We are having a huge problem in my facility with insubordination and just plain rude behavior. The DNS has been there for 4 months and has been out for the last 5 weeks on medical leave so I'm the acting DNS. It seems to be a case of the inmates running the assylum or too many chiefs and not enough braves (as my father used to say in the pre-PC days). We've had meetings with the nurses, the CNA's, everyone and it hasn't gotten better. There is one CNA who continues to be insubordinate. The first time he refused to pick up any extra residents because there was a call out. The nurse, instead of dealing with him, called me. I explained to him about insubordination and told him if he acted this was again, I'd write him up. I explained to all the nurses on the units that THEY are in charge of the aides. So a few weeks go by and I get a call at home from one of the nurses telling me that the same CNA is paging overhead for people to come to his floor to help. I spoke to the charge nurse and told her to either get him to do his work or send him home. I found out on Monday that SHE did 5 patients.
Then again there were several callouts so I asked one of the nurses to send a CNA to the floor who had 3 aides...each unit has 40 residents and each is supposed to have 5 aides. She wanted to know why because that would mean HER aides had extra residents and she didn't think it was fair. I asked her if she thought it was fair that the CNAs downstairs would have many more residents each because they only had 3 aides.I told her I knew it was rotten, but I had to look at the whole building and asked her again to make sure a CNA went to the other unit......long story short, an hour and a half later no one had gone. She told me the staff wanted to speak to me. So up I went into the dining room ...the aides marched in and stared at me. I asked them why they hadn't floated someone and got the same litany of responses about unfair this and unfair that and "you don't know what it's like"...hello people I WAS an aide once and know what it's like and I know that if I don't do what my boss tells me, I'll get written up. They continued to argue so finally I said "Enough...someone goes and that's the end of it for today."
They later called the regional executive director for a meeting which he had with them when the DNS came in for a hour. I asked her what they said...they told her I yelled at them and was 'mean'....I DON'T yell at work. I always speak in a low voice when I'm trying to get someone to listen. She told me that she told them that she wouldn't discuss that particular day. But instead of telling them that they have to do what they are told, she told them to cut me some slack because I was trying to do my job, her job and the ED's job that week. She might as well have told them to pat me on the head because I had PMS or something.
It seems I am the only person in the building who cares about this. We had a dept. head meeting about it and the administrator actually asked if being in charge of CNAs was in the job description we handed out!! Yes, I said, but more importantly, it's in the nurse practice act.
I like to have fun at work, but the residents have to come first.
Wow this is long! So...do all y'all have discipline problems? Do the charge/floor nurses write people up or do the managers have to do it all?
