do you feel like the CNA's run the floor?

jyoung1950 · Mar 10, 2006

What I hate to see is that I am working very hard with a lot of duties and the CNA is sitting in a chair and talking to other CNAs or nurses...That really pisses me off...I know CNAs are important..They are my third or fourth hand..But sometimes, they piss me off..

Maybe the aid is sitting in a chair because her feet and back are killing her and she wants a little rest.

I've worked a floor as the lone aid to 20 patients and 4 nurses asking for help also many a time at this hospital. I cannot stand it when I'm worn out from running all over a floor from one side to another and take a minute or 2 to sit down and some nurse gets bugged cause I'm not going 90 miles an hour and asks me to fetch something she/he could've dang well gotten herself.

I try not to cop an attitude - I am well aware of the responsibilities of nurses and know they have a heavy load to tote too.

What it really boils down to is increased patient needs and not enough staff. When the management think we all can do umpteen things and not get burned out and give us all excuse after excuse as to why more staff can't be had nor decent wages, then we start taking our frustrations out on each other.

99% of the nurses I work with a great - they chip in, show me respect and empathize with the work I have to do and I try my best to reciprocate. The other 1% - well for example, we have one nurse here that was in a patient's room and the patient wanted to go to the bathroom but wasn't comfortable unplugging the IV himself. No lie - this nurse wasted so much time looking for the aid to unplug the IV. What goes on in minds like these?

Mirai Kangofu · Mar 10, 2006

I swear, with some of the residents' families, what they choose is what they get. Too many people see nursing homes as a guilt-free way to solve the problem of an elderly parent. They don't have to get stuck taking care of them, they can keep up their lives by dumping the responsibility on someone else, and rationalize that all the money they're spending justifies the lack of care and visits. Said dumpers make sporadic visits (even if they live in the same town) and usually whine and threaten about the stupidest, pettiest things, like "Mother would always fast whenever she'd hit 120 lbs, and I think that you should put her on a similar diet because I think that's what's causing all the skin tears." (This resident's ribs were clearly visible, and further weight loss would have probably given her decubiti.) Heh. Like they would take any better care of their parents. I understand that an elderly parent can be too much to handle, especially if there are children or a career, but there's a difference between seeking help and dumping responsibility on others. At my LTC, the people who come several times a week are the ones who are the most helpful. I find that ironic, as you'd think that the frequent visitors would be the ones to treat us like maids and constantly be reporting us. I guess that if they were ever the whine and moan type, they've probably long learned that their parents are in nursing homes instead of luxury hotels, that most nursing homes are overworked and understaffed, that if they wanted better care, good luck to them, and that if you're want to do something right, you have to do it yourself.

To prolong a terminal case seems so selfish to me. What is life if there's nothing left of me that makes me me? I'd consider myself dead at the point. I think that many of the people who are anti-DNR are trying to easy their guilty consciences because they'd consider themselves murderers if they let them go, never mind the fact that prolonged care could mean drawn-out suffering and the agony of being trapped in you own broken body. Yeesh, I'd rather be a murderer than a torturer in that case, because the former implies that they were put out of any misery they suffered.

I'm glad that I've started to sort such things out with my parents. They have 6 kids, so someone is definately going to take care of them. At the very least, they're going to have hand-picked home health aides or nurses. However, I'm apprehensive of the legal drawbacks of "letting them go." Dad said that if he refused food, please do not force him, and if he was too demented to carry out his plan, please help him out. I could be charged with negligance, especially since I'd be educated enough to know what care he required. I'd suggest legal paperwork, but this is about suicide.

RN34TX · Mar 10, 2006

I've worked a floor as the lone aid to 20 patients and 4 nurses asking for help also many a time at this hospital. I cannot stand it when I'm worn out from running all over a floor from one side to another and take a minute or 2 to sit down and some nurse gets bugged cause I'm not going 90 miles an hour and asks me to fetch something she/he could've dang well gotten herself.
I try not to cop an attitude - I am well aware of the responsibilities of nurses and know they have a heavy load to tote too.
What it really boils down to is increased patient needs and not enough staff. When the management think we all can do umpteen things and not get burned out and give us all excuse after excuse as to why more staff can't be had nor decent wages, then we start taking our frustrations out on each other.
99% of the nurses I work with a great - they chip in, show me respect and empathize with the work I have to do and I try my best to reciprocate. The other 1% - well for example, we have one nurse here that was in a patient's room and the patient wanted to go to the bathroom but wasn't comfortable unplugging the IV himself. No lie - this nurse wasted so much time looking for the aid to unplug the IV. What goes on in minds like these?

