Spinoff From "Don't Be That Nurse"

ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2015

I started noticing the incredible amount of documentation that nurses have to do during my SR2 year of nursing school. I was a tech after my 1st semester, and I think that helped to acquaint me to the hospital environment, though I don't think it should be a requirement. It did annoy me when someone would ask me to go get a water, or bring blankets to someone when they were just in the room. Guess who was out the door just after 0700 and who wasn't until 0800 though. I try to not ask petty requests of my techs unless someone calls me while I'm in a patients room and I have another room to visit/another med to pass to a different patient and a tech could meet the needs of the third caller. No, I will not hesitate to call the tech to bring patient #3 some water.

hookyarnandblanket · Feb 28, 2015

I will also say this: My employer is participating in HCAHPS in order to keep grant money coming in. The first time we get downgraded because a patient who is always continent and suddenly was incontinent and humiliated by it because a nurse left to get a CNA to toilet the patient and it was an urgent need or a patient falls because he or she tried to get up and go to the bathroom by him or herself because a nurse left to find a CNA to help the patient and the patient couldn't wait, it won't be a hammer coming down on just the CNAs.

k-t-did · Feb 28, 2015

I was a CNA before becoming an RN. I mostly had good experiences with my RN's as a CNA...but I was not lazy! I work with techs now that are hesitant or slow or attitudinal to nurses delegation. What many cna's have no concept of is the absolutely crippling amount of charting nurses must do....and the time it takes. They also seem to downplay the responsibility that is on the shoulders of the nurse as far as patient outcome that they do not have the burden of.

CNAEdd29 · Feb 28, 2015

I personally don't believe that most cna's think they are "Kings". I know I am not one. But I believe we have a right to say something IF we worked as a CNA for a long time and know what's it like. Yes, Nursing is a different level, but our work is just as hard. Nursing is more about the human body and science. Being a CNA requires strength, patience, and time management. We each have an Important part in healthcare. Based on long experiences some CNAs have, they kinda have a right to say something.

mirandaaa · Feb 28, 2015

Thank you for those of you who gave great input and didn't just come on here to drop a negative comment about the post and then didn't even participate in what the actual conversation is about.

I fully agree that there are positives and negatives to both having/not having the experience as a CNA before becoming a nurse. I also fully understand that nurses have their own duties as well, but in my experiences, the nurses that have the attitude of "I don't do that because that's CNA work" have not worked as a CNA before (not always the case, but it is in my experiences).

CNA's and nurses need to be team players and work together. A nurse should not feel "above" helping someone use the bathroom if they need it and a CNA is not immediately available. I think nurses that have not worked as a CNA prior do not fully understand the amount of work that CNAs actually do and they end up taking that CNA for granted.

In the end, it's all about the care of the patient and sometimes nurses and CNA's need to step out of their "assigned" roles and help one another to ensure that the patient is being well-cared for.

mirandaaa · Feb 28, 2015

So many nurses have driven on both sides of the street, but some CNA's-- who have only driven down the one side-- insist they are kings of the whole damn road

Bet you're one of those nurses who will hunt down an aide to wipe someone because you don't want to do it yourself. Sad.

mariebailey, MSN, RN · Feb 28, 2015

It's crazy how many nurses I've worked with that feel are "too good" to do "CNA work."
"CNA work" translates to "anyone certified to help needs to help when possible work."
I can't count the number of times when I've been busting my butt trying to get 80 things done at "rush hour" time at 7:30p (or 5:30a) and having 5 lights going off, someone on the floor, a separate alarm going off, pass waters, pass towels, change someone who needs it, toilet someone who needs it, dress people for bed/for the day, get the people who follow a schedule ready when they need it and various other crazy things and the nurse doesn't offer to help.
What experiences have you had? (Please omit any names and/or facilities so as to not get anyone in trouble.)

My biggest problem with this post is you seem to operate under the assumption that these nurses don't have their own work to do and are not slammed like you. I'm a floor nurse, and I go non-stop for 12-13 hours a day. When I see the CNAs taking off for their 4th cigarette break, texting on their phones, & chatting, I nearly lose my marbles too. I think we all need to help out, work as a team, and respect each others' roles. If your role bothers you that much, maybe you should go to nursing school.

hookyarnandblanket · Feb 28, 2015

I understand and respect the amount of paperwork/e-charting nurses have to do. I worked in public education for 10 years and there were many days I stayed at work until almost 2100 because I had so much paperwork. I see nurses at my hospital still charting until 2230 even though they were supposed to be clocked out at 1900, and it wasn't because they were too busy doing CNA work on top of their own work. Our nurses pass meds, answer phones, handle ER patients, and everything else they can during their shift. Believe me, I often wish I could step in and help them so they can get home quicker, but I can't.

