backatit2

the reality of it is that there are probably a lot of nursing students receiving a scholarship from the hospital who were sitting at home doing the exact same thing. she might have been "busted" because she happened to be in the hospital, but it wouldn't change things in the grand scheme. you couldn't prove it and nothing good would come from it. it's just one of those things.

my daughter had jaundice and her pediatrician encouraged me to breastfeed. there was never any mention of not doing so. he had a machine delivered to our home and we did light therapy there. this is the first time i've ever seen anything about being isolated, not breastfeeding, etc.

so many people lie about their credentials i think especially in nursing and teaching. maybe it happens in other fields, but i've noticed it so much in these two bc that is where i have experience. i've known so many daycare workers to pass themselves off as "teachers" and so many CNA's (or their family members) claim they are nurses. there was even a big uproar by daycare providers about not getting a "teacher discount" at craft stores. umm, they aren't teachers! that's why! there's nothing wrong with being a daycare provider and there's nothing wrong with being a CNA (or a RN with an associate's degree) but be proud of what YOU are. when you lie about your credentials, it speaks volumes about what kind of person you are AND what your aspirations really are.

we actually take 3 sets - but who's counting?

okay, i don't think it's right, but if i had to guess i would say that they put it on the badge because this person is so close to finishing there's no sense in making another one a few months from now. that makes sense. BUT if i were this person's manager, i would have them cover up the BSN part with a strip of "tape" from a label maker until they actually received it just to save them from co-worker wrath if nothing else. seriously, don't worry about it.

At my facility we have access to the charts because we have to document vital signs, ADL's, blood sugars, etc. It would be very time consuming and unrealistic to have to report to someone else every time something needed to be charted, but it would be fine with me. On another note - we are told the patient's diagnosis during report. If you're moving someone around, it's important to know if they are having pain in their right leg or if there's a spine injury, etc.

it's not "if" it's when and that would be on a regular basis. but if we're going by that logic, the quarrel shouldn't be with the aide, but with the schedule, correct?

that definitely happens, but once again you underestimate. i know when a patient asks for meds to help them sleep and there isn't an order for that med and when a patient asks for pain meds and asks for them again 30 minutes later because the nurse doesn't get in a hurry for a "drug seeker" or a "baby" that's interfering with the blackberry.

seriously, when an aid has 20 patients and a nurse has 3-4 there are obviously going to be times when a patient takes a pee and sits the urinal down AFTER the aid has already tended to them and the nurse is going to notice first. i have gone into rooms, filled a pitcher, helped to the bathroom, gotten a cold rag, fetched a jello, and then asked, "do you need anything else" only to be told "no" and then see the light going off above the nurse's head less than two minutes later. i have actually (recently) dealt with a patient who was in isolation that i'd tend to and ask twice if they needed anything and only AFTER i took off my PPD she'd say, "well, i guess i might try to use the bedpan since you're here." if i had to guess, i'd say lots of patients are too timid to speak up and say what they REALLY need because they get put off so often by nurses. in reality, patients have a hard time distinguishing between the nurse, the CNA, or the housekeeper for that matter.

this is interesting to me. i work in a hospital and got hired there as an inexperienced CNA fresh out of class. i wanted to work there to get experience for nursing school, etc., but i was SHOCKED by how little they pay. nursing homes pay much, much more. i wonder if CNAs who don't know better are under the impression that hospitals pay decently? i see so many saying they want hospital jobs, and as someone who has a hospital job and is getting ready to apply to nursing homes for better pay, i'm curious.

