I was told the other day that the one who always comes late got suspended for the same issue not too long ago. Wow! Well, I guess it could happen again if she keeps it up.
Neglect, yes! Dressings not changed, TO's not signed by doctors (it's on her to obtain these signatures on her shift, as doctors are only there on her shift), supplies not ordered (again, a Day shift requirement, as Central is closed on 3-11 and midnights), and other stuff. Oh, yes, our floor is a mess. I know this one is depressed but if she can't handle the work, why not get some time off, some counseling, etc.:angryfire:o:yawn:
Sounds like management needs to know about these issues. I wonder how many serious errors have happened?
I would just like to thank the OP for this thread. As a recent graduate, and having heard some serious horror stories it is very helpful to learn what others have had to contend with (and what I may have to look forward to)... but also to hear that it isn't inevitable that there will always be a terrible clash and conflict... that there ARE those who have collegial, supportive work relationships that they delight in.
I've noticed that almost everytime I get the Allnurses newsletter there is a thread about how much of a headache the Aides are. I can't help it but feel sad about it.
I am an Aide going to nursing school so it is easy to see why. I'll keep this short. There are bad employees everywhere, including a large number of nurses. And there are good ones as well. I have had my share of nurses treating me like I am ignorant, or that I have the strenght and energy of a horse because they expect me to work as hard as one without complaining.
Good luck to those of you who see your Aides as your subordinates, not as part of your team...
then those people should be let go. i dont think the attitude of "the war is mine" is a good attitude to have. i would want to avoid a person with that attitude. not help them. we all know nurses/aides etc etc can justify and find other work that needs to be done vs doing work that needs to be done now.
yes the aides should be doing their job they are paid to do. but the expression you get more flies with honey holds very true. if i want someone to work as hard as me and by my side, then i better be nice, kind and respectful. really, it would be better if it were more like the military. someone is in charge, someone else follows orders. if orders aren't followed or if mouthing off occurs, consequences follow. period. or, we should go back to when nursing was a religious calling, done by the nuns and priests.
i still agree if we want to work with good cnas then we better raise the bar. reward the ones that are exceeding and dismiss the ones that are slacking. as if i was hired in at 9.00 an hour to do abc work and a peer of mine was only doing a and b work yet getting the same 9.00 how long is it going to take for me to realize i can do 2/3 of my job for the same pay?
it isn't just aides who are learning that lesson.i finally have learned it, too, sad to say.
I've noticed that almost everytime I get the Allnurses newsletter there is a thread about how much of a headache the Aides are. I can't help it but feel sad about it.
I am an Aide going to nursing school so it is easy to see why. I'll keep this short. There are bad employees everywhere, including a large number of nurses. And there are good ones as well. I have had my share of nurses treating me like I am ignorant, or that I have the strenght and energy of a horse because they expect me to work as hard as one without complaining.
Good luck to those of you who see your Aides as your subordinates, not as part of your team...
Aides are both team members and they are subordinates. Once you have your license and understand how it can be threatened by the actions or inactions of your subordinate team members (aides), you will understand why someone, namely you, the licensed nurse, has to be in charge (have the authority). The law is going to hold you more heavily liable than it will your aide. Therefore, you must have the necessary authority to meet your responsibility.
If you are busy hunting down hiding aides and doing their assignments, you will not be able to get your own work done on time and you might encounter legal problems that you otherwise would not, if you had aides you could count on. Like it or not, you will be in charge. That means you will have subordinates. Team work is great. It's vital. But you are going to be the team leader. I hope you can get your team members to follow you.
This isn't a pride issue or an ego problem. This is an issue of properly caring for living patients and of avoiding legal trouble.
One particular aide I have is very mouthy. She talks back, she argues, she refuses to do what I ask. I cannot let her get away with that or I will completely lose control of the place. I had to go to the shift supervisor and to the unit manager about her, both of whom backed me up. She is better now. She hates me but she does her job. I treat her with dignity, I say "please" and "thank you", I will order something from her kids' fundraisers if asked later this year, just as I have done several years running, even though I don't need the stuff, and I will give her a decent evaluation.
