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?
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
Hello,
I am a student nurse extern and know that we have to wipe butts sometimes. However, we should realize that the current flow is to the magnet status hospitals. For example our school is weeding out LPN program because most of our hospitals will no hire LPN's. Currently the hospitals are moving toward only RN's giving direct care, which means we will be wiping a lot more butts in the future :) Btw the hospital I work at has no CNA's and only a few LPN's. Within 5 years they hope to have only RN's on the floor.
Gee that seems like a shame Jcarew. I would think that CNA's would be a valuable part of the nursing team. Soooo how is it working? Do the externs play the part of the CNA role? Is the hospital willing to pick up the expense of educating the LVN's so they can become RN's? Just wondering how this is all gonna go down.
However 'white-collar' nursing eventually becomes, there will be 'blue' stains that no amount of education will ever wash clean.
Simply put, if you don't want the 'side-effects' that come with intimately dealing w/ people; there are plenty of jobs out there that don't require it.
Nursing . . . does.
CNAs only do 'delegated' tasks. That means that it is YOUR responsibility, delegated to them. Hint: YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
The moment we choose to define nursing in a way that leaves those responsibilities behind; that is the moment bedside nursing becomes the province of non-nurses.
Im not above performing personal care however I think it does somewhat distract the patients view of our ability to asses, and assist in their care plans. if a patient sees us changing their briefs and then admin IVs they tend to doubt our ability
Actually i would view that kind of nurse as someone who i can rely on for whatever i need.
even when the cna's are required to do all personal care, i still make it a point to clean them up 1x/shift. this time is important to me, where i can assess their skin, their ms, any concerns.... i've made it a priority to do this w/all my pts, as the 15 minutes i get with them, supplies me with invaluable data.
I was a CNA for four years before becoming a RN, and didn't think twice to assist a patient to the Bathroom, or change a brief if I was near by, and can say that I usually didn't walk past a room without answering a light going off, what did get under my skin is if I would ask a LPN for help while I was working with an IV for help and have her walk away stating I'll get an aide and not see an aide come in!
The hospital where I spent most of my career tried the 'all RN' thing for awhile - and I thought it was a poor idea at the time. They now have CNA's and LPN's, who all contribute to the team in their own way.
Most of the time there I spent in ICU - and even then, that's all I seemed to accomplish some nites!:chuckle
Ditto: I detest pot stirrers who start threads just to see if WWIII will break loose. Maybe the OP should spend a little more time studying and a little less time trying to get a rise out of someone.
Faeriewand, ASN, RN
1,800 Posts
Gee that seems like a shame Jcarew. I would think that CNA's would be a valuable part of the nursing team. Soooo how is it working? Do the externs play the part of the CNA role? Is the hospital willing to pick up the expense of educating the LVN's so they can become RN's? Just wondering how this is all gonna go down.