Dissapearing Aids... the norm?

buildingmyfaith57 · Apr 27, 2006

i would really be concern if state doesn't walk in. the state i live in are asking with all the stuff cna are doing why aren't any of them being reported to state?

KellNY, RN · Apr 28, 2006

i would really be concern if state doesn't walk in. the state i live in are asking with all the stuff cna are doing why aren't any of them being reported to state?

Huh?

PeachPie · Apr 28, 2006

i would really be concern if state doesn't walk in. the state i live in are asking with all the stuff cna are doing why aren't any of them being reported to state?

There's an unsaid rule that states that if you report them to state, 1) you'll be even more understaffed 2) People, including future employers, may se you as a snitch and a risk and 3) Sometimes, you just have to take shortcuts, especially if it's 2 CNAs, 1 nurse, 1 medication aide, and 60 fully dependent residents. IF you rat out one, it's all exposed. I'm not saying that any of this is right, but things could be a whole lot worse.

buildingmyfaith57 · Apr 28, 2006

so true. im not snitch.but where i live there is a place that will turn your butt into the state trust me i know.

PeachPie · Apr 28, 2006

so true. im not snitch.but where i live there is a place that will turn your butt into the state trust me i know.

Yes, other aides will have no problem turning you in unless they know that they will be shortstaffed, especially if they're lazy aides who want to divert attention away from their own shoddiness. I was talking about it from the nurse's perspective.

Krystalsmiles · Jul 11, 2006

I;m not a nurse, or even a student yet... this observation is based on my experience as a patient and a volunteer, many years ago, both at an urban teaching hospital.
CNAs existed in theory, but they were never to be seen outside the cafeteria, especially during evening shifts. I don't like bashing, but I am serious... they just were not to be found, and when they were, it seemed the nurses had a hard time getting them to work. I really am not exagerating: as a volunteer I;d ask who was on when I started my shift, and seldom saw any of the 'on' CNAs unless I went to the cafeteria.
Part of the problem, I think, was that this hospital had a huge # of agency nurses, so there seemed to be little sense of obligation towards co-workers since, "hey, either I'm gonna be gone next week or you are".
Is this typical?

I don't think it's typical of every place. But I have worked in a place where I could never find one particular male CNA. Nurses were required to do rounds at the end of their shifts to make sure the CNA work was complete. Well, I was going down the hall and couldn't find him. His work wasn't complete either. And since this has happened many times before, I was so frustrated I wrote him up. Well, He was all buddy buddy with the ADON and didn't get in any type of trouble. The ADON basically said I was wasting my time with the write up. After I left he kissed her cheek and said thanks :angryfire . I left 2 weeks later. I'm not bashing CNA's at all, but I'm not going to let a CNA get away with not doing their work. And I am not going to stay at a job where the higher ups let it happen. So I think it's up to the CNA to do their job. Even when i do direct CNA's, some times they still don't do it. So if you are a CNA, please make life easier. You are there to do a job, not milk the clock. :sofahider

HyperRNRachel · Jul 12, 2006

How do I handle this? So far I have found her on her cell phone while in a patient's room, on her cell phone while in the restroom, making a patient smell his sheets because he denied dumping his urinal in the bed, not documenting the output on two of my hemovacs (this could have gotten me written up if I did not catch it before the doctor did), lying about emptying hemovacs (as is the previous example), not filling water pitchers, claiming she was a 'nurse' when she lived in New Orleans, and not providing am care on a patient after being asked multiple times.

She spends more time repeatedly telling patients that she is from New Orleans and how hurricane Katrina took everything she had. I am not being insensitive about her situation, but I need her to do more than provide details of her past life at inappropriate times. I usually have 5 patients and I do not have time to baby-sit this woman, nor do I want to do her job and mine. I do not expect the cna's to provide every detail of morning care to my patients, I ask for their assistance while I am doing it. I do not demand they take on the task of changing or turning patients alone, I tell them I will help but I need assistance. I do expect that my I&O's be correctly documented, and if not done, I expect, at least, to be told so I can ensure accurate documentation.

I've gone to my charge nurse about the blatant defying of providing am care, and the unit director did come in on a Sunday and there was a heated discussion between her, the cna, and the charge nurse. But, since then, the behavior has not changed.

I know I need to sit the cna down and tell her exactly what I expect, but I do not know how to word it without sounding insensitive or controlling. Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated because I am ready to tell my charge nurse and my director that I refuse to baby-sit and if this cna is to work any of my rooms then to give me less patients so I can do my job alone and do it correctly.

