this is for all nurses not just Pittsburgh area nurses!!!!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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So Nursing Assistants aren't considered "Nurses". If that's the case, then what are we considered? Certified ass wipers? I am a C.N.A. and am considered a "Nurse". We don't get the Respect we deserve. Just because, as some would say "we aren't Real Nurses", then who would do the "dirty" work for you?? We spend more time caring for these residents, that we know when something is wrong when they can't tell us, then we report it to the "Nurse". We know every little mark on the residents, that when they get a bed sore, we report that. I am shocked that there are still "Nurses" that feel like this towards N.A.'s. Gawd forbid that if a R.N. or LPN had to go back to doing the job as a N.A. :rolleyes:

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sWolfie, We are considered "employees" and that's all! We don't have the schooling behind us to be considered anything but an "ass wiper". I will be starting school in the fall for my LPN and I can tell you that it won't be beneath me to wipe an ass. To truely appreciate a NA, you have to have been one or in my opinion you'll never understand what we go through. We are only there to do someone else's dirty work.

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Hurt feelings aside...

we have to be vigilant in watching how we are portrayed in the media. Call the newspaper that prints something that isn't the whole truth, call Letterman when he says something dumb (about nurses - please don't jam the phone lines ;))

Wolfie, in Canada PCA's have about 6 weeks training I have no idea about the States. LPN's have 12months and ARE considered nurses. I am not familiar with the CNA designation, but presumably, the N stands for nurse. Sorry, but a personal care attendant is not a nurse, they are a caregiver only. I think staceracer object to the designation of the person in the piece as nurse because it damages all of our professional reputations.

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SWolfie.. The "N" in CNA stands for nursing or nurses, Hence Certified Nurses/Nursing Assistant. I work with a lot of CNA's as well as MA's that call themselves "Nurse" I cringe every time I hear them call themself "Nurse". They are not nurses but health care providers that "Assist" nurses with patient care. They have not had the years of clinical and theoretical training we "Nurses" do. In other words we "Nurses" are the ones that will be called on the carpet when we delegate improperly or make a decision that is improper. And yes we are "Ass wipers" too. I still get my hands(and other body parts) dirty aftet 25 years of nursing. I do agree with you that you are the eyes and ears of patient care. If not for you we "Nurses" would know very little about the patients we care for. You "Assist" us in ways you will probably never know the importance of.

I hope you are are happy doing you "CNA" work.

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So is it unheard of for a "Nurse" to molest a patient??? Get real people, there are crazy people in EVERY profession, priests are even molesting kids. If we can't trust a priest who can we trust? In Massachusetts a Nurse was convicted of killing her patients, does that mean ALL nurses are killers? No. A CNA stands for "Certified Nursing Assistant" a PCA and a PCT are the same as a CNA, just called something different, but you need a CNA certificate to be a PCA or PCT.

The point is that if your a crackpot your a crackpot and the initials after your name don't make you a decent person.

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I missed that. I suspect that this is an example of inflamatory news baiting. They do it all the time. It works so they continue to do it even when they get a lot of complaints. I have read many print media articles bashing the policy. Another thing you are witnessing is the convicting of a person of a crime by the newsmedia without a trial. About 15 years ago there was a story about a nurse who happened to be a male who was accused by a patient of molestation. It was plastered all over the media for two days. Later on I found out by the grape vine that the charges were investigated and dropped. Turns out that the person who made the accusation had a hystory of charging every male she ever met with the same thing. I was not suprised because I also heard through the grapevine that the chances of the charges being true were extremely slim. I had to hear it from the grapevine because I never heard one word from the TV or newspaper about the charges being dropped. I wonder how that poor nurse ever put his life back together again. That does not mean that it could never happen, it just means most people will think it was true if they saw it on TV.

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SWolfie,

CNA's are part of the team, there is no doubt about that, but they do not have the skills or training that a nurse does. Thus the term was coined, nurses (nursing) ASSISTANT. Meaning assisting the nurse. I really hope that you are not practicing nursing outside of the scope of being certified. That not only opens your facility to a lawsuit, but yourself also.

