CNAs no longer doing vitals on our floor

Published

I work on a med/surg floor where I guess some CNAs complained that nurses abuse them and our manager has now made it where the RNs will be doing all vitals on top of everything else. Is this normal for other hospitals? I understand that everyone is busy, but CNAs used to be able to do so much more. Now at night, they will only be taking patients to the bathroom and changing patients, which the RNs do as well.

I am glad you brought up the lack of equipment because we definitely have that. I see this as a major problem because I know some of the nurses will try and hide a machine if they have found one and liked it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.
I am glad you brought up the lack of equipment because we definitely have that. I see this as a major problem because I know some of the nurses will try and hide a machine if they have found one and liked it.

And see, thats the thing. If you are taught directly in nursing school that you should not rely on others to provide patient care then you never end up in the situation some of you are complaining about. When you start off with high patient loads, lack of equipment, and having to do pretty much all of it on your own, you learn to deal and adjust your shift and priorities accordingly. Believe me, its possible. It just takes some time to get used to. Just be grateful you got to experience it at all!

PS Ive worked in some places where all the CNAs were responsible for was hygiene, elimination and transfers. In those places, I actually had to do all of my job (vitals, med passes, dressing changes, any and all phlebotomy work, etc) , PLUS help them with their work.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My reason CNA's ought to be able to take them is because it helps to have that info on all of your patients while you're with one of them. This is assuming the CNA will know what's abnormal, and tell you.

Yes, I'm spoiled. I'm very spoiled.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

And see, thats the thing. If you are taught directly in nursing school that you should not rely on others to provide patient care then you never end up in the situation some of you are complaining about. When you start off with high patient loads, lack of equipment, and having to do pretty much all of it on your own, you learn to deal and adjust your shift and priorities accordingly. Believe me, its possible. It just takes some time to get used to. Just be grateful you got to experience it at all!

PS Ive worked in some places where all the CNAs were responsible for was hygiene, elimination and transfers. In those places, I actually had to do all of my job (vitals, med passes, dressing changes, any and all phlebotomy work, etc) , PLUS help them with their work.

Praise!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

I work as a PCA on a med-surg unit, and that seems nuts to me!

I can do the following:

Take vital signs and collect I/Os, daily weights

Collect blood sugar levels

Insert and d/c a foley catheter

Administer an enema

Perform bladder scans

Help patients with ADLs

Help discharge and admit pts from and to the hospital

And...so much more.

But I am only paid 9.68/hr. I should be paid more for what they expect me to do.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.
I work as a PCA on a med-surg unit, and that seems nuts to me!

I can do the following:

Take vital signs and collect I/Os, daily weights

Collect blood sugar levels

Insert and d/c a foley catheter

Administer an enema

Perform bladder scans

Help patients with ADLs

Help discharge and admit pts from and to the hospital

And...so much more.

But I am only paid 9.68/hr. I should be paid more for what they expect me to do.

Wow, lets see...so out of what you said, here is what is RN duties where I practiced nursing.

Vitals

I/O

Blood sugar

Anything more than emptying a foley

Anything more than cleaning up after an enema

Bladder scans

Discharge and admit patients DEFINITELY (In Quebec, even an LPN cant do this!)

All of these tasks are assigned to RNs because we are trained to be able to recognize the normal ranges, what the possible causes to anything out of these normal values are, how to intervene if something is out of the ordinary, etc. We are TRAINED with countless classes to evaluate our patients in a head-to-toe manner that a CNA is not. That is why we take all the A&P, microbiology, psychology, chemistry and all other nursing classes. Those things are completely out of the scope of practice of a CNA in my opinion. That is not to say that a CNA CAN'T do them. It just isnt anything you are trained to do like an RN is, and personally I would not feel comfortable letting a CNA do it...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Wow, lets see...so out of what you said, here is what is RN duties where I practiced nursing.

Vitals

I/O

Blood sugar

Anything more than emptying a foley

Anything more than cleaning up after an enema

Bladder scans

Discharge and admit patients DEFINITELY (In Quebec, even an LPN cant do this!)

All of these tasks are assigned to RNs because we are trained to be able to recognize the normal ranges, what the possible causes to anything out of these normal values are, how to intervene if something is out of the ordinary, etc. We are TRAINED with countless classes to evaluate our patients in a head-to-toe manner that a CNA is not. That is why we take all the A&P, microbiology, psychology, chemistry and all other nursing classes. Those things are completely out of the scope of practice of a CNA in my opinion. That is not to say that a CNA CAN'T do them. It just isnt anything you are trained to do like an RN is, and personally I would not feel comfortable letting a CNA do it...

And I'm not trained to do any of this?

Look hun, I have taken ALL of those courses (am in nursing school). So don't lecture me about stuff you know and stuff I supposedly don't know. CNAs also take courses to do their jobs well, if you didn't realize that.

