Pity Floating CNA's :-(

Nurses General Nursing

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Now, with my unit closed w/low census, I float and sit constantly. It's getting harder for me to sit still all day, but I am not complaining since it is important work none the less.

The hardest part is to sit someplace new to you, and everyone there at the new unit knows your a sitter and basically ignores you. Yall know how I will be my best nurse and yours too, so I want to know if anyone else has ever suffered from anxiety when they are feling like they are being ignored by any staff. How do you deal with that? Has anyone just accepted not speaking to other eople for an entire shift - like some kind of "radio silence" nurses keep because they are cracked :-)

Today, a male nurse made fun of my name Mario because it's pronounced with a short "a" sound, and not with the hard "h" sound. Then I actually confronted a nurse about entering the room and not looking or attempting a standard, minimal greet. I felt like a teacher having to explain how it's necessary to at least make eye contact with other staff as you enter a room. I don't wanna feel like someones pop :-(

Will taking an anti-depressant make the sad feeling of experiencing this behavior go away? It's just hard sometimes, I guess, when you sit for too long. Any sitters out there who want to vent like me. I need to read. Thank you. I'm sorry :-(:uhoh21: :uhoh21:

OK, Mario ya ain't gonna like this but I'll say it anyhow.

CNA's are expected to float...the care they provide is generic. As a nurse, some floating will probably be required as well so get used to it.

And you might want to ask yourself, Mario, why these nurses don't care for you....you do tend to comment a lot on things you know very little about and you have been called on it on this board several times....just a thought. :)

Nurses do not like a CNA who thinks they know more than a nurse....and you should not be correcting them on introducing themselves, etc, common courtesy...believe me, correcting them will NOT endear you to them.

Bad apples are everywhere. Do your job, and you will do fine.

I do NOT mean this in a 'mean or a young eating way', it is constructive criticism meant to help you blend in a little as part of a team. I have had this talk with quite a few CNA's on my units over the years with similar problems and complaints....their attitudes and behaviors DID play a role....Good luck to you.

Originally posted by mattsmom81

And you might want to ask yourself, Mario, why these nurses don't care for you....you do tend to comment a lot on things you know very little about and you have been called on it on this board several times....just a thought. :)

...

I do NOT mean this in a 'mean or a young eating way', it is constructive criticism meant to help you blend in a little as part of a team.

Gosh, mattsmom....sure coulda fooled me! :D

I so would rather have a CNA who asks questions and tries to take an active role in pt care rather than someone who curls up in a blanket in a chair and just stares at the patient while the pt. pulls the Foley out with his teeth. With some sitters, I've kinda been tempted to do vitals on THEM..... :chuckle

Yes, it's true Mario's been "called on it" --but in a loving way... ;)

Actually, I have kids his age, and I think my motherly stuff is kicking in, in addition to the fact that I've endured some very toxic environments in the past. (I was a CNA for about 12 years.) And some environments are just plain toxic to that particular person, not necessarily to everyone. But if you're stuck in it... it tends to affect you in the long run.

I believe that's partly why, when our supervisor took us all out to breakfast, I found myself crying with relief on the way to the restaurant. (The other reason I is, I get all maudlin and weepy and sentimental when I'm sick--and I didn't know it, but I was just starting this bronchial pneumonia thing... :rolleyes: )

Specializes in Everything except surgery.

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OOOH I LOVE IT. :chuckle

I just learned how to do this...and I wasn't referring to any post. Just in case someone got the one impression. I was bored..:)

I thought your post brought up an interesting point Mattsmom!

I don't think Mario means it in a harmful way at all, but it appears to me that he has that inquisitive type of personality that can border on annoying for those that don't know him (including myself at times). Lots of people are probably put off by it.

I would absolutely love to meet Mario in person. I would love to see his mannerisms, expressions, and the overall way he conducts himself when he speaks. I don't think anyone of us will truly understand Mario until we see him in action.

As for the floating part, just suck it up Mario. We ALL hate it! I'm still recovering from Friday when I floated! It just seems that everyone should be grateful to the person being floated to them. No matter what they do, even if it's just 1 thing, it's one thing less that they have to do. When someone floats to my unit, I'm PROFUSELY nice to them. I've even reported back to their supervisors what a joy they were to have! I just wish that the places I floated to had nurses with that mentality.

