mlmckenzie

This was in sarcasm. I would never....A nurse stated that CNA's have no real responsibility and the patients and their care is the Nurses responsibility alone.

As a Nurse, I still feel the exact same way about the CNA/Nurse relationship I did as a CNA.You sound like a great nurse. I was responding sarcastically as someone posted that CNA's have no responsibility. Everything that a CNA does is in my scope as a nurse. I can delegate some of my tasks to my CNA, that does not give me a pass to be lazy, incompetent, and avoid real bedside care. It is by this same token that when a CNA is overwhelmed they do not get to be disrespectful, negligent, or walk off the unit. Come and find me, let me in on what you need and I will help, if I am busy with meds, catheter, IV,etc.. We can call another unit to borrow a CNA for the task, we will work it out so we can have happy,safe, and as healthy as they can be patients....TOGETHER.

I don't dedicate anything to that dump. I dedicate my time and energy to my residents. If I don't then they won't get what they need, Because there isn't enough time or enough me. I am loved and I know it.19 old people love me and should they make it to the creator before me, they WILL give him report and mine will be one of AGAPE LOVE. I understand what it is that you are trying to convey however, my residents pay me with their Social Security, retirement, health insurance, Medicare and medicaid..they are my REAL boss.I will show up for them 100 percent.If I need to give a little back, that is okay, I will always be blessed by blessing others.

You are so right. I have seen this as well. The NOC nurse changes most of the residents because her CNA sleeps all night,every night. The nurse is so tired. It is so crazy, me and her used to talk about me coming to NOC. She has complained to Admin to no avail she even took a picture of the aid sleeping in a patient's recliner and showed admin...their response"we are short staffed" I told the nurse, yeah we are because you don't have an aid.The nurse quit. This is my frustration, we are burning the candle from both ends.The good nurses have lazy aids and the lazy nurses have good aids.

The nurse that trained me to become a CNA pounded professionalism into my class. No matter how lazy she is, no matter how unfair it is, even when I disagree...I just can not find it within me to go against her.She is my nurse and I respect her no matter what. I have advocated for myself and my residents, I tell her I need you to help me turn the patient, she will say I cant because I may hurt my back. When I asked her to please call another unit to see if anyone can help me she says they are all busy....without even asking. Resident is asking for PRN pain med..she won't get up to address the resident resulting in multiple calls for the same thing. There used to be another nurse who knew of the horrors of my situation and would come or send her aid over between 7-8 to help me but that nurse got a better job.

Where is this utopia of a Rockstar team? Im asking for a friend..wink wink. You are correct, Nurses that rock it out need to be celebrated.You and your coworkers are the dream team. The good health care workers often are overworked due to a combination of the lazy workers and unsafe patient loads. I see you and I salute you. I will find my cohesive team..not perfection but just a willingness to pull together to help the patients because at the end of the day it is all about them.

Facility called me and offered me 20.00 hr and a 4000.00 bonus.I declined.It was pretty bad guys.I am not just venting.It was horrible.

Excuse me. I did ask her for help. She didn't out right refuse, instead she wave me away and continued talking on her phone. Furthermore, the facility tells is when we have 1 aid on the unit then no showers are to be done as it takes the aid away from call lights and fall risks....but she made out the shower sheets and delegated me to do them while she continued on the phone. I don't know how many she carts for but it takes her all of 20 minutes on the computer.Medications are passed to 6 residents at 830 and 430pm. I am a fair person.I have had some hard working nurses but for the most part....no. This nurse has never been a CNA. A lot of aids refuse to work with her which is why I was alone.Because she has been working at the facility for 15 yrs...complaints to admin fall on deaf ears. In 16 hrs...she has about 2 hrs of work. Example: DON told her to swap all the residents....she made me do it instead...on TOP of all else I was already doing.I quit last weekend.

