RN vs. PA

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my team @ work is having difficulty with physician assistants attitude that they are superior to us:down:, are able to dictate how we prioritize the acuity we have:angryfire, and general things like...they'll walk out of a patient's room and find a nurse to take a patient off of a bed pan.:madface: (it takes them longer to find a nurse rather than do it themselves.)

this has angered many nurses. is anyone else experiencing this attitude with pa's in the er setting? our physicians and their pa's are not employed by the hospital but are contracted exclusively for our facility.

My first response, was, get a life, get over it, They aren't nurses, and I'ts NOT a PA vs nurse thing. I've seen pleny of NP's who will go get a staff nurse to get someone off a bed pan. It's NOT in their job description. It sounds to me like the problem is in the culture of the facility your working in. Or in the individual personalities of the people involved. I would hazard to guess that your Doc's don't take pt's off bedpans either.

We aren't talking physicians here....we are talking PAs....lol

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my first response, was, get a life, get over it, they aren't nurses, and i'ts not a pa vs nurse thing. i've seen pleny of np's who will go get a staff nurse to get someone off a bed pan. it's not in their job description. it sounds to me like the problem is in the culture of the facility your working in. or in the individual personalities of the people involved. i would hazard to guess that your doc's don't take pt's off bedpans either.

the problem was while the pa refused to assist a patient get off of the bedpan when the patient asked them (she was in the room).... the rest of the team were literally stuck in esi level rooms (2 stemis and a seizuring child) all 3 patients were brought through triage at the same time. (not by squad mind you)

she was angry that we could not/would not drop what we were doing to take a patient off a bedpan of a room she just left. when the nurses explained to her they could not leave... starting iv's, preparing for the cath lab, controlling seizures, ect.ect. she became angry....

so, to say get a life , get over it...i think was a bit harsh, don't you? perhaps if your family member was having a heart attack or it was your child seizuring you would have wanted the rn to remain at their bedside as well.

this pa is not above helping a patient. no-one is. and yes, our er docs have taken patients off the bedpan before.

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I am amazed with the responses to this issue! It doesn't matter the educational level a person has or that it is not in a "person's job description"... what matters is that a patient is on a bedpan, which is uncomfortable to be sitting on... and needs to get off! So if a clinical person is in the room, a doctor, NP, PA, RN, LPN or CNA, and a patient requests to get off of the bedpan JUST TAKE THE PATIENT OFF OF THE BEDPAN! Those of us in healthcare are SUPPOSED to be in it to help patients which sometimes may mean helping them off a bedpan!

By the way most jobs I have had the job descriptions have ALWAYS included a statement such as "...and whatever else the boss says is part your job." Why is it nurses could do housekeeping, dietary, maintenance, respiratory therapy, lab, CPD etc... and other "professions" are not expected to? Nurses are not the only members of the team.....and getting a patient off the bedpan is not anything beneath ANYONE who is really there to help people!

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!:yeah::bow::yeah::bow:

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
the problem was while the pa refused to assist a patient get off of the bedpan when the patient asked them (she was in the room).... the rest of the team were literally stuck in esi level rooms (2 stemis and a seizuring child) all 3 patients were brought through triage at the same time. (not by squad mind you)

she was angry that we could not/would not drop what we were doing to take a patient off a bedpan of a room she just left. when the nurses explained to her they could not leave... starting iv's, preparing for the cath lab, controlling seizures, ect.ect. she became angry....

so, to say get a life , get over it...i think was a bit harsh, don't you? perhaps if your family member was having a heart attack or it was your child seizuring you would have wanted the rn to remain at their bedside as well.

this pa is not above helping a patient. no-one is. and yes, our er docs have taken patients off the bedpan before.

i think my frustration with this whole post is it appears to be an us vs them post. it's not about rn's vs pa's, its about one co worker who for whatetever reason doesn't apear to be helping the nursing staff. it's a personell issue.

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Specializes in private practice, corporate.
I think my frustration with this whole post is it appears to be an us vs them post. It's not about RN's vs PA's, its about one co worker who for whatetever reason doesn't apear to be helping the nursing staff. It's a personell issue.

