Help with hopeless horrible nurse's aides

obeyacts2 · Nov 8, 2004

[ I mean, I get real good grades in school and am a dependable and hard worker, I think, and have a good track record of being a good worker at my past jobs. I mean, why haven't I at least been hired as a nurse aid? The only thing I can think of is that I am pretty skinny, have a shy demeaner, and have a soft voice, but other than that, I thought I would be an excellent candidate because of my track record at least and would at least be considered for an interveiw. Do you guys hire nurse aids according to physical looks and brawn and other thing slike that? What I don't understand is why I've never even been given the chance to BE a nurse aid when I've wanted to be one so badly and was very willing.

I think that in many places the stereotype of the CNA a an unthinking job prevents better hiring. I have a friend that is also training to be an RN and wanted some facility experience and went thru what you have described...after having all the prenursing classes she was told she was "overqualified"......she was finally hired at one place and most of the aides that were hired were welfare to work people with minimal skills and work habits. Around here, most aides are workfare people, and facilities have a financial incentive to hire them over regular applicants.......plus they have a guaranteed pool of new hires every six months....so they really dont have to invest much....offer a decent work situation becuase the CNAs have to be there, plus if they do leave some warm body from welfare will take their place. This is why I categorically refuse to work LTC and the like. I do agency and have control over my environment. The first semester of our ADN program is CNA training in a hospital environment anyway.

I also agree wiith the poster who said "who is doing the hiring, the person supervising you, or the cute little thing in HR who has no idea what the job is like" We see this in agencies ALL the time! One time we had a supervisor/scheduler another aide was talking to regarding a pt, and the aide made a comment about Mr X's incontinence. The supervisor didnt know what the term meant. Guess who was the after hrs on-call for emergencies the following week? :rotfl: Seriously, home health companies around here hire aides with CNA/HHA as the standard, but aften fail to realize that a CNA training and home health are like apples and oranges.

Laura

stormy_61 · Nov 8, 2004

If you were to step into someone elses shoes you might have a different perspective on the role of a nuses assistant. I am a pediatric nurse of 6 years and I do not remember the good 'ol days without nurses assistant. Our hospital recently decided to cut a little budget and got rid of ALL our assistants throughout the childrens hospital and they are working on removing them from the adult hospital as well.
O.K. so I don't really miss the days of frustration when I couldn't find my assistant or she was sittin' in the hallway drinking her coffee while I wiped away my sweat and complained every running step of my day that they just don't know what it's like to walk in our shoes...well let me tell you, now that they are gone every nurse is now crying a new song on daily basis because not only did those assistant sit once in a while the good ones, really contributed in the overall care of your paitents. They took care of all the tedious stuff that consumes our time. They were on poop patrol day in and day out, changed stinky, soiled linens sometimes without me asking :) assisted with difficult feeding pt's, helped transfer some and walk others in the hallway...took others to radiology or CT scan when a transporter wasn't available....
I asked some of our long gone assistants if they could have changed anything while they were working with us, you know what most said, "the respect we got from our nurses" and "being treated like a team player instead of a gopher" O.K. so I felt like *&%# !
If only we knew then what we know now, and possibly take a closer look at what they really DO for you and not focus on all that they DON'T, and once in while give them the ackowledgement they deserve, they might work harder to be your partner and not your enemy. They might even work with you instead of pissing you off all day long just for the entertainment of seeing your eyes buldge with rage.
Take it from someone who now must wipe the poop off the walls and the patient too, and now has deliver all trays, feed the patient and change all linens too, empty urinals and whip up the rest that spilled all over the floor,....need I go on. Take it from someone who now must juggle the critical thinking and true nursing care of patients with what most patients view good nursing care.......bedside assistance with ADLs.
They truly make a diffence in the world of nursing but they must be nurtured and treated like they matter to you and your patients. They are task oriented and need guidance in their daily schedules. But they also MUST be treated with respect. You scratch thier back...watch out, they might surprise you and scratch yours back.
Someday you might have to work without them...be careful what you ask for.
P.S. this doesn't apply to those that need to just find a new profession altogether. Some are just not fit for nursing.

Tri 4 kids I am a nurses aid and I'm sorry that they had to cut your budget and eliminate your aides basically because it puts more on the nurses and cuts patient care drastically. It's hard to get everything done . But it's fraustrating for the aid who tries to get their work done and has to deal with the ones that don't want to do anything because it puts more on the aide that does care. And alot of times and I'm not saying all but there are LPN's, LVN"s and RN's out there that treat the aide with no respect what so ever and then there's the aide who has no respect for the nurse and that's sad because we're suppose to be a team. Like I said not all to that I have worked side by side with some awsome nurses . Then I've worked with some who treat CNA's like they're nothing but a slave. Maybe if they had to do without they're aids they would have a diffrent perspective on things. I just recently enrolled in a junior college and am gettinng my pre-reqs for the RN program because I don't want to be an aide anymore. I just hope and pray that when I become an RN that I can still be a good nurse and have the time to assist my aides when they need me.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Nov 8, 2004

Unfortunately the push for primary care has left us with too many nurses who do not know HOW to do team nursing.

