Message from a CNA

If you are that unhappy with your job, PLEASE find a new one. I have worked as a CNA for 18 years and will be graduating from nursing school next month. Both CNAs and LPNs have A LOT of responsiblity and BOTH do A LOT of hard work, it is just different. I bet you wouldn't feel the same if you went through nursing school and actually saw all the responsibility and work that is required of an LPN. Try passing meds, doing treatments, assessments, charting, making phone calls, taking orders for 50-60+ residents and see how much extra time you have to help out an aide! I just hope you don't let your negative attitude reflect onto the care you are giving your residents, maybe you should check that out!!

I saw the post earlier about the nurse getting confused as a CNA and the way she was treated, and I just had to say something about it. I'm a CNA, in a nursing home, and I get that kinda stuff all the time. I get treated with disrespect like I don't know anything, even though I know the residents better than most anyone else. There are some nurses who help and try not to disrespect me, but every now and then I get the feeling of distaste even from them. The truth is I do more actual care for these patients then anyone else in the field. Alot of nurses say they got into nursing because they wanted to take care of people, but the fact is they spend more time passing meds, and doing paperwork, and getting paid alot more for it, then the people who actually do the care. I'm sorry untill you wiped up someones BM, or vomit, or urine, can you really say you take care of those people. So if you want to do actual care every now and then try helping out a CNA.

Sorry but I get really bitter about the disrespect I receive constantly from the nurses. Heres an example. I have one nurse I work with and our personalities constantly conflict, shes from another country and has a very rude and arrogant attitude. One night I was having to stay late and work a shift I wasn't scheduled for, nurse K asked me if I had got urine output on one of our residents. I said no I was going to due it on rounds in a half hour, mind you I am quite busy at this time. She says well you need to go get it now because I need it before I go home in 10 min. Mind you she is quite not busy at this time, sitting and reading a magazine. Tell me why she couldn't get off her butt and get herself if it was important for her.

This same nurse has nearly killed a resident who was having a heart attack. She didn't care that I said the resident was having chest pains, trouble breathing, and high blood pressure. Her response was that the resident doesn't take her medication so this is whats going to happen. I didn't know this but I later found out that the resident had a prescription for nitro and ativan in cases like this. It took her at least an hour before she delivered the nitro and she never delivered the ativan. When I asked her how I could make the resident more comfortable, she again changed subject and said how this will happen because she doesn't take her medication. I responded that just because she doesn't take her medication doesn't mean we have to be cruel to her. I reported her behavior but shes still working here.

She also does stuff that makes it perfectly clear she doesn't get her hands dirty. She'll go out of her way to have me clean up something that she could have done herself. I get this from all the nurses but shes the worst. The fact is though that I'm not an idiot I have two bachelors degrees, and I'm going onto PA school. Sometimes I know what a resident needs better than the nurse does, and they should know that. And even the aides that only have a high school diploma or GED, most of them have enough common sense and are with a patient long enough to see things nurses can't.

Sorry you've been having a rough time. Please know that not all nurses feel this way. As others have noted, meds and @#$%*&! charting are an important part of nursing care, and sometimes have to take priority over ADLs. I don't apologize for charting while an aide does a bath--both have to be done, and the aide can't do the charting. But I would never let a patient suffer--or let an aide be swamped--while I read a magazine.

I've seen very few nurses "too good" to get their hands dirty (well, they mostly wear gloves) but there are a few. I have seen a very few pretty useless aides, as well. What I mostly see are a lot of people working hard to do the best they can, and it's a pleasure to work with people like that.

As a relatively new RN, I'm always open to suggestions from the experienced aides I work with. That said, I'm responsible for the decisions I make, and there are times when my "book learning" is more up-to-date than the way things always used to be done. I respect the aides for their hard work, their caring, and their practical experience, but I expect to be respected in return, and I'm happy to say that's nearly always how it goes. In my facility, it really is a team effort, and anyone with a hand free is usually willing to pitch in.

