After reading that post, it really got me thinking abut the nurses that I've worked with in the past and my experiences with them.
There was another post elsewhere on this site asking if being a CNA should be a requirement to get into the nursing program and I 100% feel that it should.
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.
I've had times where I've had all of these things going on, and the nurse would hunt me down to tell me that so-and-so wants some water and to "please get some for them when you're done."
It's moments like that that make me nearly lose my marbles.
Now, I understand that the nurse has their own duties and things to do, but is it really too hard to help your aide with a few little things when you can tell the hall is nuts?
I always seem to have issues with unhelpful nurses when they were not a CNA/CMA before they became a nurse, but all of the nurses I've worked with who HAVE been a CNA/CMA were so helpful and easy to work with.
What are your opinions?
Should nurses be CNA's first?
What experiences have you had? (Please omit any names and/or facilities so as to not get anyone in trouble.)
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.
Actually, I do it myself all the time.
My favorite part of nursing is the hands-on personal care. I do it myself whenever I can and I am happy to do so.
In fact, this is why I was called The Hygiene Queen
I have a part-time gig as a program nurse in an elderly daycare. Do you know who does the wiping? ME. There are no CNA's there. If a client has an accident, I change them and I am happy to do it to spare them discomfort and embarrassment.
I am right there along with the PCT's at my inpatient psych job. If I delegate, they know it's because I simply cannot put off a nursing duty that only I, the nurse, can do. It's not just me, either... most of our nurses are the same way. You'd be spoiled on my unit.
What I failed to mention, was that I was a CNA and a PCT... for over 20 years.
Most people don't stick with something for over 20 years if they don't want to do it.
I was also super good at it too
I am a HUGE fan of CNA's... they always have a special place in my heart.
However, I cannot tolerate any nonsense that "nurses are lazy" because "they don't help me!" ... and then when a nurse tries to explain to a CNA that sometimes the nurse just can't stop and help... well, by golly, that nurse is a liar.
My issue is that you cannot speak about what the nurse is or isn't doing or compare the two jobsif you have never done both!
I've done both.
You jumped to a conclusion about me and you couldn't have gotten it more wrong.
I have, indeed, in all my years of experience, worked with some CNA's who thought they knew it all, were better than anyone else and, yes, thought they knew both sides of the street and couldn't keep in their own lane.
Just because I made a jab at the type of CNA I can't stand, you jumped to a conclusion that I won't do peri-care........
Posting this again because I think people are missing some of my comments within the post and only viewing the post itself:
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.
I feel compelled to post here. I was a tech before and moved into an RN position on my floor recently. It also drove me nuts when I would be in another patient's room and a nurse would hunt me down to ask me to get a different patient a cup of water or a blanket. It would have taken them less time to do it themselves. There were also nurses who would never help clean up a patient or toilet them. I was in a room cleaning up a bedridden patient and had a nurse come find me to tell me another patient peed on the floor and asked if I could go clean it up. I must have given her the death stare because she went and did it herself. There was also a nurse that even when I was not her tech would ask me to do things all the time, even when I was taking my lunch break or obviously extremely busy.
I have also worked with nurses who would do baths just because they enjoyed having that intimate contact with the patient. The would help me do turns and toileting and answer call lights.
Now that I am a nurse I am seeing the tremendous amount of responsibility, pressure, and charting placed on the RN. I am also learning the art of delegation. There are a few good techs on my floor but most have to be told to do every little thing, including charting their own vitals and baths. It is frustrating because that is what they are there for. My hospital pays techs well over minimum wage and if they hate their job so much then just find another one. The patients and their coworkers shouldn't have to suffer because they don't feel like doing their job that day.
Mirandaaa, I'm sure you have had some really bad experiences where you were treated in a completely unacceptable fashion but do we really need an entire thread of stories about rotten nurses? What good would it serve?
But this IS something to talk about because generally a lot of people accept this mentality when really - its not okay.
My resume looks sketch because after a year or so of working with LTC and Snfs, I chose not to stick it "out" because of how the staff was treating one another. I even worked at a place for only two months and when the finger pointing and accusations came out, I turned in my 2 weeks and was cussed out by the whole staff on my last day.
