My experience as a NS and CNA

Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN · Sep 15, 2014

"I can see that nurses on my unit do not do cna work. I greatly have much respect for CNA's, sometimes i wonder how some CNA's have been doing this for 10+ years. It boggles my mind. When I'm a RN, I certainly will look after and help my CNA's. I'm certainly not above them. They work hard and are dedicated. I've learned this being just 4 days on the job as a CNA"

I felt the same way when I was a nursing student, but after I started working as a nurse, my perspective changed greatly. While it's true that there are some nurses who just don't like to help, I don't think that applies to the majority. When you're an RN, you will find that you have a lot less time to "look after and help" CNAs than you would like to have. Nursing looks like "easy" work until you actually have to do it.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Sep 16, 2014

It's not about a nurse being "above" doing CNA work. Nurses have a lot on their plates and the reasons that CNAs are hired is to do the stuff a nurse just can't get to. CNAs basically do ADLs for the patients. Nurses have charting, med passes, teaching, interventions, wound care, the list goes on and on. They do all of the stuff a CNA cannot do. I would think as a nursing student you would understand the responsibility that the nurses have. You are ready to quit after 4 days? Good luck trying to be a nurse.

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2014

I work as a CNA in a LTC facility. Count yourself lucky that you landed a hospital position, where you only have 7-13 patients. I have, on more occasions than I wish to admit, had 32 residents to look after, none of whom can do anything for themselves. Generally, I have 18 residents and our nurses don't help because their own resident load is larger.

I do not regret my decision to do this line of work before completing my nursing degree. I've learned so much, and I know it will make me a better nurse. Stick with it, lest you be the nurse who believes it above them to do that kind of work. In LTC, you can always tell the ones who were CNA's before. I don't think it would be any different in any other setting.

prettyboyswag · Sep 16, 2014

32 is disastrously dangerous. I would quit that in a heart beat. How do you manage to take care of 32 patients w/o compromising patient safety??? The facility you work for i think should be fined and reported for unsafe patient to staffing ratios.

beckyboo1, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2014

32 is disastrously dangerous. I would quit that in a heart beat. How do you manage to take care of 32 patients w/o compromising patient safety??? The facility you work for i think should be fined and reported for unsafe patient to staffing ratios.

You would quit that in a heartbeat, leaving all the other CNAs to take up your slack? Not to mention leaving the patients with even less care. Yeah, way to go... :rolleyes:

cd365c · Sep 17, 2014

I would say if you don't enjoy the hospital setting as a CNA, how are you going to enjoy being a nurse? It is your first week. Give yourself some time to get used to the work. It will get a little easier after getting used to it.

But, honestly if you don't see yourself in the hospital, I wouldn't continue down the road as a nurse. It is one thing to not enjoy the nursing home because of the understaffing, total care CNA's do, and often angry/ difficult residents. But, as I got into the hospital, I realized that I would fit in great.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2014

As the RN, I am allowed to do everything that a CNA can do.

But when we flip the coin, the CNA is not allowed to do everything that the RN can do due to legalities and issues surrounding scope of practice.

So if the RN spends an inordinate amount of time showering, toileting, feeding, grooming and dressing patients, (s)he falls behind on the legally timed tasks of physical assessment, medication administration, documentation, care planning, and so on.

The RN who falls behind gets to stay 1 to 2 hours past the end of the shift catching up, whereas I've never seen a CNA stay behind to catch up in almost a decade of nursing.

The grass is not always greener on the other side. We'd learn so many lessons if we walked a mile in each other's shoes.

runsalot · Sep 17, 2014

I am a new nurse, and I worked on my floor as a tech (cna) for 15 months while in school. We also have a lot of total care patients. As a nurse I may not do as much tolieting, and getting people out of bed or feeding them, but I still do. A nurse does every thing a nurse assistant does plus more. Personally. I like my floor and my patient population. I am glad I am starting my career there.

