why are cna's treated like they are stupid and replaceable?

Kitkat23 · Sep 14, 2005

I've been working as a CNA in a nursing home for almost 5 months now. Before that I've done agency work and private duty care. I like being an aide. I love taking care of my residents and making their day. The families appreciate the care I do on their loved ones and my positive attitude; even during the crazy days.

I work with a good team of nurses and aides. We have a few lazy aides, but not every CNA is here to care about residents. They're here for just a paycheck. My job may not be glamorous, but it's an honest and a noble position. I take care of residents who can't take care of themselves anymore. Somebody has to do the job.

I was told not to get too attached to the residents, but it's hard not to. I'm such a sweet, caring person and the residents are like family to me. Half the residents I care for hardly get any visitors so they're happy to see me come in and make them laugh and smile. One elderly man told me I have a beautiful voice and that I do the lord's work.

I've gotten very close to this one old lady who's bed and chairridden, and she says I do the best care on her and I put up with her moodswings and occasional combatitive behavior. She had made other aides quit and a few aides don't like caring for her. Before she fell and broke her legs, (that's why she's stuck in bed and her wheelchair-she's a hoyer lift now) she used to keep the aides an hour in the bathroom during am/pm care. She had to be scrubbed perfectly clean and powdered. She can be demanding and screams for the nurses a lot. She's hooked on the call light too. But I love her to death. She used to be an aide in the hospital and told me stories about her past.

Anyway, I love being an aide. I'm taking a Patient Care Tech Program next month, so I could learn more skills and get a job at the hospital. I'm thinking about nursing school too. Some people look down at me for being an aide because they think it's gross that I wipe people's asses and noses and empty bedpans, but to me it's more than that. Being a CNA is about caring for the residents and being by their side during their good and bad times. I was by my patients side today when he passed away. I gave his family a lot of support, hugs, smiles, and prayers. They appreciated the care I gave to him.

Being an aide has some moments. It'll make you laugh, cry, smile, cringe, etc. It's the best job I've ever had and it's not for everyone. It's a tough job too and I'm proud that I'm able to handle it. :rolleyes: :chuckle

GLORIAmunchkin72 · Sep 14, 2005

I've been working as a CNA in a nursing home for almost 5 months now. Before that I've done agency work and private duty care. I like being an aide. I love taking care of my residents and making their day. The families appreciate the care I do on their loved ones and my positive attitude; even during the crazy days.
I work with a good team of nurses and aides. We have a few lazy aides, but not every CNA is here to care about residents. They're here for just a paycheck. My job may not be glamorous, but it's an honest and a noble position. I take care of residents who can't take care of themselves anymore. Somebody has to do the job.
I was told not to get too attached to the residents, but it's hard not to. I'm such a sweet, caring person and the residents are like family to me. Half the residents I care for hardly get any visitors so they're happy to see me come in and make them laugh and smile. One elderly man told me I have a beautiful voice and that I do the lord's work.
I've gotten very close to this one old lady who's bed and chairridden, and she says I do the best care on her and I put up with her moodswings and occasional combatitive behavior. She had made other aides quit and a few aides don't like caring for her. Before she fell and broke her legs, (that's why she's stuck in bed and her wheelchair-she's a hoyer lift now) she used to keep the aides an hour in the bathroom during am/pm care. She had to be scrubbed perfectly clean and powdered. She can be demanding and screams for the nurses a lot. She's hooked on the call light too. But I love her to death. She used to be an aide in the hospital and told me stories about her past.
Anyway, I love being an aide. I'm taking a Patient Care Tech Program next month, so I could learn more skills and get a job at the hospital. I'm thinking about nursing school too. Some people look down at me for being an aide because they think it's gross that I wipe people's asses and noses and empty bedpans, but to me it's more than that. Being a CNA is about caring for the residents and being by their side during their good and bad times. I was by my patients side today when he passed away. I gave his family a lot of support, hugs, smiles, and prayers. They appreciated the care I gave to him.
Being an aide has some moments. It'll make you laugh, cry, smile, cringe, etc. It's the best job I've ever had and it's not for everyone. It's a tough job too and I'm proud that I'm able to handle it. :chuckle

KitKat: we just lost a very good CNA at work and all over a scheduling problem. Just like you she was worth her weight in gold for the frail and helpless people that she cared for. WHAT A SHAME!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2005

I've been working as a CNA in a nursing home for almost 5 months now. . .Being an aide has some moments. It'll make you laugh, cry, smile, cringe, etc. It's the best job I've ever had and it's not for everyone. It's a tough job too and I'm proud that I'm able to handle it. :chuckle

I like your thinking! You are very open-minded. I expect you will be very successful. You look for the positive aspects of a situation despite it being negative. That kind of thinking will take you very far in a career. However, as you have probably already experienced, there are many more people who don't see things that same way. A pity, isn't it?

