"My Tech" or "My Aide"

dreamer30 · Aug 22, 2015

^^ Give me a break. You (see how there are three letters in that word?) *are* the nurse's aide. The purpose of your job is to assist the nurses make sure the patients receive appropriate care.

I know the details of the job... thanks

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Aug 24, 2015

U know I have a big pet peeve when ppl say "not to be mean or not trying to be mean" but yet you said it anyway. So you are trying to be mean.
So next time maybe you can choose better words so you won't sound mean...

So OK...if we are trading pet peeves here I have a big pet peeve with posters that think it is just fine to type U instead of you, it's only two more letters people. Notice how I can also type people, NOT ppl?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 26, 2015

I guess I'd have to say that in all the years I had worked with PCTs/CNAs/techs/whatevers....I hadn't ever known any of them to have the amount of free time with which to get BORED, as the OP states. If they were BORED during their shift....to the point that they were dissecting the word "assistant" and interpreting "yours/mine" to mean something offensive where NONE was meant, well.....I'd think it'd be time to find them something to do.

A charge nurse might say "my nurses" collectively. An attending may say "my residents". A patient may say "my nurse". A nurse may say "my tech". NONE of those people is claiming ownership in any way. They are identifying the people they are working WITH, and FOR, and OVER. Whatever the relationship, the point is to draw the conclusion that THIS person is attached in some relevant way to THAT person. Doesn't mean they own them. Just means those two people are linked.

My husband is not my property. He is, however, "my person of merit", if you will. When a nurse says "my aide", she is identifying HER "person of merit". The one to whom she will turn when she needs, oh I don't know, maybe ASSISTANCE.

Picking at a tiny scab until it becomes a full-fledged freaking wound might settle your boredom, but it sure isn't healthy, or conducive to a strong, healthy relationship with one's co-workers.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Aug 26, 2015

Please forgive me,as I am fairly new to this site. I do not know how to quote a comment,to respond to.
Anyway, I am still confused. If their job.was to assist you, as a nurse, why weren't they called CNAs?

Not every person who is hired to be a nurse's assistant IS a CNA. "CNA" is an acronym for Certified Nursing Assistant; not all facilities require an assistant to be certified. Therefore...calling someone who does not hold such a certification by that title would be incorrect, and misleading.

Also why would you refer to them as your assitant? Aren't they your teammates?

They are referred to as assistants because that is what they DO. Their sole job is to provide assistance to the nursing staff....hence, "assistant". Whether the actual title is 'patient care tech' or 'nursing aide' or 'nursing assistant' is irrelevant. The JOB is as described when they are hired, and it is not a secret code. It is a known agreement in which the person HIRED to do the job of assistant....assists.

What would do, if you worked in a LTC , that didn't hire CNAs? What if, with the same patient load, it was all left up to you?

There wouldn't BE a LTCF that doesn't hire CNAs (or care techs, pcts, etc). THAT is because it is common practice in the LTC setting to hire more UAP (unlicensed assistive personnel) than licensed nurses, to keep costs down. One RN and one LPN can cover 40 patients as long as there are enough "assistants" to do just that. Assist.

In acute care settings, it is not uncommon to NOT see CNAs, pcts, whatever, in certain units, or some areas some of the time. ICU, for example, frequently utilizes nurse labor instead of CNA labor; it's not uncommon to have NO techs/aides on a shift and the nurses do just fine doing the work themselves. THEY, however, have two, three patients (typically) if they have no assistant. LTC, that's a different animal entirely.

Stop using the word deligate. Do you think you are superior? Do you think you are better? I'm not saying all nurses are stupid, but honestly the ones on this type of power trip, feel intellectually inferior. They are just too scared to admit it.

Wow, talk about an inferiority trip....big time. I could ask you to stop saying we should "stop using the word deligate (sic)", as it is perfectly APPROPRIATE that the word be used....and the practice done. You are not, apparently, in complete understanding of what the word means when it comes to the Nurse Practice Act, and that it is EXPECTED that a nurse appropriately delegate routine tasks to UAP or those with a smaller scope of practice. It doesn't make the nurse "superior". It means she is utilizing her license and working within her scope of practice appropriately.

Before you start slamming people based on your own misunderstandings of the nursing world, you might want to learn WHY what it is you're spouting off about is incorrect.

Do you know a CNA can purposely set you up,cause you to lose your job and you would be none the wiser?