Many of the CNAs ARE in nursing school and therefore have taken many of the courses you've spouted off at. I don't live in Quebec, so I can't comment, but where I am from, we do things differently.

And clearly you misread a simple post, but I believe I said HELP discharge and admit patients.

I don't care what you are comfortable with. I care with what my hospital is comfortable with. So please, do me a favor and get off your high horse. Okay?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
My reason CNA's ought to be able to take them is because it helps to have that info on all of your patients while you're with one of them. This is assuming the CNA will know what's abnormal, and tell you.

Yes, I'm spoiled. I'm very spoiled.

I'm glad you realized it.

CNAs are an integral part of nursing, and without them, nurses would be running around like decapitated chickens trying to get things done. It saddens me that some nurses don't realize how difficult their jobs would be without aides. We're here to help lift the burden from the nurse, not to be a punching bag (and sadly, some nurses view aides that way).

If and when I do get my first nursing job, I will make sure to thank each and every one of my aides and tell them how much I appreciate their assistance. I think it should be mandatory for all nurses to have some CNA experience prior to entering the field of nursing....it would weed out a lot of wannabes quickly and instill a sense of humility.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I've never worked as a nurse on a med surg floor, but it seems to me that if the RN has to do an assessment q 4hrs it wouldn't be too much of a hardship to get a set of vitals during the assessment. Vital signs are the most fundamental part of an assessment after all. Of course, I'll fully admit that if one day I was to work as a RN on a med surg floor I might sing a different tune....

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

maybe you will be able to demonstrate (document) how having more nurses would be more beneficial than having CNA's, especially since they are not doing any nursing assistance. I worked in a unit where the CNA's were so awful that the nurse's asked to just add 1 nurse to each shift and let all the aides go.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
And I'm not trained to do any of this?

Look hun, I have taken ALL of those courses (am in nursing school). So don't lecture me about stuff you know and stuff I supposedly don't know. CNAs also take courses to do their jobs well, if you didn't realize that.

Many of the CNAs ARE in nursing school and therefore have taken many of the courses you've spouted off at. I don't live in Quebec, so I can't comment, but where I am from, we do things differently.

And clearly you misread a simple post, but I believe I said HELP discharge and admit patients.

I don't care what you are comfortable with. I care with what my hospital is comfortable with. So please, do me a favor and get off your high horse. Okay?

P.S. I think it is hilarious that you think one needs a nursing degree to get a blood sugar, lmao. I wonder what all of those millions of diabetics do come mealtime. And it doesn't take much skill to measure I/O or operate a data scope!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.
And I'm not trained to do any of this?

Look hun, I have taken ALL of those courses (am in nursing school). So don't lecture me about stuff you know and stuff I supposedly don't know. CNAs also take courses to do their jobs well, if you didn't realize that.

Many of the CNAs ARE in nursing school and therefore have taken many of the courses you've spouted off at. I don't live in Quebec, so I can't comment, but where I am from, we do things differently.

And clearly you misread a simple post, but I believe I said HELP discharge and admit patients.

I don't care what you are comfortable with. I care with what my hospital is comfortable with. So please, do me a favor and get off your high horse. Okay?

I really meant no offense with what I said, and Im sorry you took it that way. I was in no way on a high horse. If anything, I was just saying to other nurses that they should not get upset that CNAs can no longer take vitals on their floors.

The fact that YOU have taken those classes is great. I realize that SOME CNAs work as such while they are in nursing school. However the reality is that not all of them do. And I work in a company that has a CNA school, and believe me, they do NOT take any classes that would prepare them to do all you do. I believe you are offended because you thought I was accusing you of lacking knowledge. I was basing my thoughts on what I have seen from my work in Quebec and from now being in GA. I have seen some amazing CNAs who are brighter than some RNs Ive known, and I will be one of the first people to thank any of the wonderful CNAs I work with.

Maybe things are different in the state you work in than the one I do. Where I am, CNAs need no more than an 8th grade education. They take a 3 week program to get licensed. That in no way compares to the 3 years of nursing school we had to go through, and I hope you would not say so. And those 3 weeks do not prepare them enough IMO.

And thats fine with me, I am happy if your hospital is comfortable letting you do all that stuff. I am happy YOU are comfortable doing all that stuff. Its actually a good thing, you do get to practice your skills for when you graduate. However, YOU mentioned you think you are underpaid for all you do. Maybe that is part of it. We get paid more because there is more responsibility on us, and on our licenses. We are ultimately responsible for those. We work as a team with LPNs and CNAs, but again, ultimately the patient is in our charge. Maybe I would feel comfortable letting you do some of those things after having witnessed your skills and critical thinking abilities. But until I did, those are things I would prefer to do for myself. At least that way, I know I am the only one to blame if a mistake is made.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion