how many nurses did not like being a CNA?

jackson145 · Feb 5, 2008

I can also understand the poster who said the RN's do the same things the CNA's do. One of the hospitals north of mine has completely done away with it's CNA's/techs.

They only have RN's.

If the RN's are doing everything, then they are obviously doing all the tasks that the techs were previously doing. Yes, they do many other things as well, but if they hated the work the CNA's did they'd really be in a pickle without any techs to continue doing the tasks they hated.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2008

Obviously, it is not impossible to understand what being a good nurse entails without being a nurse.

My point (and I'm attempting to convey it respectfully) is that we can never fully understand the nooks and crannies of another individual's role unless we walk a mile in their shoes.

Non-nurses can surely recognize a good nurse when they see one. Doctors, family members, CNAs, and other non-nursing folks have some understanding of competent nursing, just as nurses know how to spot a good and competent doctor.

However, nurses will never fully understand the stressors, trials, tribulations, and burden of responsibility that comes with being a doctor without walking a mile in their shoes. Likewise, people who are not nurses can never fully comprehend or appreciate being a nurse unless they walk the mile in our shoes.

This is just my $0.02 on this issue. :twocents:

RNDreamer · Feb 5, 2008

Normally I stay out of the whole CNA vs. Nurse conversation because of the tone of the discussions.

However, I do have to disagree with you when you say the CNAs and RNs do the same work. This is definitely NOT true, and I don't need to be a nurse to know this. If you truly believe this, you really need to demand that you get the same pay as the RNs you work with get.

Trust me, I wouldn't want a nurse throwing it in my face that I was JUST a CNA, if I don't want to be one anymorre, I need to go to school, Blah, blah blah! At the same time, I wouldn't dare say that I do the same work as a nurse. If I truly believed that then I need to sue my previous employers for the other $40-$50k that they owe me for doing "the same work"

Take care.

I'm sensing a bit of superiority coming from the RN posters. They're very hasty to tell me that I know nothing about being an RN--this is the same attitude I have to put up with as a CNA--I am reminded how I am their degenerate and know nothing.

leslie :-D · Feb 5, 2008

just as being a cna can be a thankless job, so is nursing.

for the poster who has (twice) stated that cna and nsg duties are identical, i truly do not believe that you believe that.

furthermore, the only ones who are in a position to evaluate a nurse's standards of care, is another nurse...

more specifically, another good nurse.

for there are lazy nurses whose standards are so low, that they only appreciate those who operate on their level.

and there are also lazy cna's, who will not appreciate a nurse's request in not triple diapering that pt; or not laying this pt flat; or not shoveling food down the pt's throat.

yet, all of these 'requests' reflect the standards of a good nurse.

let's face it.

there are lazy people w/substandard ideals, everywhere...

as there are stellar examples as well.

i also would never delegate a task, that i wouldn't do myself.

the bottom line is, nsg and assts, are there for the pts.

even if i don't like someone personally, i do respect them if they are good to our pts.

i've worked with assts who resent nurses.

i've worked with lpn's who resent rn's.

and i've worked w/rn's who would sell their mother down the river.

they all suck to work with.

i'm sick and tired of these fragile egos that are so easily threatened by others they know nothing of.

just do your job, and give it your personal best.

do not allow yourself to be bullied or harrassed by anyone.

if you have a problem w/a particular person, don't take it out on the whole profession.

supposedly, we are supposed to be working together.

let's spare the contempt, horizontally and vertically.

we need to all grow up and stop this pis$ing contest.

bottom line, it's not about your title or mine.

it's ours- together.

and for those who just don't get it, then get out.

peace.

leslie

beachbum3 · Feb 5, 2008

Its funny, I was just sitting here trying to think of an accurate detailed description of a RN's job. I can't. Its too broad, and there are always too many things I forget. THATS how much a RN does. :) Also, I'm going on 3 hours of sleep right now, so I'm having a hard time putting thoughts together! :bugeyes:

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Feb 5, 2008

I'm sensing a bit of superiority coming from the RN posters. They're very hasty to tell me that I know nothing about being an RN--this is the same attitude I have to put up with as a CNA--I am reminded how I am their degenerate and know nothing.

Well you don't know anything about being an RN, how can you?

That would be like me saying I know what it's like to be a doctor. I work with doctors and residents every time I go to work. I have no real idea what it is like for them, how could I?

deleern · Feb 5, 2008

i loved being a cna, but it is back breaking work... i went back to school for nursing. i was an lpn for two years before i finished the rn program. i work in ltc yes the rn's job is less physically taxing. but it much more difficult... i need to deal with staffing, rehab, communicating with md's, families, paperwork, charting, all the iv's and the drawing of labs. did i say paperwork... well just in case i didn't paperwork.

