RN-itis?

I am a Registerd Nurse working on a large Family Practice unit. We have RNs, LPNs, and PCAs employed there. I work right along with the staff, doing anything that needs to be done. Our LPNs are hard-working and knowledgeable. I do know of a few RNs who feel they are above certain tasks, and feel it is appropriate to delegate those tasks. I do not. But I do take exception to the writer who says she hates it when the med nurse refuses to give a bedpan, and that it only takes a second. When I am doing the meds on our large, team care, floor, I cannot answer all the bells or I will NOT get the meds done! It takes extreme concentration. Studies have proved that a med nurse who is consistantly interrupted has a high likelyhood of errors. There are po, im, pr, iv, s/c meds, controlled substances, and many meds are powerful and potentially dangerous. Most of the patients are elderly, and question each and every pill. Much teaching must be done. I need to assess how each patient is tolerating their meds, if they can safely swallow, and are there any side effects or allergies. This requires my full attention. I cannot and should not multitask. I will respond to emergent situations, but the other staff have their designated jobs and that is what they should do. When I am not on the meds there are no jobs I will not do because I am an "RN". It is not fair to categorize someone until you understand the full scope of their job. It is not that I feel I am above giving a bedpan, or warm blanket, but giving meds to 15 patients, who ALL feel they should have them at the same time, is very stressful. I have heard more than one LPN say they did not become RNs because they did not want the responsiblity. Well the buck stops with the RN. Med errors are a serious outcome for both the patient and the nurse, and I take that responsibility very seriously.

i think what she means is sometimes RNs who havent experienced being a NA or CNA of any type before becoming a nurse kind of like someone else said rely too much on CNA's. some think CNA's arent as "good" as RNs and that as a RN they are more important. i think she ment getting experience of some real dirty work before becoming a RN(not saying RN's dont do dirty work) that youll have a better appreciation for the work CNA's do and when you are a RN youll never forget what it was like to be a CNA and will be more understanding when your CNA is having a rough day or is a little beind

I think it is important to always be considerate of each other, and whatever your job is. LPNs, CNAs, and RNs will all have stories that make the other look bad. That is not productive. In the hospital, we are all necessary, and nothing good comes from thinking you are better than or less than another person. That applies in life too, we all have value.

Maybe the reason I work well with LPNs and CNAs is that for most of my career I did not work with them since I was a primary care nurse in critical care and step down units in the US. When I came back to Canada, I was so used to doing everything myself that the LPNs were constantly reminding me that they were there to help me. I am still uncomfortable with telling someone else to go do something while I sit at the desk. I see it done by other RNs, but I do not do this. As a result, I work with staff that are happy when they are assigned to work with me, and we usually have great shifts working together. I have had more problems with other RNs slacking off and not pulling their weight!

As I was reading the many negative respponses about RNs, I was getting defensive until I realized that much of what was said is true! I am not like that, but sadly many RNs are. It just makes it difficult for those of us who do work hard. And in Canada, I think the LPNs are LONG OVERDUE for a raise! This is a difficult and back breaking job, and I would like to see upper management come down off their high horses and see what it is like to work this hard.

You sound like a great nurse to work with - not just because you're willing to lend a hand, but because of your attitude! That is what it comes down to for me. It is my job to do the CNA work and I have absolutely no problem doing so, I just don't respond well to people who think they are "too good" to do ANYTHING.

Unfortunately, in health care, it happens all the way down the line. Some LPNs look down on CNAs, just as some RNs look down on LPNs, as some NPs and MDs look down on nurses in general, etc. It's really too bad, since most of us are here for the same reason - to help our residents, patients, etc.

There was something that really rubbed me the wrong way recently. During the recent blizzard we had, there were several call-ins on 3rd shift. As such, we were drastically short on aides.

When this happens, the nurses are required to do rounds on one of the wings. This happens rarely, and most of the time when it does, there is very little complaint from most of our nurses. If the 3 or 4 nurses divide up the wing, it gives them only 4 or 5 kids each to check, and while it's not ideal, it's doable. Much more doable than the aides ending up with almost 40 kids apiece, anyway.

The night of the blizzard, however, one of the newer nurses was working. She's fresh out of nursing school, never worked as an aide, and it shows. She's one of the nurses who will walk the halls for 5 minutes looking for an aide to get water for a resident instead of taking the ten seconds to do it herself, not because of time, but on principle.

