So i was buying a pair of scrubs today and the clerk says "hey are you an rn" i said yes i am. and he said that he is trying to get his partner to become an rn because he needs a low stress job because he has a brain condition....i kind of say uh huh, well i wish him the best...... the the guy goes on to tell me his partner is a cna right now and its incrediably stressful and very hard work. i agree and he reiterates that is why he wants him to become a RN. I say "well that's a very hard job, i wouldn't recommend rn, lpn , or cna positions for anyone needing 'low stress' . he says "oh i know you guys have sooo much paperwork you have to do":rolleyes: lol, i said good luck to your bf. and changed teh subject to the scrubs i was buying.
then the other day i took care of a young lady who died and i gave my condolences to the family. the boyfriend of the mother says 'oh my gf is a cna this is nothing new to her" and i said 'well , when its your own child i think its a very different, you never can really get used to that' the mom, given me a huge hug. and later she was telling me some stories about her daughter who had also been a cna and basically the gist of it was that the doctors at their facility don't want to talk to the nurses when they do the rounds they take the cnas with them because they are the ones who really know the patients. i said what an important job cnas do ect.......
now why is it im noticing a trend that cnas don't think we do anything????? I have not seen very many nurses where i work ask a cna to help them with something that they themself wouldn't and don't do. we clean poop , turn and reposition....just like they do. Granted the few times i have picked up long term care i have not done cares there and i think both of these people come from that arena but it really irritates me that people think i sit around . I would never disparage the role of a cna....i don't like them doing it to me.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I'm gonna go against the grain and say that being an RN seems to be MUCH easier than being a tech or a CNA from anywhere from 13-37 patients (on my units respectively). Yes, you are ultimately responsible, and that's a risk and concern I understand.
As a student nurse, I'd MUCH rather do paperwork, pass meds, and do more advanced skills for SIX patients than have to worry about doing all the "physical" work for a whole floor of patients (turning and washing 10+ 250lb patients with hip fx, knee fx, gastric sx, urinary sx, etc...). During clincials, I feel lot better about doing what I'm doing. I feel as though as long as you have the knowledge base down for your job and a thorough understanding of how things work and a little bit of common sense and practicality, then any job is easy... provided you have the right accommodations to help you do it. To me, working with my mind is way easier than working with my body and is something I'd rather do.
As a student, you don't know what you don't know. You're not seeing the reality of being a nurse when you are in the student phase.
I think most people associate the word "work" as a physical activity. So when some people see an RN charting, calling the physician, discharge paper work, checking the MAR, etc it is not seen as work. They cannot see the internal processes going on in that RN's head. All they see is an RN standing looking at a piece of paper. People have to remember there is intellectual work and physical work.
So true. So many times I sit down to call a doctor and am in the middle of a serious discussion about a patient, meanwhile there is a family member impatiently standing in front of me because they need an extra chair in their room. They don't seem to understand that nurses are the eyes and ears for the doctor, and that I am not chatting on the phone with a friend, I am providing the doctor with information he needs to make important decisions.
I have been a tech in an ICU and on the floor, and I have been an RN for a year. Being an ICU tech was by far the easiest. You don't do vitals and you don't do blood draws, with a few rare exceptions. Being a floor tech was easy, but VERY frustrating/repetitive. It is exhausting work. Trying to do 24 patient's vital signs by yourself, plus BG's, blood draws, answering call lights, baths, and the thousands of things patient's ask for when you are in the room, is mentally and physically exhausting. However, being a nurse is by far harder. For one thing, you are ultimately responsible for everything that happens to that patient. If the doctor orders a dangerous dose of a medication and I give it, I am the one legally responsible, not the doctor. The RN's job is more than passing medication and putting in assessments. It is patient education, care coordination, passing information to the doctor, social worker, family, PT/OT, etc. We have to make sure the patient is going to have a safe discharge, that they have access to medications and transport to appointments. I could sit here for an hour and tell you everything that I do in a shift and I still wouldn't have covered it. It may look like I am sitting on the computer killing time but I am actually digging through old notes to find any information that can help me figure out what is going to work best to get a patient's blood pressure down when they have been getting IV hydralazine/metoprolol for 2 hours. So yes, being a CNA/PCT is hard, tedious work, but it is nothing compared to the combined mental/physical stress of being a nurse.
way back in the 70s, my mother encouraged me to be a nurse because "they just sit at the nurse's station drinking coffee all day while the aides do all the work."
was this back in the day where a woman was encouraged to find a "nice little job"? (i'm dating myself by asking this )?
regarding the question if nursing being more mentally demanding vs. physical: isn't this the theory behind blue vs. white collar? think of all of those who did not have a college degree back in the day (ie, my father, who is 62). he had no choice but to work in a physical job. he did not make the $ that an accountant, doctor or lawyer did. but he was physically exhausted; the others are mentally drained.
my thoughts: being a nurse is a combination of both. i teach, and when i come home my brain is fried. on clinical days, my brain and my feet are fried.
Specializes in ER, STICU, Neuro ICU, PACU, Burn ICU.
I've worked ICU in level 1 trauma centers for a long time. If someone came on the unit and said nurses are the same as CNAs it would cause an immediate staffing shortage because half of us would die laughing. Seriously, we're WAY too busy to worry about it or even argue about it. We've got CNAs where I work and I've never heard this even mentioned.
BTW, pick any field and they'll tell you they work the hardest. e.g. Nursing, respiratory, xray, housekeeping, dietitians, pt/ot, and on and on....
I've worked ICU in level 1 trauma centers for a long time. If someone came on the unit and said nurses are the same as CNAs it would cause an immediate staffing shortage because half of us would die laughing. Seriously, we're WAY too busy to worry about it or even argue about it. We've got CNAs where I work and I've never heard this even mentioned.
BTW, pick any field and they'll tell you they work the hardest. e.g. Nursing, respiratory, xray, housekeeping, dietitians, pt/ot, and on and on....
lol this is true! Any job you go to people are gonna say they work harder...that goes for any shift too haha
But every job you get in healthcare from housekeeping to nurse is going to be difficult in there own ways.
A tech's job is hard and a nurses job is hard, and even though one can easily argue that one is harder then the other, we shouldn't because we are all apart of the same team working towards the same goal... helping the patient!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
was this back in the day where a woman was encouraged to find a "nice little job"? (i'm dating myself by asking this )?
regarding the question if nursing being more mentally demanding vs. physical: isn't this the theory behind blue vs. white collar? think of all of those who did not have a college degree back in the day (ie, my father, who is 62). he had no choice but to work in a physical job. he did not make the $ that an accountant, doctor or lawyer did. but he was physically exhausted; the others are mentally drained.
my thoughts: being a nurse is a combination of both. i teach, and when i come home my brain is fried. on clinical days, my brain and my feet are fried.
i'm dating myself. when i went to high school, the only three acceptable careers were teacher, nurse and housewife. unless you counted farm wife, which was housewife with lots of outdoor manual labor thrown in because of course hubby did the bills.
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OCNRN63, RN
5,979 Posts
As a student, you don't know what you don't know. You're not seeing the reality of being a nurse when you are in the student phase.