aee1977

i'm quite uncomfortable being in a position where i feel that i have to go to a supervisor about anything. this is, in fact, the only instance where i felt that i had no other choice. i have to add here that a good part of my reasoning and why i felt that i had no other choice is because the resident was non-verbal and couldn't have told anyone what had happened if she had wanted to. having said that, i will admit, part of it was covering my own a**. i can say with absolute certainty that my goal was not to effectuate change or exercise some imagined authority.

I agree with with previous posters' responses. The best thing I ever did for myself was getting diagnosed and starting my medications. If its interfering with your life then its a problem.

Personally, I try to figure out what the resident is comfortable with. I once had a former marine as a resident that responded very well when I addressed him as sir or Sergent, but not as well by his first name. He appreciated the respect. On the other hand I once had a resident that insisted that we all call her "Grandma" - its what she was comfortable with. However, I've also had residents that respond better to a "Good Morning, Hun!". When I am not sure I do as I learned while living in Texas... I don't say Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones, but there does seem to be a nice medium by saying something like "How is your day going, Miss or Ms. Margaret" I think this is the same as figuring out that the resident in room 13 might like his curtains closed every night while the resident in room 24 likes her curtains open and her TV on because its too dark for her without it. I see nothing wrong with saying honey, or sweetie, IF that is agreeable to the resident. I think its an individual thing that needs an individual approach. Having said that, I am not the most PC person. I believe in being human. I think that most residents like not feeling like they are in a separate social network than we are.

I'm English so procedures are different here. But OF COURSE you should report a skin tear and maybe go to the head of nursing? Face to face and not by letter. I really feel for you. You are an excellent nurse and the ******** gossipy culture of a lot of nurses turns the best right off. I'm sorry for your troubles. Thank you for the response! In retrospect I probably should have talked to my immediate supervisor face-to-face the very next day. I think I assumed that if I didn't hear anything then it was "taken care of". That could have made a big difference.

Hello everyone! I should have said problems with co-workers - not problem co-workers but I can't edit that part. I'm new and very close to starting my ASN program. I have a question (or two) and would love some insight or advice of any kind that you might have any to offer. I am currently a licensed CNA. I love my line of work and want to move forward, but I've had a few problems, mainly with co-workers and only once with someone in a supervisory position... I've worked in 3 separate jobs as a CNA - 2 in nursing homes and one in home health. The home health care job was short-lived as I was very bored. I need a much faster pace. While working in both of the nursing homes I had problems with other CNAs complaining about me. In the first job the supervisor simply worked with me on a shift to "see how I was doing" and "be there to answer questions I might have". Two hours into an 8 hour shift she finally told me that she was going home and that the reason she was there was because of some complaints from the other CNAs that I was "too slow". She also said that the reason she was going home was because there was nothing I needed to do differently and that the reason I took longer per room than most of the other CNAs was because I didn't cut corners and that she had absolutely no problem with my speed because the quality of my work and attention to the residents was "above and beyond". I experienced a LOT of problems with the other CNAs after that - although I never brought the subject up to anyone after that. In the second nursing home position (I had only been there 5 weeks) I was working with someone who ended up causing a skin tear (nothing was done wrong, it just happened and I witnessed it). She decided not to report it. I urged her to report it repeatedly and told her that I would have to if she didn't because I felt I had to. She never filled out the incident report so I filled one out. I was never questioned about it and never heard anything else. One week later I received a call on my day off from human resources with a laundry list of false (in fact things that I could prove false) accusations and was fired over the phone on the spot without so much as a question or chance to speak. Every attempt to speak as to how I could prove these things were false was ignored. A visit and 2 letters to my immediate supervisors were ignored as well. Can anyone tell me what I should have done differently, how I could have avoided these problems, or what the problem even is? I do have a strong personality and I am very no-nonsense about my work, I seem to have problems working with a lot of other women. I do not play the gossip game nor do I discuss anything unnecessary about the residents I care for. I wonder if this is making me more unpopular - even though I feel its wrong and unethical to do these things???? Please respond if you have any ideas. I am open to hearing ideas - even if they might not be what I really WANT to hear. I want to try to avoid these things in the future, but I'm not sure what I'm doing. Thank you so much for reading and/or responding!