As far as the idea that the aides do all the "real" patient care, my past career as a carpenter is somewhat instructive. On a construction crew, you don't want to have your most skilled craftsmen digging ditches. Most of the hardest physical work goes to the people who get paid the least, because it usually requires the least training. As you learn the trade and acquire skills not everyone has, you become more valuable to your employer, so you get paid more. But from an employer's viewpoint, you never want to pay a person $20 an hour to do what someone else could do for $8 an hour. It doesn't require a skilled mason to carry bricks. Of course, in construction, while you are "paying your dues" doing grunt work, you're also acquiring the skills to move up, whereas in nursing you have to have formal education and the appropriate certification or licensure to advance. A graduate nurse with no experience is licensed to do things a 20-yr CNA isn't, and that's just how it is.

Anyway, I'm sorry you aren't feeling appreciated. That isn't how we all feel. I hope you won't let bitterness toward some bad apples color your view of all nurses.

(I don't know how to link it, but if you check my post under God Bless My Aides, you can see what I--and others--think of your job.)

Q: How many nurses does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None, they make a CNA do it.

WHEW!! Thank goodness it doesn't require any education to put in a light bulb, because most nurses are too busy to passing meds to 55+ people to put in light bulbs.

Shame on me....I'm being tacky. ( But I couldn't help it.)

Again, if the focus is quality patient care, and we work as a team to accomplish that, there does not need to be this stress. The key reason that our patients are in these facilities is that they need medical attention. That is why they are in skilled nursing facilities. The nurses provide the skilled nursing care, and we, as nursing assistants, must provide basic hygeine, and assistance with daily needs. Without this, the nurses would not be able to focus on the patients medical needs. I love to assist a nurse with something like a dressing change, or report to them if I have observed some change in the patient that may have some medical implications. But it is the nurses responsibility to evaluate, plan care, report to the physician, do treatments, pass meds, be aware of drug interactions and implications, and (well, I am not a nurse, so bear with me. I dont really know all you have to do but:) paper work must be a pain in the.....

All I am saying is that the real problem isn't them or us, it is understaffing. The stress in these facilities is like nothing you ever see out in the non medical world.

Q: How many nurses does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None, they make a CNA do it.

Not necessarily. There are a lot of RNs and LPNs who do not think it is beneath them to do the "menial" work, and I respect them for that. However, I know there are nurses that do what you're referring to--saving grunt work for the CNAs. It's not unheard of. I'm just saying that that can't generalize that opinion to all nurses, because there are plenty of nurses willing to humble themselves and not just give orders.

Regarding CNAs,

They take absolutely no pride in their work, no professionalism....that could be why they are feeling disrespected.

I think this is very true. Honestly, I have a very negative opinion about my job, and it's because I don't take pride in much of what I do. I enjoy it sometimes, but other times... well...

Both sides need each other to make the place work, and there are some things that only licensed staff can do. Something to remember.

Anyway, I think that both licensed and unlicensed staff should appreciate each other, and work as a team. Easier said than done, of course. But whenever possible, they should help each other.

I am not yet in nursing school, but me having a cleft palate and my mom having had multiple sclerosis, I have beein many, many hospitals and LTC facilities. My observations: CNAs do the "dirty work" such as cleaning up poop, vomit, etc. Which is not to say that RNS/LPNS don't also do this, but it's usually the CNA. However, the nurse does trach care and wound care. And those can be soooo much worse than poop. CNAs weren't that knowledgable about what was going on. (I once had a CNA try to draw my blood -a whooooole lot of it- in the middle of the night; problem was... I was the wrong patient and that much blood taken from me would have been a big problem then.) The nurse is the one who knows all abou the meds and whatnot. Nurses are the ones who answered my and my family's questions about what was going on. CNAs never really knew the whole story. While my mom was in ICU, I *never* saw a CNA except when it was time for her vitals. But I saw the nurse every 10 minutes. When she was in LTC, she had some very sweet CNAs and nurses. But it was clear that they were BOTH busy and had completely different jobs to do. If you dislike your job, move on. I know what CNAs go through. For quite a while, I was my mother's live-in caregiver. I gave her meds (such as preparing her needles for IM meds), changed her diaper (she was bedridden and could not move on her own whatsoever), emptied her Foley, fed her, etc. I know what it's like, kind of, to do CNA work. But, it is just physical labor. I think the mental labor of being a nurse would be so much harder. The pressure of "If I do ____, will it harm or kill my patient?" seems to be a lot more stressful than CNA work. But I've never been either, so I could be wrong. CNAs are very, very important. There job is hard labor. Not everyone can (or wants to) do it. But there is a reason nurses have to go school for at least 2 years and CNAs can get their license in 1 semester, and sometimes less. This isn't to "knock" anyone here. I just want to give the perspective of a patient, a daughter of a patient, and a pre-nursing student.

