Would you work a shift as an aide?

[AF_BOUND]

So I work pool at a hospital. I worked 8 hrs in the SICU and was floated to a stepdown unit and as I entered the floor the charge nurse told me that she assigned me as a tech. I told her that would not be acceptable. I was hired as a nurse and that is the role I would work.

She looked at me as if I had three heads. I again told her if she wanted to use me as a nurse I would be more than happy to help her out but I would never work as a nurse tech.

Eventually they found a staff nurse to fille the role and I took her assignment.

Has anyone ever refused to work as a tech? Any thoughts?

[April, RN, BSN, RN]

Why did they need a nurse working as a tech instead of having an extra RN to reduce the patient loads or to help out other nurses with RN tasks? In my state, you can't work as a tech with an RN license.

[kcochrane]

At my last job, LPNs routinely had CNA assignments on the day shift. On the eve and night shifts it was common for float nurses to take a CNA assignment. I have offered to tech in my new job, but they didn't end up needing me.

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

Where I work, there's no mandatory low census for RNs, so if there is a low census on my unit, they will utilize RNs who don't volunteer to stay home in other roles, such as techs, tele techs, unit secretaries, and patient sitters and they low census those employees instead.

[eriksoln, BSN, RN]

This isn't uncommon. When it happens, there are those who react as you did, and others who jump at the opportunity. The charge nurses eventually learn who is which and make assignments accordingly.

I do it, have done it. Work is work. Sometimes the Head Chef has to mop the floors after closing. I never had an issue with it. I was an aid before I was a nurse, its a bit of a mental break to be honest. LOVE being able to say "I'll get your nurse" when people are requesting dilaudid over and over.

Two things I'd avoid though: Sometimes it turns into a thing where everyone wants you to be the aid AND help out here and there with nurse duties. "Oh, I'm so busy, can you give pt. A his meds?" Nope, can't help ya. Sorry. I also would not take a pay cut while functioning in this role. Never had anyone try to tell me to "punch in again as an aid" or anything.

[mtdnk]

There is a difference between "being assigned as a tech" and "taking a CNA assignment". As a RN, you most certainly can carry out the assignment of a tech/CNA (bed baths, vital signs, etc)- the difference is you will be held to the standards of a RN, not an aide.

[Ashley_RN]

I personally would never take the CNA roll, I think things would begin to get hazy in terms of what you are now required to do/not to do. Under which position is your scope of practice for the shift? Because although you are more than qualified as an RN, are you then held accountable for things? I wouldn't want to risk jepordizing anything. I guess you would need this to be clarified. Either way, my answer would have been exactly what yours was. You are an RN and was hired into that particular role, helping with CNA duties if they are short someone is one thing but being assigned as one is a whole other.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

At times we assign a nurse to be a "float nurse" who serves essentially as a skilled tech. Some people hate it, I don't mind it. If an admission comes in, the float nurse is usually given that admission. This makes the most sense as otherwise the admit room would have several nurses with 1 infant assigned who could easily handle a second patient. Instead they take one nurse out of that room, let him/her help out throughout the unit (all tech skills are covered by one's RN license). If the need arises, the float nurse (tech) steps into the admit role.

I have also willingly worked in the role as a CNA (on a traditional med/surg floor), this was a rare occurrence. Permanently placing one in a CNA position may not keep up your skills, but a rare assignment to tech duties is at worst a busy shift and perhaps offensive to one's sensibilities.

All tech/CNA duties are part of an RN's repertoire.

A previous nurse manager of mine once had a complicated situation with sick time or something and came in a worked a night shift. We had all the licensed we needed for the shift so she worked as a tech. BTW, she is also a nurse practitioner.

[cb_rn]

I'm not sure what the big deal is? A CNA's roles are well within your scope of practice. When I was first exposed to this practice we didn't call them CNA assignments: we were "helping hands", I did vital signs and did the I/Os, helped with ambulation and bed baths and helped out with RN duties during lunch breaks. I enjoyed the change of pace whenever I did it. And I didn't find my coworkers were abusing me in asking for all of these extra tasks that I wasn't assigned because I was a nurse, either.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

My previous workplace did this routinely for overtime slots during a time period when they had a shortage of CNAs. Nurses could come in on their days off and work an overtime shift performing CNA duties (toileting, bathing, dressing, feeding, ADLs) while being paid at the much higher nursing pay rate.

It was no big deal, and was actually less stressful. As a previous respondent mentioned, it's nice to tell the patients, "Let me get the nurse..." when they are requesting something that the CNA cannot provide.

[catshowlady]

I would work as an aide. Work is work. If that's what my unit needs me to do, I will.

I will never forget being a PCT, and watching every RN on my unit refuse to help out the PCT's by taking a tech assignment when asked. I remember thinking, "You won't tech for 6 pts, but you expect me to tech for 10??? What kind of leadership or teamwork is that?" It was very divisive, as I know all of the PCT's there were upset too. I would add that it was normal practice in that hospital for RN's to be floated to work as a tech on other units.

Furthermore, you are not being asked to work outside of your scope of practice. You do aide tasks every day that you work as a nurse. I think most employers would consider assignment as a tech to fall under "other duties as assigned." I'm surprised that you were allowed to get away with this.

Frankly, you were out of line IMO. You were sent to a unit to help. Instead, you made both the charge nurse and the staff nurse's jobs harder. The charge nurse had to shuffle her staff to appease you, and the staff nurse got bumped off the assignment she had all day so you could take her pts. You had to take a new assignment anyway, so now two people have had to shuffle work instead of one. Plus it harmed the continuity of care for those pts. And most of the techs are probably thinking "She thinks she's too good to do my job. *****."

You asked, and I'm a little too cranky after a shift from heck to soft-pedal it any more than that.

:paw:

[kcochrane]

I personally would never take the CNA roll, I think things would begin to get hazy in terms of what you are now required to do/not to do. Under which position is your scope of practice for the shift? Because although you are more than qualified as an RN, are you then held accountable for things? I wouldn't want to risk jepordizing anything. I guess you would need this to be clarified. Either way, my answer would have been exactly what yours was. You are an RN and was hired into that particular role, helping with CNA duties if they are short someone is one thing but being assigned as one is a whole other.

Even though you are functioning as a tech you are still a RN. So if something happens with a patient that you are taking care of and they crash, you would do what you are trained to do. Taking a CNA or tech roll should not create a problem with scope.