That may be true but team nursing was already history when I went to nursing school 20 years ago. Not sure who is left to remember.

I never worked harder in my life than when I was a CNA. It was backbreaking, with punishing work loads. Very few RNs treated us with respect. I've carried that with me and have always tried to be decent to any CNAs I've worked with.

merricat · Nov 8, 2004

Hey, horrible nurse aids???? Where to find good ones? Why hasn't anyone hired me as a nurse aid is what I don't understand. I've persistantly tried to get a position as a nurse aid at two hospitals for the past year, coming in, checking things out, yadah, yadah... I don't understand why I'm never considered for hiring, not even an interview??? I mean, I get real good grades in school and am a dependable and hard worker, I think, and have a good track record of being a good worker at my past jobs. I mean, why haven't I at least been hired as a nurse aid? The only thing I can think of is that I am pretty skinny, have a shy demeaner, and have a soft voice, but other than that, I thought I would be an excellent candidate because of my track record at least and would at least be considered for an interveiw. Do you guys hire nurse aids according to physical looks and brawn and other thing slike that? What I don't understand is why I've never even been given the chance to BE a nurse aid when I've wanted to be one so badly and was very willing.
Maybe HR doesn't hire the right kind of people? I don't know, can you guys tell me how HR selects candidates because I've always been looked over.

usu. hosp get pick of who they want to hire so do not hire anyone w/o experience. can get experience in LTC but is hard work. chronic understaffing lots ofthe time. lots of lifting and attends, attends, attends. if even LTC will not hire you try volunteering w/ LTC in activities and then they probably will. w/ hosp hire, helps if you know someone already there who will recommend you and hand app to manager personally, who can then give it to HR themselves, or better yet, give app to manager and make copy for HR (along with already copied references, important papers-- resume, whatever) and give that to HR yourself. saves the manager work. are you certified?

midnight · Nov 24, 2004

What to do when stuck with a few bad nurses aide's ?
I have reported and written up . I am getting no back up from my DON ? What's a nurse to do . Any advice would be helpful . I find myself running like a madwoman , toileting people , answering call bells because my aides have disappeared , or are hiding in pt's rooms on their cell phones ? Ughhhh so frustrated .

Don't give up!! It was great to see there are others having the same problems - like putting your head through a wall-always remember that doing what is right may be tough but your benefiting those who matter - your patients!! Keep up the good work

ICUnowOHN · Nov 24, 2004

Management needs to address this. It's most likely a condition that will only get worse the longer she gets away with this.

susanna · Nov 25, 2004

usu. hosp get pick of who they want to hire so do not hire anyone w/o experience. can get experience in LTC but is hard work. chronic understaffing lots ofthe time. lots of lifting and attends, attends, attends. if even LTC will not hire you try volunteering w/ LTC in activities and then they probably will. w/ hosp hire, helps if you know someone already there who will recommend you and hand app to manager personally, who can then give it to HR themselves, or better yet, give app to manager and make copy for HR (along with already copied references, important papers-- resume, whatever) and give that to HR yourself. saves the manager work. are you certified?

No, I'm not certified. Maybe that is why. I've never even been invited for an interview.

ComicRN · Nov 25, 2004

I've been in LTC (employed, not living!!) for almost 10 years. I still love it. I am an RN, a nurse manager (for the past 1 1/2 years and currently a BSN student).

I've learned a couple of things along the way. Treat others as you would like to be treated and it will eventually come back to you. How are we treating our CNAs? How are we treating or LPNs and RNs? How are we treating the folks who bring the clean resident laundry back to the floor? Hopefully with respect. I tend to be a little bit of a Pollyanna and think the best about everyone before I think the worse. Is the CNA on her cell phone because she has to call her pediatrician's office when they open and she is not allowed to use the phone at the nurse's station, or not allowed to make personal calls until her break (at perhaps 10:00 am when it's harder to get a good appointment her your her sick child after work because all the good appointments are taken by then?) And, yes.....I know that everyone's response will be that the CNA is on the phone with her friends, etc. But, please take into account that it just MIGHT be for another reason.

As a manger, I try to say, "Thanks, that was a really good job" more often than, "Can I see you in my office for a minute?" I make sure I praise the staff (EVERYONE) in front of their colleagues so that everyone knows what the other person has done that is GOOD. Yes, that person may have just been doing their job but, so what? What's wrong with thanking someone for that? How many times do we go to the grocery store, or the bank, or a clothing store and thank the clerk when we are leaving? Why do we thank them........they are just doing their job. That's what they get paid for, isn't it?!!!!! And remember, we can all thank our colleagues, you don't have to be in management to appreciate when someone has done something.