My day: I get to work 30 minutes early and stop at the nurse's station, ask my nurse for my vital sheet, census sheet, Q15 paperwork(behavioral unit), and if I have a partner or not. Regardless, Im going to make the outgoing CNA walk the ENTIRE hall with me. It could be JESUS CHRIST, he WILL WALK THE HALL WITH ME before leaving. I check every single brief, every room for cleanliness. Some of the other aids hate me but I don't show up for friends. I don't care about what your kids did, what you will do this weekend, or chit-chat..please give me report, did Mr. Jones have a bm, did Mr. Smith eat at least 50 percent of all meals? How is Mr.Clark feeling since he got the booster yesterday. These are my concerns. They shaped up because I will check a brief and say then and there, Mr. Smith needs to be changed before you leave, Mr Jones needs his shirt changed, this room needs to be tidy before you leave...and I WILL REPORT TO THE NURSE, who will give write-ups. Now when I get there, everyone is dry and clean. My 2 Hoyers are already in their beds watching tv or reading. I perform vitals first, give the nurse the vital sheet, let her know we are going to the shower, then I take clothing into the shower for every resident that has a shower, I shower them ALL. I put on the shower alarm and turn it off to signal my nurse to come to perform a skin check..there are 19 residents and usually just me. I have 5-6 showers a day. It takes me about 2 hrs. After the showers, on 3-11p shift the drink cart comes around 400pm. The residents know to wait for me as I am in the shower room, they are trained well. LOL. I come out of the shower room and pass drinks while the nurse is finishing her med pass. Dinner comes at 430, Then I pass trays. Feed my 3 feeders, pick up trays. Now it is 530ish. Record their intake, chart a little, turn my bed bounds and Hoyer patients, change soiled briefs. 7pm I take the 2 smokers to smoke on our patio.715, I am in the kitchenette(on unit) making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, gathering snacks, pouring juice, milk etc. 800pm I change briefs and assist residents to get into bed while pushing a little cart and passing snacks. 9pm to 930 lunch, if I am lucky. If not, I drink some coffee and keep it moving. 930 I gather the trash out of the unit as I have little bags of soiled briefs sitting right inside each door that I left while I was passing snacks.945/10pm they are all in the bed, I give the remaining paperwork to my nurse. 10 pm I check and change briefs, pushing my little cart, I pass ice, water, good night hugs, blow kisses, spray my body spray in their rooms to keep me near as they sleep(they love this), tell them I love them because they are Gods creation and to be nice while I am away. 11pm finish charting and give walking round report to oncoming aid. This is a behavioral unit with 19 male residents. There are fights, sometimes but usually I can calm them down. There is confusion, depression, and tears. I have cried in the bathroom, nurses station, and every crevice of the unit at some point. I feel their frustrations, sadness, loneliness, and depression. It is hard not to love these little old men. They teach healthcare workers about skills, medications, the human body, etc. but they should teach emotional strength because if you have a heart, it will break every day all day. Life is so unfair, the least the facility can do is staff no matter the cost of an agency. They deserve great care. With so many health care workers quitting, the facility should do everything they can to support the Nurses and Aids who show up.

Admin does not have a clue about what it takes to take care of people. They have grand and unrealistic expectations. In a facility, THERE MUST BE 2 staff members for Hoyers. So I would have my CNA's put the Hoyers to bed, together, I could care less what admin has to say about one leaving for a few moments to ensure safety measures are followed. If a resident falls from Hoyer or is injured while a CNA is operating alone, that same admin will not take any accountability and fire that CNA and interrogate you like the CIA. (they don't want the lawsuit and will throw anyone under the bus). OR you can let them know that you will put on the resident light when you come in to pass the medications to that resident, they run in and operate Hoyer. 2 must be present. You do not give your CNA's any direct order to perform an unsafe task, it can land you in a meeting with the state fighting for your own license that you worked so hard for. If possible, snacks should be placed on the cart and can be passed during med pass. Pudding, yogurt, ice cream, applesauce, keep it simple. It can be used as a bargaining tool for residents that try to refuse meds. Old people love soft sweets. Showers with one CNA are not an option and I would personally argue this with the admin. Admin stated that a CNA must be on the floor at all times, I would argue that means that said CNA can not shower residents because it takes her/him off the floor. I would have the CNA's perform bed baths, nail care, shave, linen changes. When residents and their families start to complain, the facility will get help. Concerning the unfairness of putting the residents down and getting them up. STOP. I would have the CNA's to put the residents to bed but they would not get anyone up in the morning, period. The facility allows this preferential treatment for the day shift because the day shift has to feed people, well, it is really because they want to keep up appearances that the residents are active. Meanwhile, there are cleaning crews, dining crews, maintenance, admin, more staff during the day. ANYONE can assist in getting a resident out of bed. ANY STAFF can standby as a Hoyer is operated. Nights do not have this support. I would leave every single one of them that I had to put to bed after dinner in bed. Ensure that they are all dry and comfortable but in bed. If the resident was dressed for bed but not in bed, I would have them dressed for the day but lying in bed. If they were not dressed for bed and not in bed, then they would not be dressed for the day and still in bed. It is not your teams fault that the day shift is managing time poorly. They do this because they know that they don't have to put them to bed or get them up. They are essentially just serving people, not actually servicing the people. Talk with the day nurses and let them know that you find it unbalanced and it has a negative impact on resident care and quality of life. Be professional, be assertive, be fair to yourself and your aids. Advocate for your patients and your team even in the face of adversity. I would suggest that ALL the CNA's do Hoyer transfers in and out of bed at shift change. Because Days and Nights are both there, they should do this during rounds as to ensure that it doesn't fall on one shift and 2 are present for resident safety. If that means coming in a few minutes early or staying a few minutes late, well, it is what it is. To support this, the day shift should pass trays to the Hoyers first, or they will finish dinner in bed. Day shift should also shower all the Hoyer lifts as they are up anyway. If they have a problem with restructuring to ensure patient comfort and safety, take it to admin, where it will probably fall on deaf ears, but you document every single encounter. It is okay to vent, these are valid issues. We absorb so much negative energy we need to release it to make room for the crap that is to come.

