Some Nurses too Almighty?

Nurses General Nursing

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OK, so when did they pass the memo out that states if you're an lpn you don't have to bathe a pt? That really ****** me off. No one is too good to NOT bathe a pt.

I wonder if there are any nurses on this forum that refuse to give baths? I would really like to hear their thoughts

I would never out-and-out refuse to give a bath if someone was in dire need but giving baths is not part of my daily routine by any means. If they CNAs are really short, I will help them as much as I possibly can *while still getting my own work done to the best of my ability*. Because I have spent days helping with basic care so much that my own meds, treatments and charting are behind and when I get behind there is certainly no one available to help me out any.

I work LTC/Rehab. I have more treatments, IVs, trache care, suctioning, etc. on the rehab floor but more patients are set-ups or min assists. I find I have a little more leeway to help out on this floor because I have 15 patients only.

On the LTC floor it's almost impossible for me to help give baths. I'll put someone on the pan or take them to the BR if they are an assist of one but I just don't have a spare minute to give a bath. All day is doing the med pass for 30 patients.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.
Hold on, are the current students saying they don't get assigned a patient to care for, for an entire day? We got them at shift care, did am care, meds, dsgs, etc. Nobody was ever stuck bathing every patient they could.

When I was a student, we got 1 (or 2) patients for a 6-hour shift. We did AM care, vital signs, assessments, and meds (if the instructor was around), but sometimes that was all we got to do. The patient would go for tests, or they would need a procedure that I wasn't signed off for or that needed supervision by the instructor (who often wasn't available because she had 7 students). If there was nothing else to do, I would help the other nurses on the unit. I did a lot of baths, turning, and fingersticks, but I graduated without inserting a foley or using an IV pump.

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When I was a student, we got 1 (or 2) patients for a 6-hour shift. We did AM care, vital signs, assessments, and meds (if the instructor was around), but sometimes that was all we got to do. The patient would go for tests, or they would need a procedure that I wasn't signed off for or that needed supervision by the instructor (who often wasn't available because she had 7 students). If there was nothing else to do, I would help the other nurses on the unit. I did a lot of baths, turning, and fingersticks, but I graduated without inserting a foley or using an IV pump.

All I can say is wow. It sounds like your final/consolidation placement preceptor let you down. Our did and do ask students what they need to work on and find them the skills they need. I got really good at male catheters in an outpatient setting. When the old gents came in for a change, I was hauled up and introduced. Only two prostates held me back.:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.
And that's how it should be! I do not do for patients what patients can do for themselves. If they can't, I'm more than happy to assist, but if you're walking around the room, you don't have cholera, and you just crapped your pants..Congrats! You get a package of wipes, and no, neither I nor my co-workers will be doing your peri-care.

F*** Press Ganey.

:)

I'm cross-referencing thread here, so go with me on this question. :)

Remember that thread about nursing school students having to do bed baths on each other in swim suits? A lot of the justification given was to foster empathy and how embarrassing it was to submit yourself to a bed bath.

Are you saying that some patients who could do their own care would prefer having someone do it for them?

If so, yikes! I'm sorry, I can wipe my own butt, thank you.

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I'm cross-referencing thread here, so go with me on this question. :)

Remember that thread about nursing school students having to do bed baths on each other in swim suits? A lot of the justification given was to foster empathy and how embarrassing it was to submit yourself to a bed bath.

Are you saying that some patients who could do their own care would prefer having someone do it for them?

If so, yikes! I'm sorry, I can wipe my own butt, thank you.

You wouldn't believe. I've had grown men, who can walk, ask me to wipe their ass - well, really they just wanted me to wash "down there." They get mad when I hand them wipes and tell them to go to town. If they start pitching a fit, I act like I'm relenting, tell them I'll be back with supplies and then have a male nurse or tech walk in with a washcloth and a basin. They usually, and miraculously, are able to summon the ability to wash their own privates. I've had women who, despite walking up to the nurses station and walking into the ER and to their bed, insist they need a bedpan and a nurse to clean them up.

Some people LOVE being in the sick role.

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

Are you saying that some patients who could do their own care would prefer having someone do it for them?

If so, yikes! I'm sorry, I can wipe my own butt, thank you.

Um, YES. Somehow they can do it themselves just fine at home or even when I am not available. But if I happen to be around to help them to the toilet? They can't wipe. I can't even imagine feeling like it's okay to ask (or demand!) that someone else to wipe my butt when I'm capable. Bizarre but true!

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Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.

what about that post about the floated nurse that was assigned to do tech/CNA duties and got in a huff about it?

There were a few posters that agreed with her. Now whether that relucatance was an issue of accountability (*cough*bull*cough*) or just not wanting to give baths and wipe rear and empty foley drain bags all shift, I guess we can only speculate.

As for those patients that are perfectly capable of washing themselves: I like to hand them the soap and clothes and coach "Now get your armpit, Mr. Smith" and it gives me the time to inspect their skin and keep them as independent as possible while still helping them feel like they got some bathing assistance even if I didn't really do anything but stand there and look and hand hot washclothes and towels.

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what about that post about the floated nurse that was assigned to do tech/CNA duties and got in a huff about it?