Another thought.......if I have an employee with an "attitude" who suggests that perhaps I should be out on the floor helping them more, I ask them to come to my office and pick one of my tasks to do. They usually look at me funny. Then they realize that, yes, I may be able to do the work that they do (I also was a CNA once) but they are not able to accomplish my work for me. If I spent my entire day helping to pass meds, toilet and feed people, I would have to work an entire extra shift just getting MY work done! This usually gets the point across, and I try not to do it an "holier than thou" attitude. It just depends on the attitude I am approached with.

Hope this has helped. :)

Jan

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 25, 2004

What to do when stuck with a few bad nurses aide's ?
I have reported and written up . I am getting no back up from my DON ? What's a nurse to do . Any advice would be helpful . I find myself running like a madwoman , toileting people , answering call bells because my aides have disappeared , or are hiding in pt's rooms on their cell phones ? Ughhhh so frustrated .

Your problem isn't "horrible nurse's aides," your problem is "no back up from [your] DON."

People will get away with as much as they are allowed to get away with. If the DON backed you up, the "horrible aides" would either shape up or be replaced. Eventually it would become clear that "horrible-ness" would not be tolerated.

Incompetent management is what you have to address.

jannecdote · Nov 25, 2004

Here's what happened to me this past weekend. My CNA and I had a patient whose family had complained to management, administration, etc. about the quality of care Mr. X had been getting. When I came on duty Friday, the social worker was there trying to straighten out some lingering customer service issues with the wife. I thought, okay, I'll have this patient the entire weekend because they know I will bend over backwards to make this man as comfortable as possible.

I told the CNA to make sure Mr. X was turned every two hours (explaining the above scenario to her). All went well until Sunday. During rounds he told me that he was hurting really bad,"I think I've been in this position too long". I asked him if he was being turned often enough by the CNA and he frowned. He also asked to have perineal care given because he was itching down there. I went to get pain meds, asked the CNA to make sure she turned him and to give him perineal care. ( I personally had turned him several times myself and attended to various needs during the shift.) She told me that she had just done it an hour before and walked away in a huff. When I went back into the room he said that "she just handed me the washcloth" and stood there. He was not a happy camper.

I could see that this might be leading to more complaints to administration, so I spoke with the supervisor, the CNA, etc and documented that the patient had full BUE ROM and could clean himself and to see the flowsheet for turning (every two hours). I just wanted to nip any future problems in the bud and didn't think much else about it. This is a Rehab floor by the way.

But, the CNA got royally upset thinking I had reported her to the supervisor and had documented something bad about her so she went into the patient's room and asked the patient why did he report her to the nurse for these things. I was appalled!!!! Then he asked to speak with me because he told her that he hadn't said anything. Sheesh. I told the CNA I could not believe she confronted the patient like that--and she had taken an Amazon of another CNA in there with her when she did it. If I was the patient, I would have been scared to death.

I showed the CNA what I had documented. It did not reflect bad on her at all. I spoke with the supervisor again and told her I was not going back into that room--shift was almost over. He was either going to call me a liar or yell at me for repeating what he said and I wasn't going to be the fall guy. And, I was not going to call him a liar even if he has been a difficult patient.

It just made me so angry that this CNA had to make things much more difficult. Shift was almost over, all she had to do was turn him in a timely manner and keep him clean and dry. After it was all said and done, I wish I would have reported her because what she did was not professional at all and reflected badly on the both of us. If I could go back and do it again, I would have handled the situation differently.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Nov 26, 2004

so she went into the patient's room and asked the patient why did he report her to the nurse for these things. ...and she had taken an Amazon of another CNA in there with her when she did it. If I was the patient, I would have been scared to death.
After it was all said and done, I wish I would have reported her because what she did was not professional at all and reflected badly on the both of us. If I could go back and do it again, I would have handled the situation differently.

What she did was intimidate the patient. This is sufficient for her to lose her certification, if she's certified. It's more than enough for her to lose her job.

It's not too late. Report her, documenting as closely as you can, and don't let her intimidate you.

She should not be taking care of vulnerable patients. You can only guess at what she does and no one knows about it.

If management balks at getting rid of this person, remind them that eventually, somebody is going to sue. I bet that get's their mercenary attention.

I'm sorry you had the experience. I hope you get some satisfaction from knowing you advocated for your patient by helping the hospital dump this broad.

Good luck.

HAngel · Dec 10, 2004

Good luck. I worked as a nurse tech when I was in college. It was horrible, back-breaking thankless work. The nurses were rude, they did not help at all, they were patronizing and they tended to treat the aides like property(where's my aide?). Plus some of them made it their mission to see that you never took a break or stood still for more than 10 seconds so they were constantly looking to keep you busy. I will never forget how I used to get to work and I would be taking my coat off and they would be in your face talking about what needed to be done. And all of that for NO recognition and piss-poor pay.
Anyway, my point is that I can see why many of them would be less than motivated to do a great job. And I have been on the other side and I have worked with some great aides and some shamefully lazy aides. But I still remember what it was like.
Good luck.

THANK YOU :)

Hangel:)