Help with hopeless horrible nurse's aides

Nurses General Nursing

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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 .

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.

I was an aide for three years while in nursing school. I worked agency- usually the same facilities over and over again. The nurses were wonderful to me. They would call my agency to ask for me by name, telling my supervisor what a good worker I was. It was the other aides who treated me badly.

I guess everyone's experiences are different!

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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.

My feelings exactly Sharon. Everything you just said is exactly how I felt working as an aide. Just the thought of ever doing that again makes my skin crawl. I just felt terrible for those patients who don't get good quality care because the aide's are too busy and overworked. At the facility I was at the only thing the nurses did was order us around (don't know abut other facilities). I left there crying everyday because I was so completely overwhelmed. Hopefully I can take that experience and use it when I become a nurse to remember what the aides went through.

Good choice!! As a BSN the first thing I did in nursing school was to bathe and wash patients' hair. As a prior DON in nursing homes I was known to change a diaper or two and to help in the whirlpool. Most aides have too many patients to care for properly, get pinched, slapped, spit on and crapped on by patients in the course of their duties. All this while some nurses look down on them and I've never understood why. Without aides we would all be back working like Florence Nightingale, and, being thought of as working in a trade that no "lady" should work in. Is it possible that aides are so scare that the "non responsive DON" is afraid that reprimanding, or trying to find out why the aid is so "barfy" would cause him or her to quit? Try to figure out 1. Does the aide have 25 bedbounds that must be bathed in 30 minutes ? 2. Could the aide use your help ? 3. How does the aide perceive you as a supervisor? 4. Have you ever brought lunch for all the aides in your wing? 5. Does this aide make you aware of problems with patients that you need to know of? 6. Do you communicate with each other? 7. Is this aide just one of few that really is just working for the dollar? Nothing can make a hard job more pleasant than having aides who laugh and joke around with you and let you know Mrs. Brown may have the signs of skin breakdown, or Mrs. Brown's daughter has been mistreating her mother. I well know the trials of working in a nursing home and the DON position is extremely demanding. There are many sides to many people. Those who seem to not be doing their job may need a kind word or a thank you. That goes a long way toward preventing burn out. We all have a tough job within our levels of responsibility but the aides, as far as I'm concerned, have it the toughest and need to be considered as partners and worth our efforts to be more than "the nurse on the floor". Sometimes you get a stinker but most of the time there is a darn good reason for the "bad" behavior.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
My question...If you organization decided to get rid of the CNAs, would that make nursing easier. Just a question..not trying to anger anyone.

Guess that depends on which CNAs would be gotten rid of. ;)

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My question...If you organization decided to get rid of the CNAs, would that make nursing easier. Just a question..not trying to anger anyone.

Yes. I had a job which was staffed by nurses only- no CNAs. There had been CNAs, but they all quit or were fired over a period of time and were not replaced. The teamwork, quality of pt care, and general attitudes of staff improved greatly once the CNAs and all problems associated with them were gone.

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when they start paying cna (and nurses) a lot more money- and people realize the importance of their work they will change their work attitude. I worked at a nursing home which was ultraglam and paid their CNA's 13.00/ hr to start, more people were weeded out and fired when they slacked off. It was a tight environment. Where I work now in NC- where they just stopped paying more on weekends, and made only a 3% raise (based on attendence then performance), the aides are lazy, and the RNs are tired and angry. You wont be able to get good workers and nothing is done.

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I also hurt my back twice working as a CNA (none of that sissy hoyer lift bs).
i cannot imagine what would make you say this.
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i cannot imagine what would make you say this.
oh, i get it. is it like jonathan swift? you'r making a subtle point about nurses who bash on CNAs while seeming to be one of them-- kind of satirical, like swift's a modest proposal? (roll eyes).
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Excuse me, but ALL staff need to answer the call lights. And for the record, I never talk on my cell phone during work hours. They aren't allowed on the floor anyway. you don't give a "rat's butt about call lights"????? That just seems wrong to me, those are you're patients to begin with! You are just as obligated to answer those lights as the aide is!! I am sorry for all the aides that are on their phones, if that is the case, it would seem that you need to address this issue with the upper management to put a stop to it.

I hope you are not one of those "snooty" nurses. :uhoh3:

yikes i just gotta say i'd be pissed if my family member were under your care and you "don't give a rat's butt about call lights"! You are the licensed individual so you probably should care just a bit, because if something goes wrong you better believe you are responsible for it. That said i do understand that CNA's are hired to do certain things and they need to do them without having to be asked. But everyone needs a little help once in awhile...

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I have no problem helping the CNAs, but I resent it when the more help I give, the less the CNA does. I was in that situation and it led to a VERY bad attitude on my part. There are things that must been done at certain times. Guess we all have war stories, eh? :)
Don't feel bad I have a bad attitude sometimes too I have days I just want to give uo the nursing field alltogether. It seems so hopeless at times
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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.

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Don't feel bad I have a bad attitude sometimes too I have days I just want to give uo the nursing field alltogether. It seems so hopeless at times
Ya I do feel that way more days out of the week lately. It is truly easier doing everything yourself. Then there is no one else to blame for he mistakes...
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yikes i just gotta say i'd be pissed if my family member were under your care and you "don't give a rat's butt about call lights"! You are the licensed individual so you probably should care just a bit, because if something goes wrong you better believe you are responsible for it. That said i do understand that CNA's are hired to do certain things and they need to do them without having to be asked. But everyone needs a little help once in awhile...

about your patient's "call light" guess who's going to get scr$wed the most if the patient suffers due to your uncaring attitude.. just a thought

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