She makes me look bad to my boss when I have to call them in to handle her and that is terrible.
I am fair to all the aides. I treat them all the same, even though I like some better than others. That's just human. We naturally like people who help us and don't give us a hard time, people who respect us, make us smile, and are friendly. Some of them dislike me because I speak the truth. I do not let them wander off, I hold them accountable for their assignments. Once they understand that, we get along okay. I hate being the boss, though, when my team members, who are subordinate to me, misbehave. It weights me heavily.
I don't have time to nurse the aides. Neither will you. They need to do their jobs. If they hate their jobs, they can try to learn a different one. I will cheer them on and help them find scholarships. I know some who have become nurses, clerks, med rec techs, and day care owners. I know lots of them have child care and transportation and many other situations and I feel for them. But don't take out their frustrations on me. My life isn't a bed of roses, either but I don't bring my issues to work. Believe me, they're still waiting for me when I get home.
I've noticed that almost everytime I get the Allnurses newsletter there is a thread about how much of a headache the Aides are. I can't help it but feel sad about it.
I am an Aide going to nursing school so it is easy to see why. I'll keep this short. There are bad employees everywhere, including a large number of nurses. And there are good ones as well. I have had my share of nurses treating me like I am ignorant, or that I have the strenght and energy of a horse because they expect me to work as hard as one without complaining.
Good luck to those of you who see your Aides as your subordinates, not as part of your team...
You know what, I and you will be subordinate to the RN, BSN, DON, Hosp. Admin, Shift Supervisors, etc. And it is a BENEFIT to be subordinate. They handle the big decisions and take responsiblity for that.
Honestly I started out trying to be a great team member. I tried to make sure everything was fair and help out where I could. Most CNAs will be greatful and work to their best, because they know that you are fair and understand. SOME will take advantage and push and push and push... You will learn that with them, you cannot be a "friend", but will have to be a boss.
Like many of us have stated before..there are bad nurses, bosses, etc. too. You will find just as many threads on them. The originator of the OP was trying to vent - where else should she go to do that?
I work on a med-surg floor where it's hard to keep nursing aides. Of course we have some really good aides, and some that just do the minimum (and that's being generous). I do feel a big part of the problem is the fact that management tends to turn a blind eye because it's so hard to keep aides, they can make so much more money in nursing homes, etc. so the turnover is very high. I think sometimes the problem may be us nurses not appreciating them enough, expecting them to do the "dirty work" we don't want to do, (or have time to do). On the other hand many are just there to make a buck, and they are going to do the least amount possible. I have also hit the floor at 0600 to find foley bags about to bust, patient's lying in urine, etc. I really don't know what the answer is, but I'm sure it would help to offer a little more money, it's a hard job. Of course, they could offer us a little more money too!
You know what, I and you will be subordinate to the RN, BSN, DON, Hosp. Admin, Shift Supervisors, etc. And it is a BENEFIT to be subordinate. They handle the big decisions and take responsiblity for that.
Honestly I started out trying to be a great team member. I tried to make sure everything was fair and help out where I could. Most CNAs will be greatful and work to their best, because they know that you are fair and understand. SOME will take advantage and push and push and push... You will learn that with them, you cannot be a "friend", but will have to be a boss.
Like many of us have stated before..there are bad nurses, bosses, etc. too. You will find just as many threads on them. The originator of the OP was trying to vent - where else should she go to do that?
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for making your point candidly. We are all subordinates to somebody aren't we? Sure, I understand - where else can one go to vent about nursing issues. You are right. I'm just an idealist at heart. I am lucky in that I work with a very good team, and I know my place in the scheme of things. I look up to the nurses I work with as good role models. Sure, there are some techs that I would like to personally choke:angryfire, as I would like to choke the people who hire them! You have no idea how much I worry and care about the patients. More often than not, my nurses tell me to sit down and quit doing so much! I do the best I can to do my job right the first time and never have to be called aside by anyone. Some of my nurses have thrown things at me just to see if they could "catch me", but I know they have done it with good intentions. I take pride on being the right arm for my nurses and helping them get the job done by the end of our shift. They are my brothers and my sisters, and my mentors.
Honestly, it is the aides. We've had a huge turnover in all nursing staff and the aides have very much been allowed to take over. Our DON now requires a "reporting slip" to be filled out when the aides find skin tears, bruises, etc or when they fell that a resident needs a PRN. I have had aides walk up to me and say things like, "You need to give Jane an Ativan right now. She is on her light and doesn't need anything and I am tired of it." When I assessed Jane, I found that she needed to go to the bathroom and once that was taken care of, she was fine. So...when the DON gets her copy of the "reporting slip," she checks the MAR to find out if I did anything...when there is nothing there and nothing charted, I am called in to explain why. It makes me glad I don't work the floor very much.
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for making your point candidly. We are all subordinates to somebody aren't we? Sure, I understand - where else can one go to vent about nursing issues. You are right. I'm just an idealist at heart. I am lucky in that I work with a very good team, and I know my place in the scheme of things. I look up to the nurses I work with as good role models. Sure, there are some techs that I would like to personally choke:angryfire, as I would like to choke the people who hire them! You have no idea how much I worry and care about the patients. More often than not, my nurses tell me to sit down and quit doing so much! I do the best I can to do my job right the first time and never have to be called aside by anyone. Some of my nurses have thrown things at me just to see if they could "catch me", but I know they have done it with good intentions. I take pride on being the right arm for my nurses and helping them get the job done by the end of our shift. They are my brothers and my sisters, and my mentors.
Good luck with your techs!
Sounds like you will make a great nurse. I just wanted to point out that being subordinate isn't always a bad thing. And like I have mentioned before, a good CNA is worth their weight in gold. But a bad CNA can make your shift a living hell. Just as for the CNAs, a bad nurse can make the shift a living hell. I love it when we all work together as a team. I help you when I can, you help me when you can - nobody keeps score. It makes for a wonderful night.
I work on a med-surg floor where it's hard to keep nursing aides. Of course we have some really good aides, and some that just do the minimum (and that's being generous). I do feel a big part of the problem is the fact that management tends to turn a blind eye because it's so hard to keep aides, they can make so much more money in nursing homes, etc. so the turnover is very high. I think sometimes the problem may be us nurses not appreciating them enough, expecting them to do the "dirty work" we don't want to do, (or have time to do). On the other hand many are just there to make a buck, and they are going to do the least amount possible. I have also hit the floor at 0600 to find foley bags about to bust, patient's lying in urine, etc. I really don't know what the answer is, but I'm sure it would help to offer a little more money, it's a hard job. Of course, they could offer us a little more money too!
The aides are there to do the dirty work. That is their job.
We are hired to do meds, paperwork, dressings, supervision, talk with doctors, pharmacists, assessments of patients.
We cannot be doing both our own work and the work of the aides. There just aren't enough hours in the day. If we do their work, we still have our own to do, as they cannot legally or by virtue of education do it.
Repeat - they are hired to bathe, dress, turn, clean, feed, and transfer patients. It is hard physical work. It's what they were hired for. Sure, we can help them. They can only be one place at a time. So can we, though.
I sure hope she got a good long write up. And I hope management backs you up. If she doesn't want to do her job, then she shouldn't be there. And there could be some pt. neglect issues going on that need to be checked into.
No, I didn't write it up or tell the supervisor. I just didn't have the energy right then. If she comes back to my floor, though, I will lay down the rules at the start of the shift - tell me when you need to leave the floor and be back within 30 minutes. And do your work when you're here, not sleep in the warm kitchen. Pretty simple, isn't it?
And like I have mentioned before, a good CNA is worth their weight in gold. But a bad CNA can make your shift a living hell. Just as for the CNAs, a bad nurse can make the shift a living hell. I love it when we all work together as a team. I help you when I can, you help me when you can - nobody keeps score. It makes for a wonderful night.
squeakykitty
934 Posts
Sounds like management needs to know about these issues. I wonder how many serious errors have happened?