it's funny that i saw this thread because i was just thinking about how frustrated i was after working with the laziest LPN i've ever seen in my life today (i'm a CNA/nursing student). she came and hunted me down at least 5 times today to get me to do things that would've taken her less time to DO than she spent looking for me to get me to do them, u know? one example - a patient (whose room she was in, and whose room she went back to after finding me) needed a CLEAN "hat" put in her toilet to measure urine. it would've taken her less time to grab a clean hat from the supply room and stick it in there than it took for her to find me, tell me about it, and walk back to the room. another time - a patient had an EMPTY urinal sitting on his bedside table and she wanted it moved. seriously, think about walking by a room and seeing a urinal in a place you think is "inappropriate" and how long it would take to move it RIGHT THEN and how long it would take to find someone else, interrupt what they're doing, and ask them to go move it. i think these CNA/RN wars come from simply being jaded. there are certain nurses who i will go out of my way to help (because they help me) and by help me i mean they do what they're SUPPOSED to do. then, there are nurses who i wouldn't get in a hurry for if they were on fire because they do stupid crap like hunt me down to get a cup of ice when they could've stood by a fridge and waited for some to freeze in the time they spent finding me to get some. unfortunately, the nurses who aren't lazy get screwed by policies like the one you described because the ones who ARE lazy abuse the CNAs so badly. yes, CNA's are there to ASSIST, but MANY nurses take advantage of that and won't do certain things (like answer lights or help a patient to the bathroom) EVER -even if they aren't busy - because "that's the CNA's job." but you better believe the nurses won't hesitate to ask us to mess with the IV pumps to help THEM which is actually out of our scope. it would be so, so nice if people would get over themselves and just do everything they could possibly do to help the patient instead of looking for someone else to put the work off on. a spill? why clean it up when you can call housekeeping? bathroom? why take them when you can get someone else to? food? why go to the cafeteria when you can get a nastier version brought up by dietary? it's ridiculous and it makes me sick.

i'm not a nurse, but as a CNA and a nursing student who is also SURROUNDED by other nursing students when i'm at work, i've learned a few things. first, i had an instructor tell us before i had ever hit the floor, "you're going to see people doing things differently than what you've been taught. that doesn't mean they're "wrong". that was true for me and i kept my mouth shut and learned a few things by doing so. i was getting vitals on a patient (keep in mind, this is real life) and i was getting them on an ill patient who had been sleeping so it was dark, i was trying to be quick, efficient and effective, etc. so i put the pulse ox on, then the blood pressure cuff (on the same arm as the pulse ox) and took the temperature. i made a mental note of the 02 sat and the pulse and THEN hit the button which starts taking the blood pressure. the nursing student who was watching immediately said, "you're supposed to do that on the other side." okay, annoying. technically, yes - it would be best (and textbook) to put the pulse ox on the opposite side of where i was taking the blood pressure, BUT since i was getting the pulse and 02 reading BEFORE starting the blood pressure, it doesn't affect the reading and therefore doesn't matter! not to mention, textbooks don't mention how you'll be entering dark rooms where bedside tables and IV poles will be in the way and the cords only give so much slack. they don't mention that you'll be doing this on patients who have a sleeping relative on the opposite side of the bed and it's not realistic to turn on the lights, wake them up, and move furniture so you can check the pulse on one hand and the BP on the other. furthermore, don't be so cocky to think that just because you're LEARNING to be a nurse that you can TELL a CNA who has done actual hands on work for much longer than you how to do things. lastly, i get interrupted 1500 times a day to answer questions like, "where are the water pitchers?" so when i ask you to come and help ME do something don't hesitate. don't say, "uhh, umm. err." DO IT - if you're smart. it'll make your life easier.

i vote for getting a jacket with bigger pockets. i swear i could put a baby in my pocket and i know for sure a water bottle fits nicely.

i had an elderly nurse instructor say one time that our hair is a breeding ground for bacteria and we should wash our hair every day after working. i take a shower as soon as i get home and i wash my hair every day anyway, but i always scrub extra hard and remember her saying that. i don't know how true it is, but i trust and old lady over myself who isn't sure.

just wait til you find an old man asleep with a urinal nowhere near his member. you'll wish you were only having to lift a breast. seriously, things like that become second nature after awhile. it's pretty much daily i have to wake up an old man by saying, "you're gonna have to work on that aim!" trust me, when the option is to say something or have to change a bed bc someone poured pee all over themselves, you'll choose the awkward comment. on another note - i missed a question when i took a test awhile back that asked where you take the apical pulse because the breast thing threw me off. the answer was below the left nipple and i selected above the left nipple because i was thinking about where i've always had doctors listen to MINE and they've never taken it under my breast, but instead pretty much where you hold your hand "over your heart" when saying the pledge, etc. maybe they were too shy to lift my breast? lol.