pyxeduhst5282 · Sep 14, 2005

All I have to say...Is that I think it'd be beneficial for every nurse to start out as a CNA. While I was still in nursing school...I worked as a nursing assistant on a med-surg floor and boy...I can tell you...that was THE HARDEST JOB I have EVER had in my entire life...from lifting to bathing, to feeding, to EVERYTHING...I would come home and just DIE on the couch...every muscle ached...such a physically demanding job...and being short-staffed you work EVEN HARDER! As a nurse nowadays...I try to help my technicians (i'm in the AF) as much as possible. I know that as a new nurse these technicians have taught me a lot! Lots of them have tons of experience and have seen a lot...So ...Needless to say...I always respect my CNA's/Techs....I've been there...and I know how it feels...and I don't think it would hurt all nurses to start out as a CNA so they have a greater understanding for what the job entails and basically...how it KICKS YOUR BUTT!!!

it seems to me that CNA's, esp. in long term care, get treated as if they don't know how to do anything, are overworked, unappreciated, and underpaid. This one nurse about drives me up the wall. You come to her with a patient related concern and she'll look at me like I'm busy you take care of it. No I cannot hang another feeding, do a dressing change, or insert a catheter though I've been taught how. ( previous nurses training). She walks like a waddling duck. A lady accidently slipped and I was taking her to the toilet. It was an accident and I wish I fell, I felt that bad. My partner was busy at the moment and this nurse was RIGHT there! I asked her if she would mind helping me stand this lady up, she goes oh I thought so, so was going to help you!!! This is the type of nurse that would actually make a mess in the process of giving a pt their meds and say gosh that's the aides job to clean it up. I never ever expect the nurse to do my job for me but if they are in the same room and can't even help their own patients, there is something wrong with that. She doesn't like lifting either, I wonder how she passed her physical for nursing school. No other aide in sight, asked her one day to help transfer someone( would have either injured myself badly or dropped him) nurse sitting on her butt and " oh I guess so" with a sigh! The nurses are suppose to help!!! maybe as a cna I am biased and only see one side of it. Other nurses assist at times but she thinks she is too good to do anything else, but now I'm in nursing school and once I get out I hope I don't ever treat my help this way. Maybe I'm expecting to be treated with respect because I work very hard to care for my patients in skilled care, but we are always short staffed, and the fact that I have a college degree in nursing/ general studies, while I'm not a nurse in the eyes of the law I am a caregiver that continually nurtures each and every one of my patients, in a way when a patient hollers for the nurse they don't decipher between me and the LPN or RN. we are all nurses to them providing patient care.

geriRN1993 · Sep 15, 2005

I agree totally with you. I am a DON in a LTC facility and help with the CNA's everyday that I work. I feel that they are as their titles say, my "assistant". One of the best policies that nursing schools are going to is that prior to admission to the program the student must complete the CNA course. But I wish they would go a step further and require them to "work" as a CNA for a period of time (say 6 months) before they are allowed to enter the nursing program. I believe that nurses who have "been in the drudges" so to speak make better nurses and especially better CNA managers. CNA managing is not a required course in school also and it should be. Nurse's need to remember "the patient does not interrupt my work, they ARE my work". I appreciate your distress and can only give you these inspiring words, "you are special. You make a difference in the lives that you take "care" of everyday. and keep up the good work."

JoBug · Sep 15, 2005

it seems to me that CNA's, esp. in long term care, get treated as if they don't know how to do anything, are overworked, unappreciated, and underpaid. This one nurse about drives me up the wall. You come to her with a patient related concern and she'll look at me like I'm busy you take care of it. No I cannot hang another feeding, do a dressing change, or insert a catheter though I've been taught how. ( previous nurses training). She walks like a waddling duck. A lady accidently slipped and I was taking her to the toilet. It was an accident and I wish I fell, I felt that bad. My partner was busy at the moment and this nurse was RIGHT there! I asked her if she would mind helping me stand this lady up, she goes oh I thought so, so was going to help you!!! This is the type of nurse that would actually make a mess in the process of giving a pt their meds and say gosh that's the aides job to clean it up. I never ever expect the nurse to do my job for me but if they are in the same room and can't even help their own patients, there is something wrong with that. She doesn't like lifting either, I wonder how she passed her physical for nursing school. No other aide in sight, asked her one day to help transfer someone( would have either injured myself badly or dropped him) nurse sitting on her butt and " oh I guess so" with a sigh! The nurses are suppose to help!!! maybe as a cna I am biased and only see one side of it. Other nurses assist at times but she thinks she is too good to do anything else, but now I'm in nursing school and once I get out I hope I don't ever treat my help this way. Maybe I'm expecting to be treated with respect because I work very hard to care for my patients in skilled care, but we are always short staffed, and the fact that I have a college degree in nursing/ general studies, while I'm not a nurse in the eyes of the law I am a caregiver that continually nurtures each and every one of my patients, in a way when a patient hollers for the nurse they don't decipher between me and the LPN or RN. we are all nurses to them providing patient care.