Great post.

I felt a lot like you do when I was a CNA. I could have gotten 20 residents up and dressed, fed them all, and put them all back to bed by myself and still got dirty looks from some of the nurses if I dared to sit down to tie my shoe for one minute while on the clock.

I felt like some of the nurses thought that if a CNA ever had any downtime whatsoever, then there must be too many of them working on the floor.

It made my blood boil to be sweating bullets at that nursing home and every time I'd walk by that nurses station, they'd be sitting there laughing it up, eating, drinking, and talking about their husbands/boyfriends/children whatever.

Strangely enough, I later took a position on the same floor as an LPN and never seemed to have time to party at the nurses station the way I saw some other nurses doing. The whole time in LPN school I couldn't wait to get out of CNA work so I could have an "easier" job.

Looking back on it now, it wasn't that they had an easier job, they just made it easier by doing the bare minimum if even that.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Mar 10, 2006

Maybe the aid is sitting in a chair because her feet and back are killing her and she wants a little rest.
I've worked a floor as the lone aid to 20 patients and 4 nurses asking for help also many a time at this hospital. I cannot stand it when I'm worn out from running all over a floor from one side to another and take a minute or 2 to sit down and some nurse gets bugged cause I'm not going 90 miles an hour and asks me to fetch something she/he could've dang well gotten herself.
I try not to cop an attitude - I am well aware of the responsibilities of nurses and know they have a heavy load to tote too.
What it really boils down to is increased patient needs and not enough staff. When the management think we all can do umpteen things and not get burned out and give us all excuse after excuse as to why more staff can't be had nor decent wages, then we start taking our frustrations out on each other.
99% of the nurses I work with a great - they chip in, show me respect and empathize with the work I have to do and I try my best to reciprocate. The other 1% - well for example, we have one nurse here that was in a patient's room and the patient wanted to go to the bathroom but wasn't comfortable unplugging the IV himself. No lie - this nurse wasted so much time looking for the aid to unplug the IV. What goes on in minds like these?

I've had more than a few shifts when the only "break" I got was %#$**& charting, but I've seen aides with time to sit around and BS, look at lingerie catalogs, and yack on their cell phones. Yes, it does rankle a bit, at times, but I try to remind myself that a.) our duties are different, and b.) a lot of our aides have substantially more time in their job than I have in mine, so they are apt to be more efficient. The aides didn't assign me three dressing changes and a trach, nor is it their fault if a dressing takes me twice as long as a more experienced nurse. In my pre-nurse days, there were plenty of times when all of my discharges and terminal cleans were done and no one needed transport, so I had free time on my hands. Of course, in those days, I was generally available if a nurse or aide needed some extra muscle, and not long ago I overheard one aide telling another, "If Mike sees you sitting around, he'll ask you to do something."

They were laughing about it, and since I'm not management I don't feel it's my duty to make sure everyone is busy and productive, but in truth I'm not shy about asking someone who isn't busy to do something if it's within his/her scope of practice and I'm too busy to do it myself. Happily, the vast majority of aides I work with are willing to do what's asked, and some will even offer before they're asked. A small minority will frown, or maybe finish their conversation and then get the patient some water, or otherwise drag their feet. I've found that at times the only thing I can really do about it is to appreciate the heck out of those who do the little extras willingly--and I do.

chadash · Mar 10, 2006

I can tell you honestly and unequivically, I never ever sat in the nurses station, and was lucky to take my lunch break more than once a week. Now this was LTC, and I am not sure if it was virtue or poor time management :) But I gave my breaks to my patients.

