Does anybody else find the "I didn't go to school to do X" mentality annoying? Annoying, not the correct word. Hmm...frustrating is more like it. Let me clarify: the "I didn't go to school to do X", X being, I guess, bathing patients or waitressing (i.e. bringing patients sodas, etc). Isn't the whole idea behind nursing to care for both the body and soul (spirit, mind, whatever your religious/cultural beliefs are)? My goal here isn't to be all Florence Nightingale-ish, but just to inquire as to when this attitude began and why.
I believe it's possible to prevent your patient from becoming septic and having a keen eye in recognizing subtle changes AND get your patient or patient's family member a warm blanket or maybe the 10th warm blanket during your shift. If it brings them comfort, why not do it? Nobody is above bringing comfort to a patient Nurses are both skilled, intelligent AND caring. I certainly wouldn't want someone with a "I'm too good for X" mentality to care for myself or my family member. And, yes, I understand that it's not always possible to do the little things for patients; there are certainly shifts from (shall we say purgatory? Yes, that's a kinder word lol) where it's just not possible, and I understand that we're pulled in a million different directions. But, it's everybody's job to help patients, not the CNA vs. nurse mentality.
Which brings me to one of my biggest pet peeves (nurses not helping CNA's). One of my friends who is a CNA at another hospital told me that a nurse refused to help her, saying, "That is not my job. I don't touch patients." WHAT?? Wow is all I can say. Most people in the public thank nurses and appreciate all that we do, but two things that are keeping us from being viewed as a profession would be: the above statement by the few nurses who say/do such things, and gossiping/texting at nurse stations. Hospitals really shouldn't have to have policies forbidding facebook and texting; it should be a given that we don't do such things at work when we should be working. (I understand that there are family emergencies, etc, but still, those can be handled in staff rooms away from patients).
In closing, I just want to thank all of the nurses, CNA's/PCT's on here that work so hard every single day for their patients! There may be days where we may feel like all we did was run, run all shift, and think "am I making a difference?" Yes, most certainly. What would have happened if you had not noticed X, for instance? Would your patient not be worse for the weather? Or how about the :) you got from Mrs Jones in Room 202 for doing X? There seems to be a prevalent "I'm just a nurse" mentality, as well, and that inferiority complex really needs to stop.
We recently went to a serve by nurse meal system. I did not go to school to plate food for an hour! I'm still stuck wondering if we should be wearing hair nets and is it okay to be reaching over food to grab what you need to get? Why would my employer want to pay me nursing wages to plate food? The whole time I'm hoping there isn't a code because a nurse needs to be present d/t chokers, nobody calls on the phone, and god help me if a pt falls or takes a turn. I'm a psych nurse and have 22 pts. It's so darn hard to do it all and yet they keep shoveling it on.
We've had that kind of thing going on here for a while; it's the 'too posh to wash' syndrome.
while i have no proof, i totally believe there is a strong correlation betw those who became nurses for the money, are the same ones who possess the 'too posh to wash' mentality.
i see this all the time in the nursing home i work in. all these nurses feel they are superior to us cna's. dont get me wrong there are some really good nurses who will help, but like i said-some! i myself will be attending lpn school soon and once im a nurse i know i will help in anyway when it comes to a patients. i have seen pateints tell nurses im soiled and there cna is on break and they will search up and down for there reliever just so they dont help them.i have seen this all to often. its really sad. but i do know i wont become that nurse who has a stick up her ass & thinks shes better then everyone because of a license
i see this all the time in the nursing home i work in. all these nurses feel they are superior to us cna's. dont get me wrong there are some really good nurses who will help, but like i said-some! i myself will be attending lpn school soon and once im a nurse i know i will help in anyway when it comes to a patients. i have seen pateints tell nurses im soiled and there cna is on break and they will search up and down for there reliever just so they dont help them.i have seen this all to often. its really sad. but i do know i wont become that nurse who has a stick up her ass & thinks shes better then everyone because of a license
for one, i don't think most conscientious nurses "are going to search up and down just so they don't have to help the patient".
second, doesn't the nurse have enough to do with their 20+patients (maybe exaggerating here), than to have to chase after staff that should maybe be proactive in their job, such as answering call lights, etc....
i've been a cna, so i what a cna's job can be like, but.....just my.....
For one, I don't think most conscientious nurses "are going to search up and down just so they don't have to help the patient".
Second, doesn't the nurse have enough to do with their 20+patients (maybe exaggerating here), than to have to chase after staff that should maybe be proactive in their job, such as answering call lights, etc....
I've been a CNA, so I what a CNA's job can be like, but.....just my.....
THE first thing the instructors told my class on the first day or orientation to the program was "If you don't plan on getting your hands dirty, there's the door". And they waited for a few minutes....they were serious. Nursing is HANDS ON. You can't assess without getting in there and really seeing all aspects of the patient.
A patient may seem one way when you're listening to lungs, heart, bowel sounds....but when you walk in and YOU don't have to do anything, the PATIENT is the task- not the sum of his/her parts.