Here is a job description for a CNA:NURSE ASSISTANT

Nurse assistants are the members of the health care team that are responsible for giving personal care to the resident. They spend more time with the resident than the other members of the team. This gives them an opportunity to give extra support and understanding to the resident. They may work in an acute care hospital or in long term care. Nurse assistants are required to complete training that meets the OBRA 1987 guidelines. They must also pass a test and receive a nursing assistant certification. Nursing assistants are responsible for the following:

Admit, discharge, and transfer residents;

Provide AM and PM care;

Provide oral hygiene;

Offer the bedpan and urinal;

Understand the seriousness of impaction;

Understand the use of enemas;

Bathe residents;

Give perineal care;

Give good skin care;

Perform range of motion;

Provide body alignment and positioning;

Care for hail and nails;

Shave the resident;

Make beds;

Assist residents to move and ambulate;

Apply prosthetic devices and supports;

Assist with feeding the resident;

Record intake and output

Care for the incontinent resident;

Understand tubes and catheters;

Collect specimens

Measure hight and weight

Take seizure precautions;

Give stoma care; and

Do postmortem care.

No where in that description does it say that you can diagnose or treat a patient. Yes, you are the eyes and ears for the nurses, but that it the extent of it. Please if you are practicing nursing in any way, shape or form STOP NOW! If you want to be a LPN, ADN, or BSN then go back to school and get the education that it requires!

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Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I had to pick up my jaw from the floor in reading the response to this...how CNA's consider themselves nurses!

I have NOTHING to say about this, as I am at a COMPLETE loss of words. But let me say one thing, until you have gone to school for your RN, and perhaps a BSN, and sat for boards, I suggest you keep quiet about the whole issue. There is NO comparison.

A CNA is a Certified Nurse's ASSISTANT. You assist the nurse. You are not a nurse.

If you walk around and practice in this manner, that you are "nurses," then you scare the hell outta me.

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WoW!! Looks like something got started here. No, I am not practicing anything. I am going to school for LPN, and I'm not some sort of crackpot either. I was only stating the place where I work at, the N.A's are considered "Nurses". I didn't mean to get a frenzy started here either. Did you know this, that N.A's can pass meds and do LPN's work in a personal care home? I wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't legal.

Since I'm not consider a nurse, does this mean I can't come to this site?

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I normally don't get in to debates like this but I too had to pick my jaws up after reading some of these post. :eek: I Was a PCA before becoming a NURSE and I by no means considered myself a nurse then. I agree your job is veryimportant and with out nursing assistance, some places could not survive. As for me, well I do everthing from feed patients to a@# wiping to dispensing drugs and running codes. You see, we don't have PCA's or NA's. We "NURSES" do it all ourselves. :eek: Working in critical care, we are also the eyes and ears for the doctors. They depend on us to relay pertinet information about the patient, give drugs based on protocols and update them on patient conditions. For that matter, nurses in specialized areas usually know more about their area than the "general" or family pratice docs. But that still doesn't make us DOCTORS.I agree with you that nurses aids don't get the respect you deserve. Your job is very important but you don't have the schooling or the knowlege to be called a nurse. :( This angers me very much. I went to school 4 LONG years and put in countless clinical hours (for which I got no pay) to be called a nurse.

[ May 19, 2001: Message edited by: CC NRSE ]

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Originally posted by sWolfie:

So Nursing Assistants aren't considered "Nurses". If that's the case, then what are we considered? Certified ass wipers? I am a C.N.A. and am considered a "Nurse". We don't get the Respect we deserve. Just because, as some would say "we aren't Real Nurses", then who would do the "dirty" work for you?? We spend more time caring for these residents, that we know when something is wrong when they can't tell us, then we report it to the "Nurse". We know every little mark on the residents, that when they get a bed sore, we report that. I am shocked that there are still "Nurses" that feel like this towards N.A.'s. Gawd forbid that if a R.N. or LPN had to go back to doing the job as a N.A. :rolleyes:

Greetings All Nurses,

StaceRacer1 is absolutetlycorrect a CNA, PCA, PCT, or whatever is not a licensed nurse who has completed a nusring school, sat and passed boards! I am a LPN and I respect and know what these positions are and they are not nurses! You have the training to assist the nurse but there is much you were not trained to do or the rationales for the care given by you. In addition you did not have to take a pharmocology course for certification. You are considered ancillary care providers under the nursing department. ;)

Peace,

Have a Blessed Day,

Jami :)

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"Nurse assistants are the members of the health care team that are responsible for giving personal care to the resident."

Members of the healthcare TEAM? Then why aren't we treated as such? I for one do not practice nursing. I don't have the training for that. And Suzy K, your reply (" until you have gone to school for your RN, and perhaps a BSN, and sat for boards, I suggest you keep quiet about the whole issue.") I noticed you didn't include LPNs in your statement, does that mean LPNs aren't nurses either.

The only thing I am against is that we are not treated as a partner in the healthcare profession.

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