In the end, I think we have to accept people as they are on the job. It is impossible to force someone to change his or her behavior; that is an individual choice and must be done of one's own volition. Instead, we have to learn how to work as a team even when people don't want to be team players. It is a symbolic relationship that will only thrive if we collaborate together.

CNAEdd29 · Feb 28, 2015

What an RN should never ask of a CNA | Scrubs – The Leading Lifestyle Nursing Magazine Featuring Inspirational and Informational Nursing Articles

This article is from a nurse who truly understands what teamwork is.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Mar 1, 2015

I was a CNA for five years so I know from real life experience how hard that job is. I also know how hard the nurse side is, but it's a different kind of hard.

I do help with the so-called CNA tasks when I am able to, but there are honestly times where I can't. I feel bad when I see the CNA's being slammed and there's nothing I can do that's any more time consuming that getting a glass of water..yes there is always time for that! Answering alarms too, yes I will always make the time. If for no other reason than than the paperwork involved if somebody falls is way more time consuming than answering the alarm. Sorry if that sounds cold, but honestly my first thought when somebody falls is "please don't be hurt!" but that is closely followed by "damn! now I have all this paperwork!" Unfortunately I just can't always take the time to help somebody to the toilet when I know from experience that it's going to be a 10 minute job.. and you CNA's out there know that there are people that are going to take 10 minutes or more to toilet, especially if you have to go track down a lift to get them there.

On the flip side, I did work with a newer nurse that was a CNA in our facility that had a raging case of RNitis. Her favorite phrase was "that's not my job." Shockingly the CNA's working with her [that used to work side by side with her when she was a CNA] didn't go out of their way to ask how high when she says jump. She only lasted as a nurse for 6 months before she took a job somewhere else, a facility with a pretty bad reputation locally. I figure her previous CNA coworkers probably had something to do with her decision to leave.

hookyarnandblanket · Mar 1, 2015

On the flip side, I did work with a newer nurse that was a CNA in our facility that had a raging case of RNitis. Her favorite phrase was "that's not my job." Shockingly the CNA's working with her [that used to work side by side with her when she was a CNA] didn't go out of their way to ask how high when she says jump. She only lasted as a nurse for 6 months before she took a job somewhere else, a facility with a pretty bad reputation locally. I figure her previous CNA coworkers probably had something to do with her decision to leave.

I worked with a LPN who often said this. In fact, one night when a resident who was typically one assist started circling the drain and I asked her to help me with this resident because the other CNAs wouldn't, she complained about how she had to come in early and skip her dinner break and how she got her LPN so she didn't have to do these things anymore. I don't ask for help unless I legitimately need it or I have a serious concern about my resident/patient and this was one of those times. The resident ended up going to the hospital the next day with a GI bleed. I feel like it could have been caught sooner had she actually listened to me instead of complaining.

kaydensmom01 · Mar 1, 2015

Oh so every nurse that you deem "good", you ask if they were previously a CNA? Every nurse that you deem "bad", you also ask if they were a CNA previously? I can not count the number of times that my NA has gotten their lunch and their other entitled breaks when I couldn't even go to the bathroom and had to stay hours late for finishing up charting. No a nurse should never go find you to wipe someone's ass if they are in the room with the patient, but it is appropriate for a nurse to delegate to a CNA if they are just as busy as the CNA.

Please do not judge me based on my tone in this post as I am a great nurse, I get along wonderfully with the CNA's that I work with, I appreciate them and hope that they appreciate me as we work as a team. What I do not like is this entitled attitude that this OP is displaying that relays she/he is the almighty judge of who a good and bad nurse is. It is none of your business if I was a CNA previously. I can tell you I have seen good and lazy nurses and their past work as a CNA or lack of was of no correlation. I have also seen some very lazy aides that hate to be asked to do something while they are sitting and doing NOTHING and I am running around with 1000 things to do. You do not know what we are responsible for and what we have to do. You shouldn't judge everyone in one color based on your experiences in which you are likely to see what you want to see and disregard anything that does not go along with your individual beliefs.