Have CNAs bullied nurses (RNs/LPNs)?

anonymoose123 · Dec 11, 2011

I doubt anyone would openly admit to bullying! But I can say that I have been bullied to extremes by a CNA. The thing about bullies though, they always get what's coming to them which is unfortunate for them since 9 times out of 10 they are already completely miserable people.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2011

CNAs can be reported to the BON, just as nurses can, for providing poor patient care.

I live in a state where the practice of CNAs is not governed by the BON.

Facilities can be reported to the Joint Commission.

Many healthcare facilities are not accredited by the Joint Commission. JCAHO cannot do anything about facilities that are not JCAHO-accredited.

prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP · Dec 11, 2011

Yes. When I first started in LTC i was bullied by the CNAs. My coworker would leave early and they would surround me at the desk and verbally attack me. I tried going to the unit manager she would bully me too. I would do write ups she would toss them. But when they told her something she would write me up. It was awful. I used to get written up once a week and when I would point out to her we told me this in orientation. She would say well know you know sign the write up. Other nurses would performed the same mistake..no write up. I went to the DON she told I was just scared. I just gave up.Finally we got a new administrator. She fired that unit manager and the majority of the CNAs. Turns out this unit manager while so busy looking for things to write me up for. Wasn't doing her own job and was reported to the state. Karma is real

SweettartRN · Dec 11, 2011

Wow.

I would never tolerate being "bullied' by someone beneath me, let alone being bullied by someone in general. I'm grateful I was taught to have a spine, and not put up with people trying to get my goat.

Never been bullied, and I don't bully, and I hate the whole PSA on bullying right now. Perhaps teaching people to have brass ones would be more effective than stopping "bullying?"

But yes, there are some CNA's who bully nurses and get away with it.

fiveofpeep · Dec 12, 2011

I was bullied pretty severely by a monitor tech, but luckily I only had to see her when I floated. I never called her out on it and I wish I had, but I was new at the time and afraid to make waves. I realized, though, that she was intimidated because I was so young and she wanted to impress upon me that she was better because she was in her fifties and had way more experience. I never said she wasnt...

Good Morning, Gil · Dec 12, 2011

Yes, it happens....but it will stop once the CNA respects the new nurse. Once the CNA sees that the nurse helps them and doesn't just delegate away unpleasant tasks even when the RN has time to do it (pet peeve), it will get better. Some CNA's probably have had bad experiences in the past with new nurses not helping at all and being primadonnas, so hence the 'tude. Not saying it is justified, just attempting to explain the behavior.

I speak from experience. I previously had one CNA that gave me trouble at first, but once they saw that I was a good nurse who cared about the patients, helped clean incontinent patients, take them to the BR, and delegated appropriately, we became a really good team, and quite close.

Good Morning, Gil · Dec 12, 2011

fiveofpeep, love your username haha.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 12, 2011

now, that said, i have met some doozies; when i was a student the aides were cross because we, the students were expected to do all the aide work in addition to the rn work. so we did vitals, we did adl's, feeds, baths- everything. one one hand i can see where you get to work, and don't know that your territory is going to be invaded, but find that all the vitals are done, and now someone is feeding and bathing a patient, and they're doing it in the wrong order (or the order you wouldn't have done it) and it throws you...but then again, why wouldn't they be pleased? all your work is done...
back when i was in clinical for lpn school, i was in a nursing home and true to what has been said already, i witnessed some unbelievable injustices. i witnessed cna's screaming at (dementia residents who were yelling out) residents to "shut up" and mumbling about wanting to slap them (the resident). other times just witnessed aides who were acting like snide teenagers...i mean why did you become cna anyway? if you're going to act like a jerk and these patients are going to cause you so much grief- do something else for heavensake.
as for bullying- i agree with ruby, anything can be construed as bullying now days. you can not find someone's joke funny and it's bullying. you can point out that the mar says 0.5mg of hydromorphone and you just gave them hydrocodone, now you're insinuating that they're illiterate...

it's a common misperception among students that they do all of the work for the patient and we the nurse (or the aide) should be happy because all of our work "is done." what students fail to understand is that we're still responsible for the patient, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the work is done, is done well and is done in a timely fashion. often it's easier and more efficient to just do it ourselves, but the student learning experience would not be enhanced if we did. and so we wait . . . and we suffer silently (or maybe not so silently) while in their zeal to make everything perfect for the patient, they do things that make our jobs more difficult after they're gone. that makes some nurses and aides cranky . . . and the student never seem to understand their contribution to that dynamic.

about bullying -- i think we're all too eager to find bullying in any negative interaction. someone might be a jerk, but that doesn't necessarily make them a bully. it is, however, easier to dismiss our negative interactions with our colleagues as "she's just a bully" than it is to examine our own contribution to the negative dynamic.