When she was informed that she would have to do rounds on her wing, she threw a complete tantrum. She told us all that she had not gone to nursing school to "wipe @$$es", and she didn't see why I couldn't just pick up her wing, too.

(I work on the respiratory wing - we already have 20 kids with trachs on that wing and the aide is not allowed to be pulled to other wings, because it is a more critical wing and an aide is required to be on the floor there at all times.)

She threw such a fit that the other nurses did the rounds while she literally sat at the nurses station eating chinese food and texting. I really wish I was kidding.

She's also made comments that I have overheard about how "worthless" the 3rd shift aides are, because all we do is rounds and cleaning. Apparently, 4 full rounds of 20 total care incontinent kids per aide isn't enough for her, despite her refusing to do the same for one night.

These are the sort of thing that get to me. I understand how busy nurses are, I really do. But there is a big difference between a nurse being in the middle of a med pass and too busy to do something, and a nurse who is NOT busy at the moment and won't do something just because it's an aide task. And I think that's what most of us are talking about here. :)

You sound like a great nurse to work with - not just because you're willing to lend a hand, but because of your attitude! That is what it comes down to for me. It is my job to do the CNA work and I have absolutely no problem doing so, I just don't respond well to people who think they are "too good" to do ANYTHING.

I had a nurse at my last job say to us aides, "I could never do your job..its beneath me." Those are the kind of nurses I have issues with.

My honest opinion is that all those who which to become a RN - SHOULD be required to work as a CNA and see just how much hard work it is. I have seen many nurses that don't know anything about the basics of providing direct patient care. It is ridiculous!!! I honestly don't see what they possibly do that pays them so much... CNAs do so much and get paid so little. I think in order to be a successful/good nurse one must work at the bottom and work their way up. Simple as that.

Thank you for the kind comments. I think anyone who has to belittle another, whether they are a CEO, Doctor, etc., has self-esteem issues. I basically do not like working with those who are just plain arrogant and lazy, no matter what their title. When you work with a great group who all contribute, it is a win-win situation. I am teaching my young son to do the right thing even when it is difficult, and because being a good mom is important to me, I must also do the right thing in my professional and personal life. Everyone who feels valued, automatically strive to do better. As an RN I feel part of my job is to make sure my co-workers feel valued by me!

I know nurses that will not help with ANYTHING and ask the CNA to do things the nurse should be doing because they are just lazy. I will get a blanket for a patient, get snacks, water, take them to the bathroom, give baths, etc..... BUT if I am working with a CNA that is lazy and yes we have a lot of lazy CNA's then I WILL NOT do their job and mine too!!! We have CNA's that get to work at 2300 and are already sitting down for their lunch before 0100 and I have been there since 1900 with NO BREAK. So, it's not that I think because I'm an RN I am too good to do that work but I will not do your work too so you can take 7 smoke breaks!!

We have that problem at our facility with aides AND nurses! It is not uncommon for me to miss all of my breaks, just because we're so short staffed we sometimes have 20 residents a piece on 2nd shift, struggling to make sure all of my kids are at the very least, clean and dry.

Then we have nurses who have been told by the DON that they need to help on their wings when we're short and their med pass is finished, who "don't have time" to do that, but have time to take a smoke break every hour on the hour plus their half hour lunch (not exaggerating).

We have a couple of nurses who will go in each room with us (when we are short) and help us lay each resident down (they are all total care, all need to be lifted or a mechanical lift), and doing that together, it takes 5 minutes to lay down the whole wing, then we can just go back around and clean and change them. It takes only 5 minutes of the nurse's time, but it saves us a much larger amount of time that would otherwise be used messing with the hoyer lift or searching for another aide to help lift. Yet several of the other nurses say they don't have time to do this while they're on their way out to their 3rd smoke break of the night.

And we have the aides who toss the residents into bed, without washing them or brushing their teeth, so they have the time to take extra breaks, and don't even bother to wipe them when they change them unless there's bm. These are the aides who are too busy to help if you ask for assistance with something, but you regularly walk into their rooms and they're sitting and texting, or hiding in the breakroom.

Sadly, these lazy people hold all job titles, period. I always hear nurses complain about lazy aides, and aides complain about lazy nurses. I complain about both. It's hard for me to understand why you would work a job like this if you care so little for the well-being of your residents, you know? I couldn't sleep at night if I didn't know that I'd done my best to make sure my kids at work are taken care of.