Nurse being above emptying a foley catheter bag??!!

[LPNfurever]

I am a new grad lpn who thankfully found a job at a LTC facility. On occasion I also work as an aid; one afternoon, I had asked the nurse if she had emptied a foley catheter bag as it contained very little in it. She looked at me as if I were crazy and said "Oh, I dont do that" in a tone that was arrogant. She walked away from me as I stood there with my mouth open dumbstruck. I dont consider myself above anything that involves pt care.

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

She's probably "biding her time" until she can get her ARNP.

Typical...

[CherryAmes_RN]

i promise all of you, i will NEVER EVER be like this.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

If I'm with a patient and there is something that needs doing, even if it's not technically in my area, I do it. I do mainly Ortho, and I've changed colostomy wafers on patients that had feces caked underneath the old one. I clean patients post-op(not just the part we were working on), and sometimes you can tell that the area in question hadn't been attended to in a long time. I figure, that is MY patient and it is bad form, IMO, to send your patient to PACU a mess.

Then again, I've been known to mop floors on occasion so I'm not one of those arrogant types.

[nursejoy1, ASN, RN]

In my opinion, there is no task "beneath" a nurse. I feel that ANY task r/t patient care/comfort is part of the nurse's duty. I have and will continue to do anything my patients need. ( and the wonderful CNAs I work with really appreciate it) That being said, sometimes your "Nursing" tasks must take priority and you can't do all you would like and have to delegate some to the aides.

[lpnmommy24]

When I was a tech and going through nursing school, I had a nurse come find me while I was on my lunch break, clocked out by the way, to tell me that my patient needed me. She didn't tell me what was needed, etc. She then went on a smoke break. When I walked into the room, I found OUR tube-fed patient had vomited tube feeding. She was covered in emesis from her eyebrows to her knees. I was sooooo ****** off that this nurse was very unconcerned for her patient. I have never and will never do that to an aide who works under my supervision. I have come out of a room when I have had fifty more meds to give to 5 more patients and asked the aide to help our post-surgical, but ambulatory patient to the potty while I continue to give out meds.

That is absolutely horrible. I most definately would have reported her! i don't care how many meds I have to give out, if someone needs to use the potty or vomitted on themself, I would def. help out! I'm glad you do the same!

[Moogie]

I have had other run in's with this nurse while working under her as an aid(but being her equal as an lpn). I think she is out to get me. I had a pt request a bath after lunch because of pain but she overheard this and felt the need to convince the pt to get it before because it was easier to do at that time. Im thinking, woman, what are you doing? I only had 3 pt to lay down after lunch so I would have had plenty of time to do a bath, plus she has no clue about what the routine is like on that hall(from a CNA perspective). Then she says come get me when you do the bath because he has cream that needs put on. So I tell her when the bath is going to occur and when I go looking for her to get the cream, I discover she decided to take her break! ((((head desk))) So i just decide to avoid her and play CNA for the day and tell her the critical things as they arise.....

Please help me to understand your situation. You work as an LPN at the facility at some times but other times you work as a CNA?

I would not be surprised if that is part of the personal conflict you are having with this co-worker. On some level, it appears that she is threatened by you. Did you work with her prior to finishing practical nursing school? She is also an LPN, correct? Maybe she is giving you a hard time because she can't shift from treating you as a subordinate to treating you as an equal---or maybe in your eyes, in spite of your education, you're still "below" her. It sounds like a heckava mess! (BTW, do other staff seem to have difficulty shifting from when you work as a CNA to when you work as an LPN? I have seen that happen with TMAs and the role shift seems to be difficult on a lot of people.)

And from your description, she doesn't sound like a very good nurse. No one is "above" emptying a catheter bag, urinal or bed pan, helping someone to the bathroom, or answering lights. I did that all the time when I worked as an RN in LTC. I would, however, delegate those duties if I was busy with something that had to be done at a certain time, such as pass meds or check blood sugars. It's called teamwork---and I think the OP's colleague is forgetting that.

ETA: Sorry to change the topic a bit but you may want to consider getting a full-time LPN position as soon as you can so you no longer have to work in the CNA role. I believe that, even through you might be working as a CNA, you are still legally held to the standards of an LPN because you have your license. Additionally, there could be issues that crop up in your facility such as someone expecting you to do LPN duties when you are working as a CNA---such as pass PRN meds or do treatments. There's a potential for your employer to get you to do LPN work at CNA wages. Not saying this to scare you but to give you a head's up on what could happen.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

In a little over four years as a nurse, I may have emptied 2-3 foley bags. It isn't beneath me, but the aides usually do it, and it's pretty rare that one needs emptied right away. I'll help a patient toilet, because that's the kind of thing that can't wait. I'll do a bath if it's needed. I'll empty the wastebasket.

I'm not flaming the OP, but on the flip side, I've had aides who seem to think I'm uppity when I'm just busy. One instance that really got me: I spent, like, twenty minutes, getting a new IV on a really tough stick. Ended up having to cut the ID band off to use that wrist (actually, a little above the wrist, but the band was in the way.) So I ask the new aide coming on at 2300 to put a new band on when she did her ID checks at the start of her shift (while I finished my 2200 meds, half of which were late.) So another aide, going off but not involved with that patient, informs me that, "You're allowed to put ID bands on."

I shoulda said, "Yes, and you're obviously allowed to sit on your butt half the night and tell nurses what to do, but that doesn't mean it's the best use of your time."

But I'm not denying there are some nurses who abuse the aides.

[dscrn]

my response here is, whoever removed the band is responsible to replace it....what do others think about this?

[MAISY, RN-ER, BSN, RN]

my response here is, whoever removed the band is responsible to replace it....what do others think about this?

While in a perfect world the person who removed it might be replacing it, are you saying that the aide had any right to question the nurse's request? Furthermore a med pass that was already late needed to be performed...

What many aides fail to realize is that usually they are not asked to perform tasks because we don't feel like doing it, but because we are so overwhelmed with the responsibilities foisted upon us by management and systems that understaff their facilities. Personally, If I had my druthers I would make tech responsibilities competitive in my ER-available to only paramedic and nursing students who need a referral for their eventual chosen profession.

Additionally, nursing has incorporated so many tasks and responsibilities that used to be on the residents and even doctors that performing as a "Florence Nightingale" is sometimes impossible; making aides so necessary to good patient care. Several bad assistants can make both your and the patient's day a hell.....if it isn't a good fit, they shouldn't be hired or kept! As aides are you aware that we can be in trouble for late medication? delays in care? not noting changes in condition? and a myriad of other issues.....the foley bag while important for I&O is a task.....not the priority of a busy nurse....but the basic job of an aide.

M

[sheilagh]

I was just wondering,why do you do shifts as a C.N.A???

I am not trying to downplay the C.N.A's,

was just curious why as an L.P.N you would do shifts for less money...???

[BmoreCRNP]

Good grief. I just can't stand stuff like what I'm reading here. I remember a nurse that I used to work with treated the aides like servants. If she was in the room with a patient and the patient needed a bedpan or urinal, she would go find the aide and ask them to do it. I was like ***? You can't do it? If you aren't doing something else, there's no reason you can't put a patient on the bedpan!

[dscrn]

my comment about re-banding a pt was strictly for correct identification of the pt,,,did not mean to make this a nurse vs cna thing...