Did the title catch your attention? Good, I was hoping it would.
I've seen people talk about this attitude on allnurses quite a bit, and I find the reactions fascinating. I'm amazed at the passion, care and professionalism of the nurses on this board and really about every nurse I've ever met.
BUT, everyone-from the most seasoned nurse to the student- knows that nursing is changing and will probably continue to change dramatically over the years to come. There are CNAs and MAs who seem to have an increasing role in the healthcare system and nurses themselves have more responsibility (all the charting etc.) and demanding jobs as new diseases, new medicines and standards of care make their way into our lives.
My question is, do you think their should be a change in what nurses do? Will there come a time when basic hygiene and certain other tasks often done by nurses in the past will be the responsibility of CNAs and others in similar roles? Would this be a good thing for nurses? Is there really anything wrong with nurses who feel that four years of education + all of their other demands and responsibilities should mean that they shouldn't have to do these tasks?
Exactly, there are times when getting paid X amount of dollars to "wipe butt" is a much better deal than to deal with a doctor, family or make a decision on how to deal with a situation for that same X amount of dollars.
I work on a pediatric/med surg unit and occasionally get to deal with doctors who say things like "I don't take care of kids - what do you usually give a patient for that? Or what would you recommend?". I don't get paid an MD's salary, don't ask me to do your job!
Sue
then when you do get through and become a nurse you will have a rude awakening - id much rather be doing somethng "crappy" like wiping butts then dealing with docs and family and orders and management and aall the "crappy " things we have to deal with lol.
No nurse ever just wipes a behind. Somebody pulled off the street can wipe that behind, but that's not the whole job, is it? A nurse is assessing that patient constantly during the SWAT procedure, looking for changes in skin integrity, level of consciousness, characteristics of what she's wiping, the patient's hydration, dozens of things.
If just wiping ass were what it was about, we wouldn't need nurses, would we?
No nurse ever just wipes a behind. Somebody pulled off the street can wipe that behind, but that's not the whole job, is it? A nurse is assessing that patient constantly during the SWAT procedure, looking for changes in skin integrity, level of consciousness, characteristics of what she's wiping, the patient's hydration, dozens of things.
If just wiping ass were what it was about, we wouldn't need nurses, would we?
Hmm, don't think I've actually done windows, but I have rearrange furniture to improve a patients view .
Sue
Exactly! I do get caught up in doing anything that doesnt require a license....well, I don't do windows....wait a minute, I have done windows....nevermind...
As someone that has worked in this field for almost 40 years, I can tell you that the more things change, the more they stay the same. When I first started in this field, I was a CNA ( not what they called us then). I worked in a hospital and did most of the butt wiping. I did that for 23 years in hospitals and nursing homes, and loved ever minute of it. When I finally got a chance to go back to school and get my RN, the hospitals were attempting to have only RN's. Again doing all the bedside as well as the skilled care. Now it is back the other way and trying to change again.
As family of persons recently inthe hospital, I think that there is a great need for more CNA's to help with the routine care. Hospital patients today are much sicker than when I first started in this bussiness, and the nurses are completly overwhelmed. If there is not a family member in the room to help and advocate for the patient, well, the care is not going to get done. If I had not known what I know and been vocal about what my family member needed, I am not sure what the outcome would have been.
Nursing has always been a passion with me and I have great respect for everyone that does some part of this job. Sometimes I just wish that it didn't ALWAYS come down to the almighty dollar!
Sorry to ramble on. Thanks for letting me vent. God Bless ALL!!!
Thank you for that reply. I get frustrated with the student nurses and their instructors who think there is "nurse work" and "aide work" and seem to get offended if asked to do a "menial task" such as helping a patient to the bathroom. They need to learn that these are often excellant opportunities to assess a patient's skin, function, mobility and mental status, in addition to getting to know the patient better and discovering some of their concerns or needs that might have gone unnoticed. Nursing is a subtle art.
