Night shift, CNAs and homework

Nursetastic · Nov 2, 2011

Awesome post, Nursetastic!!! You would be cool to work with:)

Come to the dark side! I'm in the minority. Our hospital/department continue to let our CNA's/techs get away with laziness. :rolleyes: :uhoh3:

caliotter3 · Nov 2, 2011

I thought I would be able to do homework at my first full time night shift CNA job while in school. Boy was I wrong about that! I ended up never doing any school work at all. I was the only CNA going to school, so there was no problem anyway. The one CNA that you describe who is skirting around the rules and taking work time to do school work, is creating the atmosphere of "no outside activities", with her lack of consideration and work ethic. I don't blame the institution for making that rule and enforcing it if someone is going to make it necessary. Unfortunately this ruins it for those who would not abuse the privilege.

Sparrowhawk · Nov 2, 2011

Everytime I bring something to work on...it's the busiest night of the week..then I don't bring it....it's slow...so it doesnt work for me

mali2008 · Nov 2, 2011

I worked as cna during my nursing program and i did take my hwk to work....BUT my patients were my priority during work. i did hwk only if i was done with all my duties and everyone was sleeping, and if there was a call light, i stopped what i was doing and took care of my pts. I never ignored a call light because of my hwk.

rnccf2007, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

Where I work there are 5 of the 10 CNAs who regularly work night shift that are going on to school. These CNAs bring their homework on a regular basis to do during work hours when things are slow or on break. If they are fortunate enough to have down time during the shift and all other work is completed I see no problem with doing homework. Some other nurses that I work with feel differently and have not allowed homework to be done on their floors.
This is becoming more of an issue due to one of the CNAs now trying to hide out during the shift to do her homework when she should be on the floor. Yes, she has been spoken to regarding this but it seemed to have little to no effect. There has also been other problems with taking turns answering call lights during "homework time". Again addressed and issue is resolved for now. I should probably add that I work in a long term care facility.
How is the homework issue handled at your facility? Should they be allowed to do homework on the floor or only on break, opinions please!

To be honest, this post makes me livid. At the hospital where I work, night shift is just as busy as day shift and were are given less nursing assistants than day shift. In addition, many of our patients are elderly and some suffer from "sundowners." Therefore, every available employee (nurses and nursing assistants alike) have an essential commitment to care for our patients...no time for homework while on the timeclock! However, two of our midnight nursing assistants are going to school to become RN's. One wears headphones all night, has his laptop constantly in reach, and refuses to answer call lights and perform patient care unless he is threatened (this is known by management and stated that one more complaint will cost him his job, *****). Won't even mention the other. To be honest, I don't care if someone does their homework at work, AS LONG AS THEY ARE PERFORMING THEIR JOB. Scary thing, is that these CTAs will someday become nurses. Incidentally, I work full time too and pursuing a MS, and do my "homework" at home, where it belongs.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Nov 3, 2011

Lets face it, there are some nights where there is just not much that needs to be done. I see no issue with people getting homework done. Our night shift aides are all going to nursing school so we are valuable resources to tap as well.

rnccf2007, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

IMHO, there is never NOT enough work to keep our aides/techs busy. I work ICU so a nurse somewhere can always use an extra hand with bed baths, BM clean up, trash emptying, etc. We have open visiting hours and our unit is locked, so they could be answering phones and unlocking doors. We are always low on supplies so they SHOULD be stocking and running to central supply for things when they are needed. We always have patients who are trying to get out of bed r/t confusion or ETOH and our hospital does not "staff" sitters, so our aides could be helping keep a better eye on those patients. In short, I am one of those nurses who hates seeing anyone (aides or nurses) doing homework or playing on a cell phone when I know (and so do they) that there really is enough work to keep us all busy. We are not paid to be doing our own work, we are paid for patient care; and a large part of adequate patient care revolves around things I mentioned above.

If I could give you a million kudos, I would.

Thanks

rnccf2007, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

Lets face it, there are some nights where there is just not much that needs to be done. I see no issue with people getting homework done. Our night shift aides are all going to nursing school so we are valuable resources to tap as well.

Not on my unit, it is always crazy and there are no nights when not much needs to be done. I want your job! Getting homework done is a null issue. However, most nurses on our unit try to help and encourage our nursing assistants who are going to school to become RNs (allowing them to follow us, explaining).

PediLove2147, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

I used to do homework when I worked nights. Usually 12a-4a was quiet on the floor so I would get some studying in. None of the nurses minded. If they needed me, they knew where I was.

If they are not answering call bells because it is "homework time" then that is a problem. Patients come first. That CNA should not be hiding out either, I hated when I needed help and I couldn't find the other CNA on with me.

Riseupandnurse · Nov 3, 2011

Sorry, I don't know how there can be no work and there is time for CNAs or nurses to concentrate on homework. Could count on my fingers how many times I have ever seen it happen. Certain people have a habit of frequently thinking there is nothing to do, and spend a percentage of each shift gossiping, playing with cell phones, etc. Others never sit and still are running overshift. It can't be that the former always have easier patients; they see what they want to see.

rnccf2007, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

Sorry, I don't know how there can be no work and there is time for CNAs or nurses to concentrate on homework. Could count on my fingers how many times I have ever seen it happen. Certain people have a habit of frequently thinking there is nothing to do, and spend a percentage of each shift gossiping, playing with cell phones, etc. Others never sit and still are running overshift. It can't be that the former always have easier patients; they see what they want to see.

Thank you for this comment. Beginning to feel like a B and perhaps a minority here, which I did not wish to portray. I am proud to be the latter.

Thanks,

Patti

PediLove2147, BSN, RN · Nov 3, 2011

People know what happens on the unit they work on, no others. I was a great CNA (I won't be modest here) and if there was work to be done I was doing it but sometimes there was NO work. All patients in bed, everything stocked, checked in with every RN - I guess I could have mopped the floors but they would mean Housekeeping would be bored so yes, I did my homework! It depends what kind of unit you work on. Some are busier then others. I floated occasionally and yeah, sometimes I didn't have time to do homework but that didn't mean I was working any harder.

Sorry, I am just sick of people going on about how people aren't doing their jobs when they have no idea. If I have learned anything from this board it is that while we have the same title we do not have the same jobs.