Just wanna say, much love to the nurses. I don't fully "know" what the nurse's job entails, but I have a pretty good idea, and I truly appreciate them for how hard they work. There's a bad apple in every bunch, but the rest of the bunch is sweet and juicy!

I think this is very true. Honestly, I have a very negative opinion about my job, and it's because I don't take pride in much of what I do. I enjoy it sometimes, but other times... well...

Then WHY are you working as a CNA? Eventually your negativity and lack of pride will show in your job performance and in turn reflect on the care you are giving to the residents. These people deserve to be cared for my people who like thier job, care about people, and have compassion. Doesn't sound to me like you should be in this profession.

Just wanna say, much love to the nurses. I don't fully "know" what the nurse's job entails, but I have a pretty good idea, and I truly appreciate them for how hard they work. There's a bad apple in every bunch, but the rest of the bunch is sweet and juicy!

Amen!

Here's a question. What do you look for in a CNA in hospital work. I have applied via internet for 8 (count'em) 8 jobs in the past two months and get "not selected". I have 10 years experience.

As a CNA working full time, I understand the ability to become frustrated with the nursing staff if you feel like you are being taken advantage of, underappreciated, ect...

But.......

You have to remember, there is a food chain in health care, and we, as CNA's are close to the bottom. If you don't want to get stuck with the grunt work and low pay, FURTHER YOUR EDUCATION. It's that simple. Not that it doesn't take tremendous sacrifice, but it really is that simple. Where I work, I know I am one of the best at my job, I know this because I take pride in my work, whether it's assisting with a shower or wiping someone who's soiled themselves. I'm not making 100 grand, but I'm not performing brain surgery either.

Sometimes CNA's take themselves too seriously. I know there are plenty of lazy - LAZY - CNA's. I have worked with some really lazy ones. I also work with some really caring, hardworking individuals who really focus on making sure the residents/patients needs are the first priority. The nature of CNA work is to provide basic patient care and hopefully some TLC, since the Nurses, REALLY are too busy with thier responsibilities to spend an extended amount of time with them.

Take advantage of the opportunity you have to bring some sunshine in someone's day, someone being a LTC resident who probably doesn't have alot of positive human contact in his/her life on a daily basis, instead of griping about how unappreciated you are. Sometimes we forget that we might be the only person that day who will touch them, or speak to them. Even if it is dressing or brushing their hair. Take pride in that, look at it as a small gift you can give to mankind. Whatever it takes to make you excited about your work.

Offer to help or observe the nurse do some advanced care, you'll learn something new and they'll appreciate another set of hands. Observe and report changes in their condition, people will notice you care about your responsibilities. And remember what you've seen and learned and GO TO NURSING SCHOOL.

Take one class at time until you can go full time. Advance yourself. Then you'll have an advantage over all those trixies who graduate from school with no experience aside from thier clinicals.

Anyway, Lay off the nurses, we really don't know their jobs until we have that kind of responsibility on our shoulders.

This sounds pretentious and I don't mean it to be, but if you are not part of the Solution you are part of the Problem. Remember it doesn't cost anything to keep your compassion intact. Don't let a few negative people stop you from doing what you love as a career.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents, I have to go to work.

It is difficult to take pride in your work. when you have people constantly telling you that all you do is wipe butts and drool off of people.