You also may not have found your right area of nursing. You may like peds or babies more. (They patients still poop, but at least they are smaller) or mother baby. Explore your options.

phoenoryker · Sep 17, 2014

Stay strong.... And when you make it to being a RN...You can take pride in helping the CNA's and motivating them to become RN's

emmy27 · Sep 17, 2014

I worked as a tech during nursing school and I empathize with your feelings of frustration and exhaustion. It *is* back-breaking work, and it's poorly paid.

That said- I think you should either stick it out for a bit longer, or seriously reconsider your goal to be an RN.

It is usually true that a CNA on a unit with the ratios you describe is doing more of the ADLs and cleaning/turning overall than any individual nurse, but I promise you, the nurses are doing some too. They're also doing everything that falls outside the CNA scope, which is a LOT of work- more than is immediately obvious when your whole world is taken up with the seemingly impossible task of keeping all these confused elderly people clean, fed, and in bed.

7-14 patients for a CNA is a pretty typical ratio- on some units I worked, 16 was the "good" CNA assignment when we were at full staffing, and at bad staffing the CNA might have 32. Or the CNA might not even exist, in which case all patient care devolved on to the nurses. The nurses would take on more of the care in those situations (usually either doing their own turning/changing so I could get vitals on everyone, or vice versa) but that's not an abnormal workload for anyone in healthcare- as a nurse, your patient load may be reduced, but your number of duties will rise dramatically. I've also have 7 and even 8 patient assignments as both a floor and ED nurse, and as you might imagine, in situations where the nurses have that many patients, CNA staffing is usually not at a level where we can offload all our ADLs- there may not even be a CNA. Which means you could- in fact you very likely will- sometimes find yourself in a situation as an RN where you are responsible for toileting, turning, bathing, feeding, walking, AND assessing, medicating, changing dressings, charting, talking to family, providing patient education, taking telephone orders, rounding with the interdisciplinary team, starting IVs, managing drains, admitting new patients, discharging your current ones, etc for the same number of patients you currently find overwhelming as a CNA.

But wait! There's good news- you will get better at all this stuff. As impossible as it seemed to me at the time I was actually working as a CNA, by the time I was working as an RN, I jumped at the occasional chance to work a CNA shift with 16-32 patients on my unit for my RN salary. All the pay and so much less stress? Yes please! And I handled shifts where we had no CNA and we had 7 or 8 patient assignments with a level of competence I couldn't have imagined during my first few shell-shocked shifts as a CNA.

It does get better as *you* get better, and it is incredibly valuable experience one which you will draw as a practicing RN. Alternately, you will find out you really do just loathe direct patient care before you've sunk too much time and effort in to becoming a nurse who hates her job just as much as you've hated your first four days of nurse assisting. Either way, it's worth it to stay a little longer and see how things go.

Jessica.31791 · Sep 17, 2014

Judging by these other posts, I am extremely lucky to have gotten a position on my floor. The nurses will always help me in bathing, changing, turning, ambulating, etc. a patient. That being said, sometimes they are just too busy, and you have to understand that, they do have a lot of other tasks to be doing. If you cannot complete the task that you are required to do by yourself, without compromising patient safety or your own back, then DO NOT do it. Your managers would probably take the patient not getting bathed that day over the patient falling/you getting hurt, any day. Make sure you communicate this to the nurses, as well as the next shift. Don't leave work intentionally for the next shift, try to recruit all your resources (other CNA & nurses) to help you (and make sure you explain why you need their help) before leaving that day.

As far as questioning if you really want to become a nurse...I was having those same thoughts recently. I was questioning if I made the right career choice. I didn't really "feel" for my patients as I thought I would as a CNA, and the nursing role didn't look any more appealing to me. Last night I floated to the NICU and all those feelings that I thought I would have when I started working in a hospital, came to me. I really felt like i needed to help and be an advocate for those babies- which is something I have never felt before. Stick with it, there are so many different areas of nursing (and make sure you explore all of them before giving up) that you are bound to find your niche.