I too get irritated when a nurse will go out of her way to find the NA to get them to do something that would take less than 5 minutes. This is one reason that some NA's sometimes get the attitude that nurses are lazy and bossy instead of being leaders and teammembers with the same primary purporse--to take care of the patients. Often times when the doctor asks if the pt has been out of bed or walked, how much they have eaten, etc, I have to ask the NA. No one LIKES to wipe butts, but...it is part of our job and I don't consider myself too good or too educated to do anything that I would ask a nursing assistant to do.
Specializes in CLNC, numerous fields, Supervision.
I have found that handling personal tasks with the patient is unparalleled in heightening the trust rapport and unequaled in augmenting a through assessment. I have found patients are often more willing to speak vulnerably when they have trusted you to get inside their personal space and you have done so with skill, professionalism and compassion - they are often also more willing to be taught ... :)
Often times when the doctor asks if the pt has been out of bed or walked, how much they have eaten, etc, I have to ask the NA.
One of the docs just said this to me the other day- I think he said, " I don't know these things about the patient, that's why we are so dependent on you guys (nurses) - you know the patients so much better." Of course, but just nice to hear it from a doc.
To be more precise, there are no "glamorous" parts of Nursing. However you some nurses who think that dosaging meds, paging the MD, and delegating to CNA's supercedes clean a patient. Like I stated I'm a CNA and currently work as a Student Nurse, so i know of the many responsibilities of the nurse. However you have MANY!!!!!! nurses that feel that these types of tasks are beneath them. And yes plenty sit at the nurses station chatting and reading magazines. I had a nurse yesterday that started her shift by sitting at the desk. She didn't come onto the floor and asses her patients. She immediately sat down from 7am until 10:30am. A patients family asked for pain meds for the patient, I went to let her know the patient was in pain, it took her over an hour to get the patients meds. All the while she sat at that nurses station. Whenever I needed help turning or cleaning any of her patients I had to ask some of the other nurses to help me. So Again you have these types of nurses that make it hard. And believe me there are TONS of them. :angryfire Alor of them feel that the CNA is there to do what they don't want to. The nurse I spoke of before told me "she wished she could just hand me her meds to pass, and let me chart for her she wan't in the mood to deal with the patients of their families." It sickend me to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off and to have someone like this have no regard to help. AGAIN CNA's are assistants. I truely respect the nurse that understands this and respects that CNA. Many tend to look down there noses at those who don't make as much money or have as much education as they do.
I have worked with more than my fair share of 'Real Nurses' who considered themselves too good to wipe butt....or provide a patient with a drink when they were asked. :angryfire My response? Its time for you to get out of the field before you are my nurse or my family's nurse. No matter what the title we are there to take care of the patient and if that involves a "code brown" then so be it. Personally, I would rather clean up a patient's crap that put up with a RN's crap with an attitude like that.
I'll tell you all the same thing my nursing instructor told our class in school. When you have a Nursing license, that's just a license to do more work. I have came across too many nurses who feel they are too good to do primary things. So call bells could be going off for long periods of time and those nurses would say, "That's not my job". Is that what getting a licese means? You don't have to give the care to the person needing it just because it may not be your job. My very first job out of nursing school I did primary care. I didn't have CNA's working under me until about 2 years after I graduated. And I'll tell you, I loved doing primary care. You knew the people, you was able to do a full assessment of the skin because you'll be giving showers. It was rewarding. I feel that no nurse, EVEN A FNP, is too good to wipe behinds. I worked with a FNP and if she was seeing a person and they was dirty, she would clean them. So no one is too good. You're a nurse. Remember that!!!
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lilrn03
19 Posts
Exactly, there are times when getting paid X amount of dollars to "wipe butt" is a much better deal than to deal with a doctor, family or make a decision on how to deal with a situation for that same X amount of dollars.
I work on a pediatric/med surg unit and occasionally get to deal with doctors who say things like "I don't take care of kids - what do you usually give a patient for that? Or what would you recommend?". I don't get paid an MD's salary, don't ask me to do your job!
Sue