Glad your unit is back up & running! Home Sweet Home!

Heather

Hello Mario,

Floating is always a pain especially when you float and you have to be a sitter the entire shift.

As far as the nurse not acknowledging you, well just like in life there are rude people everywhere. I think sometimes when we are in health care we assume everyone to be a kind nurturing person but it just isn't so, sadly...

As far as the male nurse making fun of your name, (I am assuming he was saying something to the effect of it sounding like a girls name?) It just shows his stupidity... I can't tell you how many times a week when I meet someone new and they hear my name and they say oh pinocchio's creator... No that was giupetto. You just kind of have to try to blow them off, you'll run into lots of @$$'s in your nursing career.

Now on the subject of drugs, (antidepressants) I would say the first step is to talk about what is bothering you such as on this board, (just be prepared for the varied comments you'll get. I say try all other options before seeking medications. You are preparing for a couple of hard years and when it is something you really want it makes it just that much more stressful! You really have to get along with your instructors and I would advise not saying anything whatsoever back to them if they approach you with some bogus thing, just thank them for the learning experience and in the back of your mind know that the experience is that even some nursing instructors can be just full of..... Life is just hard sometimes when people are not nice to us... However, It all just goes to developes the person you were destined to be.

Stick with it you'll do fine in spite of them all!

Giuseppe

Mario,

I enjoy your posts and through them have grown to like you.

Come on over to New Mexico for a visit and I'll let you cut down a big tree. For some reason that always makes me forget my problems.

Tiiimmmm-Berrrrr!!!

-Russell

Originally posted by Rustyhammer

Mario,

I enjoy your posts and through them have grown to like you.

Come on over to New Mexico for a visit and I'll let you cut down a big tree. For some reason that always makes me forget my problems.

Tiiimmmm-Berrrrr!!!

-Russell

hmmm...just noticed no trees in the background there, rusty....trying to tell us something?? :lol2:

Northern New Mexico is Beautiful! Nob Hill isn't bad either...

When I was in my second year of nursing school, I took a part-time job as a housekeeper in a local hospital on weekends. Your situation reminds me of how I invisible I felt as a housekeeper. Nobody made eye contact or acknowledged my presence ever! It was like I was a nobody, silently going about my cleaning duties.

So, after I graduated and became a big RN, I made every effort to say hello and acknowledge the housekeeping staff on my hospital floor. The strange thing is that they became my greatest allies and were always there to cheer me up.

The morale of this story Mario, is that there is a valuable lesson in everything we do. I bet that when you are finally a nurse, you will not ignore the sitters and you will value their contributions to the health care team.

Thank you Mattsmom, for helping me with the advice and "vision from you" I need !

Heather, you make me feel good, and also make me out to be mysterous. There can be no annoying personalities. Only people annoyed by them. Come to think of it, I talked about C-Diff in front of that nurse who wrote me up. I also brought my chalk pastels to sit with a patient and drew him a get well picture, and that got the nurse pissed now that I think of it. On this board, I red where nurses in certain units are overly possessive of their patients.

Guiseppe - thanks for the great words, and, I was kidding about taking pills for the way I act. That was (not so obvious) humor. I've never taken any meds like that. My voice carries, and aphew times I was sitting, I remember I may have barked out load about the commercials I was hearing. Some were for drugs. Some nurses may have heard my comments to the patient about what we were watching on tv, that could have set a nurse off.

fiesty nurse - thanks for the story about walking around and no one acknowledges your presence, but i course you are ready to acknowledge theirs. What I have to do 0% of the time is to not snicker when I pass by someone in the hall or whatever and constantly looks away. I should forget the playfulness of laughing at a zombie as it passes and just leave it alone.

rusty hammer, it would be fun to sink an axe into a tree. Then to remove the stump with shovels, picks, wheelbarrels, saws, iron rods, and fresh drinking water :-)

You are a Great Guy Mario! What it comes down to for me is that my patients, (LTC) are also my friends and my family. Yes, sometimes we laugh together or joke about something and if anyone from the outside heard half of it they'd write me up for unprofessional behavior! I don't care though, because for some of those patients I am their friend and family!

Keep up the good work Mario

Giuseppe

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