Communication is key.Talk with your CNA's. Let them know that you see their hard work and appreciate them.Buy them lunch every now and then. Be vulnerable by being transparent letting them know your load is heavy as well and while you may not be physically exhausted the mental toll is just as serious. You guys need to work together to manage the time as a team.52 patients is UNSAFE for a nurse and the facility should be ashamed of themselves.Let your CNA's shadow a little bit over time, let them take a little peek so they can see how hard it is to NOT make a med error with this pt load.You guys will be fine because you are here trying to make the relationship better.

I read it correctly the first time. I was just advising of my experiences and opinion. A CNA shouldn't give "respect" to a nurse for that nurse doing what is in their scope. A CNA should give respect to a nurse because the nurse is their superior, no matter the letters after their name. I understand exactly what you are saying. In today's climate, more and more responsibilities are put on the nurse and there are so many nurses that refuse to perform personal care, so if an aid gets a nurse who is willing to perform personal care, be thankful. But this entire thought process is what is wrong with the LTC industry. It is a team effort even though some tasks seem that they can't be shared, they can. Passing meds, while the CNA can not, the CNA can support the nurse with resistant patients by encouraging them to comply. Ensuring that they are not agitated before med pass etc. Making sure that the Nurse has ice, water, cups, spoons, med cups, empty trash, applesauce, pudding on cart. It is the little things that go a long way. If you can't pass meds at least you can contribute this way is what I tell my fellow CNA's. Perform vitals as soon as shift starts, this helps with parameters for blood pressures, Blood glucose etc. so the nurse is not blindsided at med pass. If we want to be a great team, we all have to be a great teammate, and try to empathize with each other. You know what it is like because you have been a CNA, these make the best nurses in my experiences.

While there is never an excuse to be insubordinate, let me say that I AM a CNA/CMT and I know the job of an LPN. A big part of the issue is the attitude of some nurses.Example: You said if they have a nurse that will help they should give respect....WELL, excuse me nurse but these are YOUR PATIENTS not mine, remember I don't have any responsibilities.These are your vitals, your skin checks, your standards of care.The problem is, is that some nurses continue to think that personal care is the job of the CNA ONLY. When in fact it is YOUR license on the line, these tasks are within your scope and ultimately your responsibility too, this is why a nurse must be staffed in facility.A CNA is an assistant/aid.Someone to HELP the nurse with personal care.Great that you help someone that is helping you with your patients ADL's.As for a CNA being disrespectful, mouthy, refusing that aid should be written up and or terminated.It is bad nurses that created these types of CNA's that have become burned out and have a bad attitude. When the mass of LPN's start to act as a team, LTC will change for the better.I never fight with the nurse...although I have had lazy ones, one that ate all day, one that would tell us he is going to sleep and not to wake him unless someone was coding and then had us make a bed and he went to sleep..EVERY night, disappearing ones,a couple being intimate in the supply closet almost every shift.I just do what I gotta do because all the darn fighting negatively impacts patient care.I cant make grown people do right so I control what I can, me.I do as much as I can, make no excuses, love my LTC old people, I bring them food...cupcakes, ice cream, mcdonalds, and sugar free treats for my diabetics..It is a little something from the outside and what I can do to try to make them smile.I have been wet from showering residents...looks like we both showered...pooped on, projectile vomit...had to wear 2 facility gowns one in front one in back while my scrubs were in laundry, I couldnt go home at that moment, my pissy old person was sick I was the only aid on the floor the nurse...nope she wouldve just melted away.We do what we must for our residents, often we are the family.

I am a Certified Med Tech as well as a CNA. I perform all of the duties of a LPN with the exception of inserting/removing catheters. Nursing home LPN's for the most part have disappointed me as a nursing student. As a CNA I have worked 3 consecutive 16-hour shifts on a lockdown unit with 19 incontinent male, behavioral residents. The LPN did not change anyone, did not feed any of the 3 feeders, did not shower any of the 6 residents per day, did not perform vitals on the 9 patients... I did it all alone. She did nothing other than chart and pass medications once per shift, and sit at the nursing station cackling on her phone. Well, according to the state of ARIZONA, these are ALL not only within a nurses scope of practice but their responsibility. A CNA is an ASSISTANT. He/She is to ASSIST the nurse with personal care, most nurses for some reason seem to think that these tasks are beneath them or not in their scope and responsibility. With the current shortages, and even more post COVID, imagine no CNA or PCT... Think about that the next time you sit at the nurses station while your CNA works their butt off. Think about if the industry went back to pre CNA era and you had to do it ALL. Answer a light. Pass water. Change a brief. I'm done. I will not go back to facility for a bunch of ungrateful nurses who spent way too much money on fig scrubs and are afraid of a little poop. I will laugh hysterically as they go to social media crying about being understaffed. For the way most of them have abused CNA's and neglected patients, they deserve to work alone. My heart aches for the residents that are stuck with these entitled, lazy people.