I am sorry to hear you are woking with a nurse like that, it is a shame! Out and out. I am lucky where I work, as an LPN, in LTC, we work as a TEAM, no one is more important than the other, and the CNA's ARE my eyes and ears, and I count on them every day. Unfortunatly, there are nurses out there to make a bad name for all of us, but I assure you, every place is not like that, it must be horribly discouraging to you. I wonder where this nurse sarted out, was she ever a CNA? If so, she must not remember what it is like. Bless you for being there for your residents, and I sure hope it gets better for you, or "she" takes a hike...

JoBug

Retired R.N. · Sep 15, 2005

I agree totally with you. I am a DON in a LTC facility and help with the CNA's everyday that I work. I feel that they are as their titles say, my "assistant". One of the best policies that nursing schools are going to is that prior to admission to the program the student must complete the CNA course. But I wish they would go a step further and require them to "work" as a CNA for a period of time (say 6 months) before they are allowed to enter the nursing program. I believe that nurses who have "been in the drudges" so to speak make better nurses and especially better CNA managers. CNA managing is not a required course in school also and it should be. Nurse's need to remember "the patient does not interrupt my work, they ARE my work". I appreciate your distress and can only give you these inspiring words, "you are special. You make a difference in the lives that you take "care" of everyday. and keep up the good work."

I agree completely with this proposal of requiring experience as a CNA as a prerequisite for admission to any other nursing program. If this were done routinely, there would be no question about what CNAs should be expected to do or NOT do. I would go even further and revise nursing education for ALL nurses to go through steps from CNA to LVN to ADN to BSN. There should be nothing in the lower levels that is not a foundation for learning at the higher levels. Students should not be expected to invest thousands of dollars for tuition and books for a BSN until they are absolutely sure they have the temperament and desire for this level of education. If the nursing program were set up progressively, a student could drop out temporarily when emergencies cause them to interrupt their studies, but they could start in again without losing everything they have already invested. The main advantage I see for students is that they would be able to work at a nursing job instead of having to flip hamburgers to make ends meet.

Surely hospital and nursing home managers would welcome new grads who would not need an extensive orientation in basic nursing procedures before they could be trusted to work safely.

OneChattyNurse · Sep 15, 2005

are you serious????? lpn's go to school for a year and learn alot in that time. you can become a cna in 4 weeks. don't get me wrong, i am not bashing cna's by any means, but i do think lpn's deserve a little more credit!

chadash · Sep 15, 2005

"the patient does not interrupt my work, they ARE my work" (quote from geriRN1993 post)

That's so insightful!

chadash · Sep 15, 2005

are you serious????? lpn's go to school for a year and learn alot in that time. you can become a cna in 4 weeks. don't get me wrong, i am not bashing cna's by any means, but i do think lpn's deserve a little more credit!

hmmm.......

let's try another food illustration. (i tried oranges and peaches last time.)

we need to resist seeing nursing as a ladder, with each care provider on a different rung leading to supernursedom....

here's where the food analogy comes in....if nursing care were more like a pie (i like pumpkin!) with different pieces representing the required elements necessary meeting a patients needs in a given clinical setting, you might say that the rn is required to cut the pie.

so help me here, only a nurse should have the knife....how do you cut the pie?

Retired R.N. · Sep 15, 2005

Hmmm.......
Let's try another food illustration. (I tried oranges and peaches last time.)
We need to resist seeing nursing as a ladder, with each care provider on a different rung leading to supernursedom....
Here's where the food analogy comes in....if nursing care were more like a pie (I like pumpkin!) with different pieces representing the required elements necessary meeting a patients needs in a given clinical setting, you might say that the RN is required to cut the pie.
So help me here, only a nurse should have the knife....how do you cut the pie?

Sorry, but I prefer the ladder idea with its inherent possibilities for advancement for those who are willing to make the effort to study and learn more. Nothing is more demoralizing than the feeling that I am "stuck" here with no possible hope for advancement, no matter how hard I work.

geriRN1993 · Sep 16, 2005

Sorry, but I prefer the ladder idea with its inherent possibilities for advancement for those who are willing to make the effort to study and learn more. Nothing is more demoralizing than the feeling that I am "stuck" here with no possible hope for advancement, no matter how hard I work.

Many companies are going to Career Ladders with many opportunities in each position for advancement. I like the idea of "growing quality nurses" from good quality nursing assistants. They are a more well rounded care giver. :wink2: