Should I say something ?

[sasha2lady]

sigh....im sure many of you know how it goes in LTC....with call ins in the nursing department....including nurses and aides....well...here is the thing. I have an aide who has been an aide for about 7 mos or so...thus she is still learning alot about the job. a few months back...i noticed that on our weekends we work together she was always c/o feeling sick and wanting to go home....I told her no...that she had to stay and work b/c I could tell that it wasnt the same type of sickness as say...a virus or a stomach bug...it was my suspicion that she had overdone it with the partying the night before. Ive not smelled any alcohol or anything like that on her but I made her stay to make a point to her that she couldnt just stay out all night and come to work thinking she could just up and go home at the drop of a dime. I assigned her extra work and things as well...just to keep her busy. well...the 2nd time i noticed this...i said something to her...i asked her if she'd been drinking the night before...she said "not really".....and i then proceeded on with this lecture that if she came to work on my shift @ any time w/ signs that she was still under any type of influence that i would send her out the door and shed probably lose her job and so forth...and no further incidents have occurred....shes actually gotten better in her job performance. all..except one thing....she's been calling in alot lately. I found out that this past weekend when she called out..this made my aides short staffed and mad.....she said that her dad *who is a PASTOR*** was very ill and she was having to take him to the hospital....ok...1...this girl has no car and no license to take anybody anywhere....I suspected it was a lie. The next day she was off anyways...and I overheard another aide say that she saw her out with her boyfriend...that she had gone out of the way to throw her hands up out of the window to make herself seen...and was smiling etc... I believe in karma...and when you tell lies about people that are supposed to be important to you ...like your kids, your parents...etc...and make up lies about them being sick or hurt...i think that bad things will come of that....as in ...your lie might come true or worse. Ive been debating whether or not I should call her out on this one or just leave it alone. For all I know her dad may have been sick but from what I gather and my gut tells me its all bull....that she just probably partied sat night and laid out sunday. What bothers me about this is not what she or anyone else does outside of work...cuz I could care less....it bugs me that she is thinking so little of her fellow co workers and her job itself to do this...and this isnt the first time its happened. she is a young girl...about 19 so I know she wants to be young and party...but still...shouldnt your job fit in somewhere? if I had the power Id just say...ok...be young but do it elsewhere....too many ppl out there lookin for a job....maybe i should just drop her a big hint that i know about her fib. I know the don wont do anything about it...she never does....the same ppl call in alllllllll the time or just dont show up and still keep a job without a write up or a talking to so .....I just dont know where to go if anywhere with this info.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Stay out of it. If she called in, whatever she does on her own time is her business. You are not a manager and are not responsible for paying for her; your responsibility is what happens when she works under you. While she is on duty, you are then to be sure that she provides safe care to the patients, so, if she does arrive and you suspect she is intoxicated, follow the steps such as call your nursing supervisor, etc...

[luvbug]

Stay out of it. If she called in, whatever she does on her own time is her business. You are not a manager and are not responsible for paying for her; your responsibility is what happens when she works under you. While she is on duty, you are then to be sure that she provides safe care to the patients, so, if she does arrive and you suspect she is intoxicated, follow the steps such as call your nursing supervisor, etc...

I have to agree, though a little hesitantly. (did I spell that right?) While it may just irritate the ever living snot out of you, if she isn't harming anyone, there isn't much you can do. However, the reason I hesitate to agree is because if she ever did come in smelling of alcohol or if you had any other proof (other than the "he said, she said stuff), I might then say something. At that point, who knows what kind of care she would be giving?

[sasha2lady]

yea...i slept on it last night and decided just to leave it and see what happens. I would hate to see her lose her job because since she has worked under me...i have seen such improvement in her work...you know how it is at first....when someone is slow and mimics what they see other aides do...even the bad habits they sometimes have like....sitting behind the desk, etc etc.....i think shes got potential...however....what good is someone to a facility if they arent there? this naturally doesnt apply just to her..but in general to all Id think. when this happens....my aides that have come to work struggle the whole time, showers dont get done (not all of them), they take more shortcuts etc etc...so goes the list. I came to the conclusion that if others dont care about their job then I shouldnt either. I try to help the aides on the hall as much as I can when they are short but i cant do my job and theirs all the time. theres not enough hours in the shift to do it all like that. sigh....thanks for the advice.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I have to agree, though a little hesitantly. (did I spell that right?) While it may just irritate the ever living snot out of you, if she isn't harming anyone, there isn't much you can do. However, the reason I hesitate to agree is because if she ever did come in smelling of alcohol or if you had any other proof (other than the "he said, she said stuff), I might then say something. At that point, who knows what kind of care she would be giving?

That is why I stated that if the OP discovers that the CNA is not performing safely at the work place, then, follow the chain of command. Unfortunately, no matter how annoyed we may be, speaking to someone about partying, absenteeism (except when you are responsible for counseling them) may not be appropriate and can be taken personally. People call in sick for various reasons. Sure, many are irresponsible (such as partying and congregating in places were their co-workers can see them), but sometimes, we cannot pay attention to rumors unless we see it for ourselves. People do have a tendency to exaggerate. But, coming to work smelling of alcohol, being in a stupor, etc...needs to be confronted, and this information has to be taken to the nursing supervisor...saying the behavior, what you smell on the person, their appearence, etc... This way, the supervisor is then responsible to send the person home. And of course, one should document somewhere for their personal records in case it comes up again.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

yea...i slept on it last night and decided just to leave it and see what happens. I would hate to see her lose her job because since she has worked under me...i have seen such improvement in her work...you know how it is at first....when someone is slow and mimics what they see other aides do...even the bad habits they sometimes have like....sitting behind the desk, etc etc.....i think shes got potential...however....what good is someone to a facility if they arent there? this naturally doesnt apply just to her..but in general to all Id think. when this happens....my aides that have come to work struggle the whole time, showers dont get done (not all of them), they take more shortcuts etc etc...so goes the list. I came to the conclusion that if others dont care about their job then I shouldnt either. I try to help the aides on the hall as much as I can when they are short but i cant do my job and theirs all the time. theres not enough hours in the shift to do it all like that. sigh....thanks for the advice.

That is true, we are all grown adults and have to be responsible for ourselves. Some people place themselves in situations where they hang themselves or write their own destiny based on their behaviors.

One thing I noticed, even as a nurse is that many times, we are told the wrong thing and it sounds right, so, sometimes, we follow the practice of others without seeing what is really correct; like this CNA was doing. You say you see improvement. Maybe you can even take her to the side and say that it appears that her absenteeism is increasing and you would not like to see anything happen to her. But, think about it...a person that calls in does make it harder for the others, however, they, themselves are not physically present to personally harm a patient. Those that are present are still responsible for providing safe care. It is safer to present what happens on the job site, because you can provide your observations and their behavior.

[sasha2lady]

Karma Karma Karma! this cna came in yesterday with a note from the ER...she was suddenly stricken with a raging viral eye infection in both eyes! This was true...I saw her eyes..they were red, watery, swollen a little bit and had some weird drainage. Her dad brought her by work to give me the er note for the boss. I couldnt help but think to myself.....karma just got ya. Luckily we got her shifts covered this time. thank god for prn's who actually come to work when needed!

[NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN]

I hate people who are constantly sick. I work a lot of weekends and let me tell you when I float to other floors I can tell who's called in. There are some floors that rarely have call ins, and that's because they have a good staff. But there are some floors who always seem to have the same people call in. Well you're only allowed so many call ins a quarter. YUP, there's a limit, and if you go over those (they don't care if you have a doctors note or not) you're brought into your directors office and you're basically written up verbally. I've never had that problem so I don't know what really goes on regarding that. It's just something that I've heard.