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

FossilRN · Mar 17, 2006

I work in a situation wher there is a 10 bed ICU and a 10 bed CCU. I have worked between these units for that last 15 years. The "nurse's aide" problem has been an issue for at least that long. Finally, after all these years, I have let some of it go. I keep playing back in my mind what someone in management said to me a few years ago. Basically, that my expectations are too high. I need to lower them and I will not be disappointed.

Our assistants are hired without any experience. They are trained by other aides that already know the ropes. As far as I can tell, the job description is, "help the nurse" and that doesn't include anything that you are made to be accountable for. The last two that they hired announced right after orientation that they were pregnant and it was a problem pregnancy. That meant for us, a small staff (each unit is a max 10 bed unit) that we had help that couldn't lift so much as a bed sheet. Not to mention with the maternity leave and subsequent quitting and prior infant care issues left us with no help, however having someone on your cost center that either wasn't there or was there but not working was a hardship to all the staff. This has been going on for years!!!

Anyway, it is best to let it go. Management where I live doesn't want to hear it. Be proud that you, at least, have a good work ethic and try to do the best for your patients.

melissasassy30 · Mar 17, 2006

yea I am a cna that is going to school to be a LPN and i understand where the aides stand and where the nurses stand but i agree with everyone about team work. that is the only way that things will ever run smooth is if you all are all there for the same reason and never hurts to lend a helping hand to someone in need of it. I know nurses are busy with there own jobs and aides are too. But lets all keep in mind that everyone has feelings and everyone has bad days too. So lets all get along and things will get done better and faster thumbs up to all you nurses and to all you aides

Town & Country · Mar 17, 2006

So lets all get along and things will get done better and faster thumbs up to all you nurses and to all you aides

Hello, have you ever considered a career in politics?

tryingtomakeit, RN · Mar 17, 2006

Aides, what are aides? lol. I would be happy just to have one to help!

marygirl · Mar 17, 2006

I have 5 weeks of clinicals until graduation. Since my externship last summer, I have been working as an aid on a cardiology step-down unit. I fear the attitudes I will get from the CNAs when I graduate and start taking a team of my own. I have watched them and been amused at their devious behaviour both in "initiating" me (i.e. seeing how much of their work they can get me to do) and less amused in their habit of blackballing the nursing staff. Some of them will sit down and tell you why they don't work for particular nurses. On our unit, it is very obvious and the aids have a hospital-wide reputation of being difficult. While they feel they can justify their behavior, I don't think patient care should ever be compromised. We have certain aids who disappear for long periods of time and who hide in a back corner reading and let someone else do all the work. Personally, if my patients are taken care of, I don't mind picking up the slack from the attitudes because I like to keep moving. However, I am not responsible for safe med passes and noting orders and the whole patient picture. I am working as an aid. I'm sure when I start doing RN duties at the same hospital, I will have too much other stuff to do to pick up the slack. It will be a big adjustment for everyone when I have to prioritize and others have to do their own jobs!

Michael2546 · Mar 17, 2006

we have the same problem with the certified scrub techs (cst) in the operating room. what i am doing about is is this: rn's are licensed to practice and are ultimately responsible for patient care. after consulting with the state board of nursing to see what posititon the board takes on cst's i was told that certified does not mean licensed and since the rn is licensed he or she is responsible for the actions of the cst or cna. nurses have to take charge. you are the supervisor. do not let any subordinate give you backtalk. unless you act like you are in charge you will not be in charge. just remember in the courtroom it does not matter if you jurt someones feelings or not. you are responsible by virtue of your license and you will be held accountable. so step up and take control of your practice. :nono: take a lesson from the md's: they will not tolerate insubordination and neither should you. thank you.

chadash · Mar 17, 2006

I hate to admit it but some of the stuff you are talking about I have seen also as an aide (I am a lifetime, no hope of advancing into the nursing field kind of aide). It is a culture all it's own, and I do not know how you will ever reverse this.

If I had any say, I would not just hire aides, I would fully indoctrinate them in a work place philosophy that differs from the past experiences they have had as aides. If someone could not embrace this philosophy, they don't need to work in that facility.

I also think that frequent inservices to pump up and treat aides as professionals: that is, lift the expectations, but equip them to succeed. You have a group of individuals who are not just lacking nursing education, but sometimes there are deficits in workplace skills.

What you in the past post describe does happen. It is almost a game some of the aides are playing.

sdanielles · Mar 17, 2006

To the nurse that started this conversation?

I would like to know if she has ever been an aide?

6 months before graduation, I became a STNA just to see how it was so that I could have a better appreciation for my job as a nurse. It has helped. I do see that some aides are pure lazy, and some nurses wouldn't dare touch a bedpan. Wheather anyone wants to admit it or not, ther is an ongoing feud b/t nurses and aides. So for the aides that have that preconceived notion that nurses are lazy, I show them different.

EX: If I have a 6AM med due for HTN. Why in the world would I wait on the aide to get my VS so that I can pass this med. I like to be out on time...What's so bad about getting your own BP and giving your med and being done with it?

sayitgirl · Mar 17, 2006

I am a new nurse of about 2 years and work on an acute med-surg geriatric floor. It is an 18 bed unit and we work with 3 RN's and 2 CNA's. THough this ratio seems fair, myself and the other nurses constantly feel like we are doing everyones work. When we do ask for extra help from the aides, it is usually accompanied by an attitude or a smart remark. The nurses on my floor feel as though it is unfair that we have to sacrifice our nursing time with our patients to do aide work. (We do perform these duties anyway, but can not do both jobs for the whole shift). The aides seem to do oly the minimum to get by per their job description. Has anyone else encountered this issue?:angryfire
PS: When this issue was brought to attention to administration, we were told that they cant change anybodys personalities and do the best we can.:uhoh21:

I think this is common to hospitals, but largely a reflection of the person managing the floor. I would transfer to another unit that I knew from research was run better.

Town & Country · Mar 17, 2006

EX: If I have a 6AM med due for HTN. Why in the world would I wait on the aide to get my VS so that I can pass this med. I like to be out on time...What's so bad about getting your own BP and giving your med and being done with it?

Uh...most of the posts by nurses I've read here express their willingness to do plenty.

The challenge is to get the aide to do their job. Nurses aren't complaining about having to put patients on the bedpan or take their own VS when they need to.

They are complaining about having to do their own work and the CNA's entire workload, routinely.

GLORIAmunchkin72 · Mar 17, 2006

It's preferable for nurses to take their own vitals.

To the nurse that started this conversation?
I would like to know if she has ever been an aide?
6 months before graduation, I became a STNA just to see how it was so that I could have a better appreciation for my job as a nurse. It has helped. I do see that some aides are pure lazy, and some nurses wouldn't dare touch a bedpan. Wheather anyone wants to admit it or not, ther is an ongoing feud b/t nurses and aides. So for the aides that have that preconceived notion that nurses are lazy, I show them different.
EX: If I have a 6AM med due for HTN. Why in the world would I wait on the aide to get my VS so that I can pass this med. I like to be out on time...What's so bad about getting your own BP and giving your med and being done with it?

chadash · Mar 17, 2006

I most cases, if you need vitals to determine whether to give a med, I would recommend the nurse do that herself.