Rachel

htrn · Jul 12, 2006

I would love an answer to this question myself. I work with a CNA that lies about having done her work, complains constantly about how no one else does their job, defies me openly in front of other nurses, patients, and doctors, argues with patients, hides from work and sleeps in the recliner in the nursery under the guise of rocking a fussy baby.

Despite specifically telling her that I do not want to go into a room until a certain time as patient is stable and had pain meds about an hour before - she needs her sleep. She will go in behind my back, do VS, empty garbage fill up the water pitcher and clean up the room at midnight. I don't find out she has done all this until I go in two hours later and wake her up to do her assessment (which is when pt has scheduled med), then patient is upset that she was woken up twice. Then the CNA tells me 'I didn't wake her up, she slept right through her vitals'. This happens nearly every time I work with her:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

Numerous complaints from many nurses gets her an occasional talking to by the NM, but things really don't change very much for very long. A couple of years ago the NM decided the way to handle the situation was to put her and I in a room and tell us to 'work it out' before we left the room :angryfire

It has gotten to the point where I can't stand to work with her and have considered changing jobs because of her. I kind of look forward to her falling asleep in the recliner, then I don't have to deal with her or worry about what she has or hasn't done behind my back. The thing is, I KNOW it's not just me or a personality conflict because I'm a witch, etc...

The only light at the end of the tunnel is that the NM is retiring in December. Anyway, looking forward to other posts for advise.

anonymurse · Jul 12, 2006

If it burns ya that bad, you do 1 of 3 things:

1. Suck it up and press on.

2. Go to work somewhere else.

3. Make the offender's unprofessional behavior into the joke of the century on the unit. Has to be incredibly funny with no tinge of anger to it. And nail your campaign together with a hilarious nickname.

Any of the 3 will work, but the last one requires you be motivated entirely by a desire to influence the offender's behavior in a positive direction with no malice in your heart at all. Otherwise it will turn around and bite ya but good. If you do it right, everyone will recognize it as a behavior mod tool and get behind it, the offender will have no choice but to tighten her act up, and the whole thing will disappear without a trace once she's straight.

HyperRNRachel · Jul 13, 2006

If it burns ya that bad, you do 1 of 3 things:
1. Suck it up and press on.
2. Go to work somewhere else.
3. Make the offender's unprofessional behavior into the joke of the century on the unit. Has to be incredibly funny with no tinge of anger to it. And nail your campaign together with a hilarious nickname.
Any of the 3 will work, but the last one requires you be motivated entirely by a desire to influence the offender's behavior in a positive direction with no malice in your heart at all. Otherwise it will turn around and bite ya but good. If you do it right, everyone will recognize it as a behavior mod tool and get behind it, the offender will have no choice but to tighten her act up, and the whole thing will disappear without a trace once she's straight.

I am not sure what you mean. Can you give me an example?

Rachel

Irishowl · Jul 13, 2006

There are good CNA's and bad CNA's...........just like bad RN's and good RN's. I think it's unfair to lump us all into 1 box. There are 2 attitudes on the floor I work on

1. The CNA's are always hiding unless they are in front of the desk

2. The CNA's are working their butts off and the unit could not run without them

If I am in front of the desk, I am not busy. I can not tell you how many times I've been in a patients room working and was overhead paged. I step out of the room and the comment is " oh you are busy"......I'm always busy. On my floor the CNA's work as cardiac monitor techs, tech relief, and transport. On any given day I may have 15 patients but also 10 transports (our patients are on monitors so you cannot leave them alone) in addition to tech breaks, my own breaks and covering the break of the other CNA I am working with.

So, lets not lump everyone into 1 category.

MrsMommaRN · Jul 13, 2006

you could ride her @ss royal until she gets the point. question everything she does.

as for making a joke of the unprofessional behavior call her on things for example say "geez sally cna how is it that you are able to sneak into the rooms without a sound do vitals and clean the room without waking up the patinent?"

for the first lazy cna "ask her if this is how she learned it back in nursing school? is this a new method or what."

usually you will find people like this will come to work to do as little as possible and still get paid. i understand the turnover for cnas everywhere is high so the higher ups would rather put up with a semi warm body than have to go through hiring someone that is actually competent.

to add my little story in another lifetime i was a cna in ltc i worked with several others like the ones mentioned in previous posts. they would go as far as brown nosing and kissing butt acting like they had done work that i had or another cna had done and take credit for it, then turn around and complain how lazy we were. i wish you both the best with this situation.