Alex3 · Mar 12, 2006

Thankfully, (in second placement) in the medical ward which I have been assigned to, to date, the majority of the heathcare assistants are brilliant, work hard and have a good sense of humour - all work in a team . In my first placement, I had to work with a HCA who did appear to run the ward. On the final day of my assessment, without warning, she asked my mentor if she could sit in on my assessment and help with assessing me. Whilst I respected and listened attentively to her when I worked with her (about 2 hours in total over the 4 wk placment), she didn't do the same for me. She aspires to be a nurse and as a result, wanted to be involved in my assessment process. She was a very capable HCA and having worked on the ward for at least two years, had a lot of knowledge about renal failure.. & was good with the patients, but not so good with the rest of the staff. She liked to play the 'no confidence' card so would ask me questions to 'test' and try to intimidate me. As it was my first placement, and being in my 30s I didn't let this bother me but I did tell my mentor that I didn't think it was appropriate for her to be involved in my assessment as I had not really worked for her. Funny, I encouraged her about training but she seemed to go out of her way to tell stories about others and show other people on the ward up. Worrying though - if she pursues nursing, will she be able to work in a team? What do you think?

Jedi_Iatros · Mar 12, 2006

I loved it when my CNA's take charge. It's better than having lazy workers yapping on their cellphones the whole shift.

I actually encourage them so when they become licensed in nursing, they'll be ready.

CarVsTree · Mar 12, 2006

What I hate to see is that I am working very hard with a lot of duties and the CNA is sitting in a chair and talking to other CNAs or nurses...That really pisses me off...I know CNAs are important..They are my third or fourth hand..But sometimes, they piss me off..

You'r a student. How many patients do you have that the CNA's are so needed?

chadash · Mar 12, 2006

I most admit, I have seen alot of what you are upset about here.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Mar 12, 2006

Thankfully, (in second placement) in the medical ward which I have been assigned to, to date, the majority of the heathcare assistants are brilliant, work hard and have a good sense of humour - all work in a team . In my first placement, I had to work with a HCA who did appear to run the ward. On the final day of my assessment, without warning, she asked my mentor if she could sit in on my assessment and help with assessing me. Whilst I respected and listened attentively to her when I worked with her (about 2 hours in total over the 4 wk placment), she didn't do the same for me. She aspires to be a nurse and as a result, wanted to be involved in my assessment process. She was a very capable HCA and having worked on the ward for at least two years, had a lot of knowledge about renal failure.. & was good with the patients, but not so good with the rest of the staff. She liked to play the 'no confidence' card so would ask me questions to 'test' and try to intimidate me. As it was my first placement, and being in my 30s I didn't let this bother me but I did tell my mentor that I didn't think it was appropriate for her to be involved in my assessment as I had not really worked for her. Funny, I encouraged her about training but she seemed to go out of her way to tell stories about others and show other people on the ward up. Worrying though - if she pursues nursing, will she be able to work in a team? What do you think?

Having moved from a position which was not actually subordinate to nurses' aides, but was lower paying, to a position of authority over them, I see a little of what you describe, though it's generally in the form of playful teasing and rarely a problem. In some instances, the aide's advice is welcome, since they do have a lot of hands on experience. When it does show signs of possibly becoming a problem, I repeat my mantra to myself: "Be The Nurse, Be The Nurse."

Ironically, I developed this mantra one night dealing with a stubborn patient, in order to lay down the law. The only problem was that she turned out to be a retired nurse, herself, so she laid the law right back on me. Fortunately, of the two of us, I was the one able to page a doc and get an order for Ativan, which turns out to sometimes be more effective than my nursely authority.

Haven't yet had to resort to Ativan with the aides, though I can think of a couple of charge nurses who could use a shot.

cnolan · Mar 12, 2006

Our CNAs are amazing - I love them. They do run the floor - BUT I couldn't do it without them!

chadash · Mar 13, 2006

Having moved from a position which was not actually subordinate to nurses' aides, but was lower paying, to a position of authority over them, I see a little of what you describe, though it's generally in the form of playful teasing and rarely a problem. In some instances, the aide's advice is welcome, since they do have a lot of hands on experience. When it does show signs of possibly becoming a problem, I repeat my mantra to myself: "Be The Nurse, Be The Nurse."
Ironically, I developed this mantra one night dealing with a stubborn patient, in order to lay down the law. The only problem was that she turned out to be a retired nurse, herself, so she laid the law right back on me. Fortunately, of the two of us, I was the one able to page a doc and get an order for Ativan, which turns out to sometimes be more effective than my nursely authority.
Haven't yet had to resort to Ativan with the aides, though I can think of a couple of charge nurses who could use a shot.

There were some shifts I would have welcomed some ativan!