I used to joke that the "recruitment poster lied"....there are things people don't think about (a pile of loose poop hitting your shoes while putting someone on the BSC, puke on your arm while moving the basin closer, etc)....but it's no excuse to not do the job if someone completes the education for it. Nobody is above doing any task that they are competent to do.....and unfortunately, there have been those who try to be "better than" the majority....they only put themselves at the bottom of the respect pile when they do that...their loss. :)
ok, maybe you didnt understand what i wrote & maybe you should reread :) to anwser all your comments
#1 im not exaggerating at all, like i said i've seen this with my own 2 eyes which i have 20/20 vision !
#2 i said in that perticular situation his cna was on break so whos responsible for the pateint ? obviously her reliever. now her reliever was assistting one of her own patients. the nurse wasnt busy passing meds or doing dressings, she was just sitting there on yahoo! he had to wait 20 minutes in his feces for the cna, so your telling me she couldnt just take him to the bathroom? yea exactly my point!
like i said there are good nurses & i compleelty understand that you guys have your own work load but if a cna is busy and theres a patient who needs assistance shouldnt you help them?yes ! because every nurse learns in school about doing perineal care
I am not "too posh to wash" unfortunately my employer has decided that I must be instantly accessible to every department, every provider, and every caller who wished to "talk to the nurse".
So along with my umpteen redundant computer screens to chart on, the bazillion pieces of paper I need to handle, as well trying to critically think about what is actually going on with my patients, I need to delegate some of the non-skilled tasks.
And with cutbacks and hiring freezes more and more is falling to the nursing staff to pick up. I echo a PP: How does it economically make sense to pay someone $35/hour to empty trash, strip beds, fetch a pre-made sandwich from the staffing office?
And for heaven's sake, do not incur any OT! We must be good stewards of our resourses.
I actually used that line at work the other day. It was in response to my boss when she got onto me for walking past a 3 inch long dead cockroach and not picking it up. I'm sorry I can digitally remove an impaction. I can hold your emesis basin while you puke up your toenails. I can put a foley in someone who smells like their nether region has never seen soap. However, cockroaches....nope. Can't do it. [/quote']
Is it just me or is it only the nurses who seem to do other jobs?
I know there are things only nurses can do. I don't expect dietary to pass my pills. But where I work nurses are being stretched way too thin.
When I've been slammed and actually had to ask people to do their own d*** job, these are the responses I've gotten:
RT to suction a patient: "can't the nurse do it, it's almost shift change."
Dietary to bring up the food that they left off the tray, "Can you come down to get it, we're busy."
Pharmacy to bring up a PCA syringe that I'd warned them I'd be needing hours before, "Can you come down to get it, we're short staffed."
Housekeeping to clean an IV pole: "We don't clean the IV poles." Ok, so who does? "The nurses clean them."
Housekeeping to empty the trash: "What? You're too good to take out the trash?"
Formula room, when I called for formula that had been ordered 6 hours prior: "Is there someone that can come get it?" No, we're all running around up here. "Well I was just about to leave." OK, then I guess the baby won't get to eat all night. Strangely when I made it clear it would be HER fault the baby would be hungry, because I wasn't going to take the blame for HER job not being done, she found someone else to bring it to the floor.
My favorite though, is calling the computer folks. Because when I have patient care, they want me to spend 20 minutes fixing the printer or computer.
Oh, and when we're short a tech, the nurses pick up the slack and take a total care patient. When we're short a nurse, the nurses pick up the slack and we all get a patient added to our load.
When we're short both a tech and a nurse? Nurses STILL pick up the slack and take an extra patient AND one of them is total care.
And we get told, "Well we all have to work together." No, working together would be EVERYONE picking up the slack. The hospital version of working together is "Let the nurses do it."
Not helping CNA's would NEVER fly at my facility. Granted we are small, but most of our pts. are total care and usually it requires two people for bath's and such. Sometimes the CNA's pair up, but many times we are short staffed. I will tell you that I am the first one in the room with the CNA when they are changing linen, baths and such. Even if they don't need my help, it is a great time for me to assess my patients back, bottom, dressings, skin... I always request that they let me know so I can go in there and offer a hand, and assess. I went to school with some nurses that had that "I didn't go to school to clean up poop" mentality. It amazes me. Again, you wouldn't last at my facility with that thought process. How can you even assess your pt. if you aren't looking at them? I feel for that particular nurses pts. That is horrible.
I have never understood - and never will understand - why people go into nursing not wanting to:
- wash people.
- change people/clean up urine/faeces.
- don't like touching people.
- don't like nursing (I've had a student say THAT one as well).
- don't like shiftwork, knowing that nursing is a job where u have to do shiftwork, then complain loudly and vociferously to anyone who will listen. Go figure that one out and get back to me, cos I'm sitll scratching my head over THAT one.
- Don't like responsibility and are scared of it (had this from a student just last week).
- don't like old people, don't like smells, don't like ANYTHING about nursing.
My question to these people is: WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO INTO NURSING THEN? I'm sure nobody forced you into it!
chevyv, BSN, RN
1,679 Posts
We recently went to a serve by nurse meal system. I did not go to school to plate food for an hour! I'm still stuck wondering if we should be wearing hair nets and is it okay to be reaching over food to grab what you need to get? Why would my employer want to pay me nursing wages to plate food? The whole time I'm hoping there isn't a code because a nurse needs to be present d/t chokers, nobody calls on the phone, and god help me if a pt falls or takes a turn. I'm a psych nurse and have 22 pts. It's so darn hard to do it all and yet they keep shoveling it on.