Don't want to become a private sitter--any other options for 1:1 healthcare jobs?

MiraRose · May 17, 2005

Not everyone is cut out for supervising. 1:1 sitting won't challenge you intellectually. There are a lot of healthcare positions out there in between 1:1 and supervising. Have you considered going back to school? There are so many medical jobs out there. You could be a med tech (CNA's with more education that pass out meds), an x-ray technician, a nurse, a therapist, you name it. Talk to your facility and they may even pay for your tuition. Good luck.

:Melody:

redwinggirlie · May 17, 2005

Maybe you need to move to another facility which will let you do what you are best at doing.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · May 17, 2005

My boss met with me a while back and told me to reconsider my line of work. She told me that while I do very well giving one-on-one care to residents, I don't do so well supervising a whole facility of 40-50. (I'm the third shift supervisor at an assisted-living facility, and a nursing assistant.)

I'm really surprised that an RN is not the supervisor.

What kind of training did you have to do this job, anyhow?

From your posts, I would tend to disagree completely with your DON, and I would also suggest that you're in over your head because a CNA should not be in a supervisory position in the first place.

To me, when I hear the word "supervisor" I'm thinking someone who has the assessment skills and authority to send a resident to the ER in the middle of the night if necessary. Then again, I'm more used to working skilled care.

Just my two cents, I don't mean to offend.

boulergirl, CNA · May 18, 2005

I'm really surprised that an RN is not the supervisor.
What kind of training did you have to do this job, anyhow?
From your posts, I would tend to disagree completely with your DON, and I would also suggest that you're in over your head because a CNA should not be in a supervisory position in the first place.
To me, when I hear the word "supervisor" I'm thinking someone who has the assessment skills and authority to send a resident to the ER in the middle of the night if necessary. Then again, I'm more used to working skilled care.
Just my two cents, I don't mean to offend.

Don't worry, you didn't offend.

I've been feeling the same way for awhile myself. Last night one of my co-workers asked me why I decided not to continue as a med tech. Our facility was taken over recently by another company, and all med techs are being retrained. The new company wants their med techs to be able to supervise and monitor the staff, as well as working exclusively with meds (patient care will be done by resident assistants). Med techs will have to be able to make independent judgment calls about emergency situations and use critical thinking skills (i.e., deciding whether to send someone to the ER or not). We don't have an RN on staff, we have an LPN.

I've been a med tech for four years, and I've learned that I don't handle emergencies all that well. Although I work through them, it feels like I'm in over my head, as you said. Now it sounds like we'll be asked to function pretty much like nurses, if we choose to be med techs with the new company. People think I'm crazy for stepping down, but I'm not comfortable with this level of responsibility right now. I feel like the new med techs really need to be given leadership training, education in critical thinking and problem-solving, and supervisory skills. These are just as important as learning how to do the med pass or re-order medications.

Sorry about the soapbox. I've just been there long enough to observe some things. :uhoh21:

boulergirl, CNA · May 18, 2005

1:1 sitting won't challenge you intellectually.

That's EXACTLY why I'm not interested in private sitting. My brains are turning to mush as it is.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · May 18, 2005

Again, no offense, but your situation is why nurses fight management such as this. Management typically wants to pay CNA wages for what nurses do--and the job as you describe it, is a nursing job.

Anyone without the education and training that this supervisory job entails should be scared to have this responsibility.

Perhaps on this site, you've heard of "de-skilling" of nursing duties. The situation you describe is no less than an attempt by management to de-skill nursing duties and give them to untrained personnel. Why? Because they can pay untrained personnel less than half of what a nurse would be paid.

But no one can pay a CNA to think like a nurse, or to react in an emergency like a nurse. Ultimately, the patients will pay the price, because the value of a nurse making critical interventions has been ignored.

What makes nurses mad is the fact that management makes all these promises to these clients, implies that the client will be cared for professionally, then look at the scanty staff that runs an ALF. You'll see why management loves ALFs to pieces--they're real moneymakers as opposed to say, hospitals or skilled-care nursing homes.

Far from getting a job as a sitter, I do hope you'll go on and get that degree, boulergirl. I think you've reasoned this out for yourself. That's critical thinking.