Do you know that threats such as this one can land YOU in a whole lot of hot water with YOUR job, and eliminate or reduce the possibility of future employment (not to mention being on the receiving end of some expensive legal action)? And oh, the military just LOVES this kind of thing coming out in the open

You have a lot of anger, and obviously a lot of issues to personally work through where nursing assistants and nurses are concerned. Maybe you were made to feel inferior in a past job, maybe you didn't like someone you worked with and maybe THEY didn't like YOU. MAYBE you got the short end of the stick because of some seriously bad attitude you displayed toward them. Frankly, if you are ANYTHING in real life the way you are coming off here, you'd be sure to receive some clear messages from your colleagues....and they wouldn't be flattering.

funtimes · Sep 19, 2015

At the end of the day just treat coworkers like you would want to be treated, and you'll be fine. It really is that simple. An RN that talks down to or tries to use their title to bully a tech is probably going to have it come back and haunt them eventually.

I worked at a hospital where one really ambitious RN thought they were better than the techs and treated them like underlings and gofers. This same RN wanted to be a flight Nurse, so they had to go through EMT and Paramedic school to be licensed. Low and behold a couple techs they treated like garbage worked for an ambulance company they did their road training with, and they made sure the precepters cut that person zero slack. They wound up washing out of Paramedic school, their flight career over before it began.

I cant say for sure the techs told the precepters to give the RN a hard time, this person likely had other issues that made them not cut out for EMS, but the RN who failed was convinced that was the case. If so my take away from that one was what goes around usually comes around.

smartassmommy · Nov 20, 2015

*My techs* know I love them and couldn't do this job without them. I bring them treats, buy them lunch, snacks, monsters lol.....hug and kiss them with sincere thanks for what they do at the end of a rough shift. I really don't think they care what pronouns I'm using to address them because they know they are an essential part of the team.

Can I come be your tech?

robynawitz · Nov 29, 2015

I can actually understand, to a limited extent, where the OP is coming from. I am a CNA and sometimes it does rub me the wrong way when a nurse refers to me as *their* assistant, especially if I don't know them well. I would much rather simply be called by name, although it is understandable that a nurse might forget my name. It's more the manner in which the words are spoken - I certainly don't mind if I feel that these same words are being used respectfully. Unfortunately, a few nurses are condescending toward the CNAs they work with (but some CNAs are rude to the nurses they work with, so it really goes both ways). Mutual respect is key. We are a team, after all--our energy should be focused on our patients rather than our own egos.

Zyprexa_Ho · Dec 6, 2015

Getting all uptight about them using the word "my" is super childish. If nurses treat you with respect and show that they value your help, their terminology shouldn't matter.

BumbleBuddy · Dec 7, 2015

I'm more patient centric when introducing roles.

"Hi Mr. Patient! My name is BeyoncÃ¨ and I'll be your nurse tonight. This is Jay-Z and he is your PCT tonight. We'll be here with you until about 6:30AM. "

Or I'll say "This is Blahblah, one of our PCTs." "That is bippityboppity, one of our nurses. They'll be working with you tonight."

funtimes · Dec 22, 2015

I work as an RT now, but I was a tech and CNA for many years and I wont lie, the experience has left me somewhat bitter and dismissive towards RNs. I view many of them as being inherently difficult drama queens. I still experience it somewhat as an RT but I'm a lot more insulated from it now.

While there are many exceptions to the rule, there really is a personality type you tend to see that can be very difficult to work with, and techs/aides experience the worst of that. I tip my hat to any tech or aide who can put up with it for a long time. Especially when you understand that their managers are almost always RNs as well. RNs often complain about difficult patients and families, but techs have to deal with considerably more patients and families than an RN does, AND they have to deal with difficult RNs who all see themselves as their boss rather than a coworker.

Its one thing to work as a tech part time for a short while in Nursing school knowing its a temporary stepping stone. Its quite another to do it full time for a long time. It really is a job that can drive even the most level headed person bonkers.

AshBuggin · Dec 31, 2015

I've done it for about 8 years now and it certainly is difficult to work with nurses who have a lack of respect for the techs they work with. With that being said it is important to understand that most PCT job descriptions state that the PCT is working "under the supervision of an RN". Inherently making the RN the Techs supervisor.

I get past this issue (and it is an issue) by focusing on what's best for the patient. If at the end of the day I made a difference in the life of my patient, that difference overshadows that bossy pants RN we've all worked with at some point in our career. I've seen many situations where the tech is pitted against the RN and the patient is almost always the one who suffers the most in that situation.

You can always tell an RN who's been a tech before. Their attitude and skill is just more advanced than an RN who hasn't lived through the PCT experience.