There were a few posters that agreed with her. Now whether that relucatance was an issue of accountability (*cough*bull*cough*) or just not wanting to give baths and wipe rear and empty foley drain bags all shift, I guess we can only speculate.

As for those patients that are perfectly capable of washing themselves: I like to hand them the soap and clothes and coach "Now get your armpit, Mr. Smith" and it gives me the time to inspect their skin and keep them as independent as possible while still helping them feel like they got some bathing assistance even if I didn't really do anything but stand there and look and hand hot washclothes and towels.

I can see where accountability issues can get a bit tricky in that situation. I don't know about the poster you're referring to, but no matter what role you're preforming, you are held to the highest licensure.

Accountability aside, it could get tricky with your co-workers who would want you to help out with RN-only duties and who might hold it against you when you refused. And, I would refuse, depending on the situation. I'm not going to go around and give PRN pain meds for nurses when I can't monitor the patient. It could create some potential animosity that could carry over into other shifts.

Sorry. /end derail.

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I can see where accountability issues can get a bit tricky in that situation. I don't know about the poster you're referring to, but no matter what role you're preforming, you are held to the highest licensure.

Accountability aside, it could get tricky with your co-workers who would want you to help out with RN-only duties and who might hold it against you when you refused. And, I would refuse, depending on the situation. I'm not going to go around and give PRN pain meds for nurses when I can't monitor the patient. It could create some potential animosity that could carry over into other shifts.

Sorry. /end derail.

It doesn't sound like team work is alive and well on your units. Who gives your patients pain meds when you are on lunch, tied up in a code, wound vac dsg change??? We answer each others call bells and do pain meds as a given. The few nurses that don't are loathed on the floor.

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It doesn't sound like team work is alive and well on your units. Who gives your patients pain meds when you are on lunch, tied up in a code, wound vac dsg change??? We answer each others call bells and do pain meds as a given. The few nurses that don't are loathed on the floor.

Right, but if you're floated to another unit? If you don't particularly trust a co-worker, and what if you're medicating half the floor? It's different if you're assisting for a short time (lunch breaks, codes etc) , but what about an entire 12 hours? Also, with the exception of codes, I report off on all my patients before lunch and try to make sure no one needs any narcotics, blood, or anything with a high potential of harm.

Don't forget that in addition to acting as a float nurse, CNAs often have roles that are vital to the unit that do not involve patient care. You may find yourself in charge of making sure all rooms are stocked, that the linen carts are stocked. You may have to straighten the med room. I'm not saying someone couldn't be helpful outside of the scope of the role they've been floated to, but I am saying that it could get dicey depending on the situation. Especially when you're being told to complete all of the CNAs duties, but are still being asked to preform RN duties and being held responsible to it. I float in the ER all the time. I trust my co-workers, and I can also monitor the patient on my own if I feel concerned, but if I was floated to the floor and asked to function as a CNA, I would be real nervous. I don't know those patients, how their floor works or anything about the nurses.

Also, think about it from another angle: What if a patient requests pain medication of both you and the assigned nurse? What if you both give it? It's generally better to have one person in charge of medications for a patient, unless the two RNs have good, frequent communication. This isn't a problem, if you're in your own element. But in a new environment?

Now, doing stuff some techs can't? Foleys, NG tubes, phlebotomy, restarting IV lines, flushing IV lines, etc., well, you'd be an a** if you didn't :) (I know some CNAs are able to do these, but it's not always consistent from place to place. Where I used to work, floor techs could do baths, assist patients to the bathroom, and take vitals. That was it. No foley's, no drawing blood, nothing of that sort.)

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In my ICU the nurses complete all patient care. This includes bathing patients, getting them out of bed, helping them onto bedpans, cleaning them when they are done. The nurse does everything. The nursing assistant just stocks rooms and take blood sugars. It is rare to find an nursing assistant that will help with patient care. Usually the nurses have to help each other.

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Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
When I was a student, we got 1 (or 2) patients for a 6-hour shift. We did AM care, vital signs, assessments, and meds (if the instructor was around), but sometimes that was all we got to do. The patient would go for tests, or they would need a procedure that I wasn't signed off for or that needed supervision by the instructor (who often wasn't available because she had 7 students). If there was nothing else to do, I would help the other nurses on the unit. I did a lot of baths, turning, and fingersticks, but I graduated without inserting a foley or using an IV pump.

I also graduated without ever having inserted a foley(except for lab) and only did one complicated dressing change. We gave meds if the instructor was available, assessments, and charting on 1 or at the most 2 patients.

We were told by our instructors to not bother the RNs. Truthfully, a lot of the nurses did not like having students and we were treated like extra aides. I agree, that giving a bath is the best time to inspect skin but by the last semester students should be honing in on giving report, sitting in on admissions and discharges, and learning communication skills with MDs (of course with the primary nurse). Those of us that were aides had already given baths and cleaned patients for years. I had that skill down and knew to inform the RN in charge of the patient of any skin issues. And yes, a lot of the time I was answering call lights and toileting patients as a student. There is not anything wrong with this but my time could have been better spent learning strictly RN duties.

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