows or cares who went to vo-tec for a month and who didn't(yes, there are 4-6 week courses for 'assistants'.

You can stomp about over how long, how expensive, how grueling your 'education' was to become my aide, but the reality is no one cares. No one cares how long, how expensive, how grueling it was for me to become a nurse, for heaven's sake...they just want their pill now, thanks. And as for you, they just want their water pitcher filled, thanks. Or no thanks at all, most of the time.

Nurses don't disrespect our UAPs (how about that one, hmmm?); we need and appreciate a good CNA a hundred times over. Some don't show it well, that's true. But if your worst complaint is that you aren't getting the right LIP SERVICE, you have a golden job.

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I agree-that's why I am bowing out of this thread-it's not worth the aggravation -especially when you consider that the OP has not worked ONE 8 hour shift as a CNA/AIDE. A year from now when they have experienced the hard work and exhaustion,the joy and the heartache of the experience then the OP will understand just how much difference a CNA/AIDE can make in the life of someone in pain,suffering or lonely without having to try to put others down.So until you have experiencedced the satisfaction of cleaning and repositioning someone who is lying in discomfort in their own waste and seen the look of thanks on their face because you gave them the gift of allowing them their dignity while carrying out the task I'm done....Aide or assistant-whatever.

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