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.

Specializes in Cardiac Care.

I just spent about 10 minutes of my life (that I will never get back) reading what has to be one of the most ridiculous threads ever.

Dang.

I just spent about 10 minutes of my life (that I will never get back) reading what has to be one of the most ridiculous threads ever.

Dang.

Yeah, but after my head stopped spinning from all of the OP's confusion...I got a good laugh before work.

Actually, I would like to correct you on that for your own educational purposes; it is NOT legal to work as a nurse's assistant without a certification. If an employer hires someone who is not certified, it is illegal!!! OBRA 1987 is the act that was made so that not just any person can become a nurse assistant; there is a series of federal and state background checks, a mandated certification process, and a registry with the BON. Just wanted to clarify that for you. It was a huge thing and I think we all can agree it was a greatly needed.

OP has gone from venting to shrieking. This is coming from a very emotional place, as someone pointed out, and it stopped making sense a long time ago.

To the OP, you are just at the beginning of a very long, stress-filled/rewarding, pressure cooker of a career; whatever choice you make about how to proceed, be it CNA, LPN, RN, etc.

You have barely taken your first step and your angst level is off the charts. Perhaps another career would be more suitable?

Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.
Just sayin...

My thoughts as I read the post!

Specializes in Emergency, Pre-Op, PACU, OR.
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:)

You seem to have way too much time if you work yourself into such a frenzy about a job you don't even do yet, and btw, it is "HADES" (god of the underworld in ancient Greece) and not "HAIDES". Just saying.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
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.

All this brouhaha from someone who hasn't even worked a day as an aide? Please...

Just sayin...

Lordy, and you only bolded about a third of what I would have, maybe less.....

ok, caught up the last couple of pages since I last posted, and am amazed. We've all been sucked into the paranoid mind games of an immature, emotionally-disturbed individual with a medical complex. I fell for it, too.

When Junior is ready to grow up and figure out whether he wants to be an astronaut or a bus driver, we'll all be retired.

This is why it's dangerous to give out personal information online--it's full of nuts.

Actually, I would like to correct you on that for your own educational purposes; it is NOT legal to work as a nurse's assistant without a certification. If an employer hires someone who is not certified, it is illegal!!! OBRA 1987 is the act that was made so that not just any person can become a nurse assistant; there is a series of federal and state background checks, a mandated certification process, and a registry with the BON. Just wanted to clarify that for you. It was a huge thing and I think we all can agree it was a greatly needed.

What post is this referring to? If it was mine, in which I said that my (former) hospital employer hired non-certified assistants, then I can assure you that it is 100% legal. They do not claim to be CNAs, they do not say they are certified. Instead, they are called "patient care techs" and they absolutely can be (and are) trained on-the-job for taking vital signs and basic patient care activities. You do not need any sort of certification to walk someone to the bathroom. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can be approved by a medical employer to take vital signs, as long as they are comfortable that you are doing it correctly you can be paid to do so. Case in point: office "medical assistants" that have zero certification. Who are they? Someone who last week was a cashier and now that they've learned how to do heights, weights, and BPs, are the new MA. They simply don't call themselves certified, either. The onoy thing illegal would be if they called themselves "the office nurse" (nurse is a protected title) or if the patient care tech (PCT) called themselves a CNA (and wasn't one). Otherwise, 100% legal.

Specializes in I/DD.

Yeah...I'm a little confused as well. If it is illegal to hire non-certified assistants then every hospital in my CITY will be thrown under the bus. I have always been confused about the adult vocational schools in my area that charge tuition fees to train people to be "Medical Assistants," where they learn to draw blood, take VS, etc. When I was a PCT I got payed for ALL of my training. I have never worked with a so-called Medical Assistant. In addition, the only place I see CNA's are in nursing homes and as 1:1's in the hospital. Yet, as far as I can tell, the scope of practice is the same as that of the PCT's that work with me.

Hopefully this doesn't open an unwanted can of worms...

Yeah...I'm a little confused as well. If it is illegal to hire non-certified assistants then every hospital in my CITY will be thrown under the bus. I have always been confused about the adult vocational schools in my area that charge tuition fees to train people to be "Medical Assistants," where they learn to draw blood, take VS, etc. When I was a PCT I got payed for ALL of my training. I have never worked with a so-called Medical Assistant. In addition, the only place I see CNA's are in nursing homes and as 1:1's in the hospital. Yet, as far as I can tell, the scope of practice is the same as that of the PCT's that work with me.

Hopefully this doesn't open an unwanted can of worms...

oh, what the hell, open away :)

You're right in that no licenses are required for the vast amount of what our care techs do. I do believe, though, that nursing homes require a CNA cert? I could be wrong, but I believe that's what I heard somewhere. I once worked with a wonderful aide who WAS a CNA, and she wished all the techs had to have the same course. She was probably right in that the on-the-job training wasn't as comprehensive...but still, it was all we really needed. I have no clue why anyone would pay a thousand dollars (as the OP states) for a nurse's aide certificate. Maybe I'm missing something, but doesn't that sound a tad high?

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