Post #9 says it all... "the other night, I got her"...what kind of work environment do you have when someone is out to get the others? It's attitudes like that which make a job a horrible place to be, and a great reason not to work there. I feel very sorry for all of them.:cry:

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

what is the big deal?? it's just a freakin' bedpan!!! how would you feel if your mother was sitting on an uncomfortable bedpan for 20-30 minutes because some egotistical health professional think they are above removing a bedpan?? i don't get it.

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Anyone who is medical personnel whether they be a doctor, nurse, PA, CNA, etc. should help someone off a bedpan if asked especially if everyone else is busy with an emergency. It isn't about title or salary, but dignity and patient care.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.

It's still not a RN vs PA thing. Its a specific provider who happens to be a PA. This is a personal issue. Making statements like RN vs PA is inflamitory and counter productive. And getting back at someone is something that a child does.

You may have, but didn't say that you did, have taken the person aside and tried to discuss the issue with them. In a way that is geared toward changing behavior and not pointing out this persons failures. If you can't do this, then problem is even bigger in your facility than having a provider who wouldn't take a patient off a bed pan.

In this whole picture I see lots of problems, understaffing, Possibly not putting the call bell near the patient, the patient load of the PA, and the possibility that the PA had never even touched a bed pan in their life. Were were the other nurses, to cover you while you had to cover a higher accutiy level patient? We all do this for a living, and have been buried under an avalanch.

The provider prbably should have taken the patient off the bed pan, THey didn't, they were wrong in this case, but it it the end of the world. NO. I stand by my "get over it" comment. Would I want to work with this provider, probably not.

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So, it's the title which offended you...hahahaha...then I must say....get over it.

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It's still not a RN vs PA thing. Its a specific provider who happens to be a PA. This is a personal issue. Making statements like RN vs PA is inflamitory and counter productive. And getting back at someone is something that a child does.

You may have, but didn't say that you did, have taken the person aside and tried to discuss the issue with them. In a way that is geared toward changing behavior and not pointing out this persons failures. If you can't do this, then problem is even bigger in your facility than having a provider who wouldn't take a patient off a bed pan.

In this whole picture I see lots of problems, understaffing, Possibly not putting the call bell near the patient, the patient load of the PA, and the possibility that the PA had never even touched a bed pan in their life. Were were the other nurses, to cover you while you had to cover a higher accutiy level patient? We all do this for a living, and have been buried under an avalanch.

The provider prbably should have taken the patient off the bed pan, THey didn't, they were wrong in this case, but it it the end of the world. NO. I stand by my "get over it" comment. Would I want to work with this provider, probably not.

3 nurses working on one pod of 11 patients, 3 of which were ESI of 2, all of which came through triage at the same time and place on that particular team at the same time. The other pods were full, there was no help anywhere. And if you still think this PA was correct in what she did, shame on you. Get over the freakin RN vs PA thing already.....It was a title to the post....and I will repeat....Our PAs do ESI 4-5....The nurses do not get to pick which acuity they want to treat. :angryfire

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It's still not a RN vs PA thing. Its a specific provider who happens to be a PA. This is a personal issue. Making statements like RN vs PA is inflamitory and counter productive. And getting back at someone is something that a child does.

You may have, but didn't say that you did, have taken the person aside and tried to discuss the issue with them. In a way that is geared toward changing behavior and not pointing out this persons failures. If you can't do this, then problem is even bigger in your facility than having a provider who wouldn't take a patient off a bed pan.

In this whole picture I see lots of problems, understaffing, Possibly not putting the call bell near the patient, the patient load of the PA, and the possibility that the PA had never even touched a bed pan in their life. Were were the other nurses, to cover you while you had to cover a higher accutiy level patient? We all do this for a living, and have been buried under an avalanch.

Somehow I knew there was some projecting going on when you said it was a personal issue......It's personal to you...because your wife is a PA......:lol2:

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Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.

Im seriousley not out to get anyone, Im the boss I have taken my fare share of patients off the bed pan, I have docs who have, I just thought Id say how funny it is what comes around, goes around, and I thought it was very appropriate for this certain person to get to treat all 3 pts. and not get the chance to be lazy again, thats all.

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