Brycemom, RN · Feb 5, 2008

I'm not a nurse, so perhaps I am not equipped to properly respond. I think she needs to revaluate her choice of career. I cannot see how any of the negative parts of being a CNA will dissolve once she becomes an RN. Many CNA's feel a total lack of respect from their coworkers, but once she is an RN, she will feel like Dr. Immajerk's pee-on. If she doesn't like the politics or the DON who thinks she is Jesus, then she will be in the same boat as an RN. If a CNA doesn't like the mess, patients will still puke on your shoes no matter how much education you have. Inserting a catheter isn't exactly clean either. If she doesn't like being overworked, she will be even more overwhelmed when she has to do all her RN duties, plus find a way to fit in charting.

First of all I think you responded very well. I agree that being a nurse is not the glamourous job some people think it will be. I am looking forward to the day I graduate, but I can't say I hate being a CNA. Yes we are often disrespected, over worked and under paid, and sort of the low person on the totem pole it gives me great pride and joy to know that we are the back bone of healthcare. We know our patients inside and out. Most facilities could not function without CNAs. I did reconize however that it was time for me to rise higher in my profession, I could never hate helping my patients with the things we take for granted. If I am ever in a situation and need help. I just hope I have a CNA that LOVES HER JOB taking care of me.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 5, 2008

When I worked as a CNA right after earning my certification at a nursing home, I did hate it. It took a toll on my body, and I knew we had no time to give the quality one on one care that the patients deserved. Then, I started working as a Patient Care Associate, in a clinic setting. I enjoyed it better because I did not have to do all of the lifting and tugging; plus, I am really great at drawing blood, so it was better for me, actually.

I believe that a person CAN be a quality nurse without the certification, to be honest. What it did teach me was how to deal with difficult people, but I had decent skills with that, anyway.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 5, 2008

I'm sensing a bit of superiority coming from the RN posters. They're very hasty to tell me that I know nothing about being an RN--this is the same attitude I have to put up with as a CNA--I am reminded how I am their degenerate and know nothing.

I was a CNA for many years before I became an LPN. I was also a Phlebotomist, Medical Assistant, Home Health Aide and Patient Care Associate. I watched nurses for many years, and made a conscieous decision that LPN was the role for me, and not RN, because, while I didn't know EVERYTHING that the RN did, I knew that I saw many of them being stressed out over the enormous responsibility that they had. When I became an LPN, I saw that while I was perceptive enough to know that all nurses worked hard, I began to experience the nuiances that can really interfere with the nurse's day.

First and foremost, I would feel guilty of watching the CNAs work really hard for their dollar. But, I also knew that due to my ADDITIONAL responsibilities, I was not ALWAYS available to help them the way that I wanted to, because the job that I have has more risk. If I administer the wrong med, I may risk the person's life...something that I cannot take back. I have to constantly keep abreast of new medications, policy and procedure and ways to teach patients things that can make them comprehend what is happening and why. You cannot know how something is if you have not experienced it or walked in it's shoes for yourself. I am not a man, so, I can empathsize (maybe), but can never say I know what it is like to be a man.

No one is saying that you are not making a positive contribution to patient care and to the medical community. However, if you did have the opportunity to attend nursing school for either LPN or RN, and be aware of the cumbersome responsibility for it, you would see things differently, and how your role in assisting the nurses is crucial to making an impact on how our day functions and the care of the patient.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Feb 5, 2008

That's really low $7/hr. I defintely wouldn't do it. Where I work we make $12-$15 /hr.
I'd like to know what is better about being a nurse than a CNA? Because at many hospitals the RNs do exactly what the CNAs are doing, therefore many are choosing to work in a nursing home where they don't have to change diapers, clean bedpans, or do any heavy lifting.

Since becoming an LPN, I have had wonderful opportunities that were not available to me as a CNA. I was a well like and well respected CNA, however, I was totally dependent on that one job to take care of my financial needs. Now, I am able to work in other places to earn better money than what I did before. I have to be more involved in the care by knowing the purposes and side effects of medications, rationales of standards of care and the disease processes.

What you are seeing is the RNs that are doing total care are doing PART of their responsibilities. They are responsible for much more than that. The CNA is doing portion of what the RN is responsibile of, but obviously, not all of it. The CNA is not checking orders, doing many treatments, communicating (sometimes arguing) with the doctors, admissions, discharges, and a whole host of other things that the CNA does not do. This is really not up for debate, actually. The RN has to be able to do, and know what the jobs are of her subordinates. The CNA is responsible for one aspect of patient care.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2008

Ironically, it hasn't been the nurses I've been experiencing a lack of respect and additional workload put upon me during my shift; it's the other CNA's on the floors. It's like as soon as they find out I am a nursing student, they treat me worse and shirk their work on to me and hide out, put me down for doing things by the book etc. But the nurses(at least the hospitals I've been working in) treat me well and seem to highly appreciate my work in assisting them. That's what I currently dislike about being a CNA.

When I was a CNA, this was my experience, too.