JMed18

Absolutely, thank you. That must be the default setting.

I think that it is terrifying when some people don't know what they don't know. If that's what you think goes through the mind of a PCP, you are dead wrong.

I'm pre-nursing? I come onto these forums occasionally just to see how I can better relate to nurses from the medical side and to understand how things I do on the floors may be misinterpreted.

Haha what? I worked as a CNA after having a bachelor's in engineering, arguably many-fold more difficult than an RN or BSN. Should I have had the same sense of entitlement? With an MD, should one expect more downtime than an RN? That is absolutely crazy. Edit: To clarify, you are the nurse that every CNA (and probably RN co-workers) hates to work with.

I know many nurses who went to medical school. There isn't a bias against RNs (with a bachelor's) or BSNs in admissions.

I'm sure it's the same reason why some nurses like wearing white coats

I don't think my hospital's IRB committee would approve of doing "research" (?) on what is essentially an anonymous discussion board with no consenting procedures. I did not come in here looking to offend anyone, and if choice wording led to that I apologize. Please trust me when I say I wish I was still at the point in my life where I had homework! I'm happy to have facilitated discussions and it is interesting to see the different view points this thread has brought up. Thanks for the contributions.

From the medical side (as opposed to the nursing model, I guess) I don't really observe this much any more. A few of my colleagues were discussing whether or not it is appropriate for all members of the team to disclose this type of health information if universal precautions should be protecting against it in the first place. From my year and a half of being a PCA quite a long time ago, I can still remember the strong feelings I had against nurses or PCAs whispering to the effect of "watch out for the patient in [12], he has HIV/abc/xyz". This obviously is a controversial question and I thought what better a place to ask than the nursing forum. I don't think my credentials really matter.

I can definitely count more than 5 times that I have cleaned up blood from a confused patient when I worked as a PCA.

Well, look at a majority of the other posts here. The point I am trying to make is that if universal precautions were taken, there is no need to disclose the PHI... Least of all to PCAs/CNAs. There is no way around the bias and it introduces a very real possibility for discrimination whether intentional or non-intentional.

CNAs at your location don't do 1:1 protocol sits with violet/suicidal/confused patients? What about cleaning up blood on the floor from a patient who just yanked their IV out?

You don't think that there is an inherent bias created when disclosing PHI that isn't relevant? Given universal precautions, why should it matter?

I'm sure we have all had patients with various blood borne pathogens... HIV, AIDS, Hep B, etc. If the patient is under your care for an unrelated issue, do you find that they may generally be treated any differently? Do you aware the CNA/PCA who also may be working with the patient? Just looking for different view points from a bed-side nursing perspective. Thanks

What happens if, while shadowing, you get hurt because you are asked to help lift a patient?

I think the only ones who perceive healthcare in that manner are ones who are in no way involved in healthcare. The professions are completely different, and I'm so tired of reading posts by people who try to say "doctors are better than nurses" or "nurses are better than doctors". I like the analogy of a conductor and the orchestra. You can't have a concert if you are missing either one of them. Tangerine would benefit from getting off a forum asking for advice, and actually shadowing a hospitalist for a day or two and then shadowing a nurse for a day or two. Would definitely benefit from becoming a day shift PCA/CNA before making career defining goals. I was a PCA for a long time before going to medical school and had no idea the crap that nurses put up with daily. I personally would not be able to handle it and enjoy my work. Medicine on the other hand is something that I love and am willing to put up with BS for.

While the CNAs at your facility are obviously out of line, fault flows up to you. Do you do hourly rounding and check for incontinence? If so, that patient should not have been sitting in urine for longer than one hour.

The thing is that this situation is not uncommon with the newer generation of nurses; a sense of entitlement. Look back 15 years and tell me the nursing attitude hasn't changed. There are bad eggs in every profession/job. Much like there are some crappy nurses who think a degree should separate them from having to wipe butts, there are also CNAs who assume that they have no impact on the health of the patient and can dick around for their shift without doing work. What I'm saying is that given the situation of a nurse and CNA both being free but the nurse coming to the situation first, I find it indefensible for the nurse to leave to get the aide to do it (especially if it is their patient).

As a former aide, you are exactly the type of nurse that I hated working with. Your responsibility is to your patients first. If you see that a patient is done on the bedpan or commode and you aren't busy, I would almost consider it negligent for you to delay the situation by finding an aide just so you can sit down and go on pinterest.

......

The answer is there: The NP and PA curriculum are more rigorous than RN or BSN. There's no point in comparing them because they are different jobs.

I don't think that you can be turned away for a positive PPD. PPD can diagnose an infection, but not the disease itself. Unless you get HIV or somehow immunocompromised, it's really unlikely to get the actual disease.