bbarnhill

You can report it to your nurse manager and if nothing gets done and it continues report it up your chain of command till someone takes action. Document your contacts with the other people though so you don't get in trouble for circumventing the chain of command. When they find out their middle management didn't take charge and step up in these unsafe practice situations, they will and SHOULD be reprimanded. I'm a little harsh but Id fire anyone that didn't take action. That is pt safety at stake and I will not trust anyone that compromises (knowingly) pt safety. If I couldn't trust them with my pts then they need to leave the facility. This is probably why I would never make a good CNO as I would not have a three strike rule. Depending on the knowledge of the actions happening I would have a 1 strike and you are out policy. NEVER compromise when it comes to your pts. They are more important than anything else. Its your job as an RN to fight and stand up for them. They are too sick to do so.

NCMC3132: I dont think the problem is with trust that some could perform the task, I think its with the consistency of the CNAs out there. There is no formal education that is given to support the safety of the patients when performing said tasks. I just could not sacrifice patient safety by trusting some tasks to CNAs. I dont care if they have been there 30 years, and they are brilliant, I just couldnt delegate any invasive task due to it being improper. Im all for lessening the load on nurses, but safely doing so. There is NEVER an excuse to sacrifice quality (safety).

There is a huge difference in collecting data and assessment. CNAs can collect data (temp, BP ... on non-complex patients in TN) but they are NOT allowed to assess because that is part of the nursing process. (Assessment, Diagnose, Plan, Intervene, Evaluate). You may not delegate any part of the nursing process either.