There are some terrible places out there that foster this mentality of "sucking it up" when in REALITY it totally takes team work for a work place like the medical field to survive.
Patient care is something that everyone should do depending on the unit that you're on, but ultimately it comes down to management and trickles down from the top. I find that if a place is run slummy, then the bad apples tend to cluster together and the work place environment is just as bad as well.
But this IS something to talk about because generally a lot of people accept this mentality when really - its not okay.
My resume looks sketch because after a year or so of working with LTC and Snfs, I chose not to stick it "out" because of how the staff was treating one another. I even worked at a place for only two months and when the finger pointing and accusations came out, I turned in my 2 weeks and was cussed out by the whole staff on my last day.
There are some terrible places out there that foster this mentality of "sucking it up" when in REALITY it totally takes team work for a work place like the medical field to survive.
Patient care is something that everyone should do depending on the unit that you're on, but ultimately it comes down to management and trickles down from the top. I find that if a place is run slummy, then the bad apples tend to cluster together and the work place environment is just as bad as well.
And posting a thread with the intent to talk about experiences with bad nurses will accomplish this how?
How about a compromise? Why not make 6 months of nursing school a practical lab of working on the floor as a CNA instead of classroom lectures? I would really go for that. For one thing, it would flush out a lot of the new students who are too good to clean poo but have plans to get an FNP or CRNA ten minutes after matriculation.
Obviously I haven't been exposed hardly at all to the medical field, but in my personal opinion, I would ask my nurse if he/she needs help with anything at least a few times per day no matter what my workload is. If he/she never offered to help me, it would not upset me at all. Friends of mine who are nurses and even family members have explained to me what their workload is like and I see their job as much much much harder than mine will ever be. If a nurse has the extra time to help, great. If he/she doesn't offer--it makes no difference to me one way or the other. I do not expect others to help me, but I'm extremely grateful when they do.
I don't have enough education to have an opinion on whether or not someone should be required to be a CNA before a nurse. I personally became a CNA first because I wanted to see what it is like. In the first week of clinicals, I knew I was created to do this so it is my plan to go to nursing school.
There are just some mean people in this world. Even though I'm new, I'm not ignorant. Turning the other cheek and focusing on serving others seems to cultivate a much better community, imo. Miranda, invite that nurse to lunch. Get to know her. Maybe you could cultivate teamwork from that angle :)
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
I worked as a CNA all through nursing school. I absolutely adore and frankly worship a good CNA. That is some hard, back breaking, exhausting and thankless work. There was never a shift that I didn't go home exhausted as a CNA. And yes, frequently it is much easier to do something myself than to call the CNA to do it. I love giving report to the CNA and formulating a plan of attack together. So often when I was a CNA the nurses never cued me in on what was going on with the patients and it made for a frustrating day sometimes.
It bears noting that CNA experience has made it easy to recognize a CNA that is not pulling his or her weight. Interestingly, those are the first ones who feel like all the nurses do is sit around and boss them. Frequently they are found "hiding" on other floors, in the stairwell...at once point one was found hiding behind the elevator shaft!
If you are a truly great CNA, we will get along just fine and hopefully will both have an easier day for having worked together. If you are burned out, bitter, mean spirited or otherwise uncooperative, its going to be a rough day on both of us.
Posting this again because I think people are missing some of my comments within the post and only viewing the post itself:
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......
Ha ha, yeah, I think you just got your ass handed to you and didn't like the sensation.
How long have you been a CNA? How many places have you worked? Because my first CNA job on a hospital telemetry unit was lousy with bad, lazy nurses. I know they have responsibilities beyond ours and a lot more charting. But when I see you at the desk looking at a computer while ignoring a call light, and I go past to you answer said call light, and see Sandals resorts and Expedia open on your desktop, and the little blue square with a white f in it on your phone....guess what honey, you ain't workin'! The charge nurses on that unit ran from an immature, irresponsible woman in her 40s who would disappear for hours and talked openly about plagiarizing her BSN papers, to a girl in her 20s who was too meek to discipline nurses under her when they needed it. When I approached her about the ignoring call lights problem, she suggested that I, a CNA 3 months out of school, should remind them of their job duties. I asked her if she was serious and how long she thought a brand new CNA like me would last if I started marching up to RNs and instructing them on how to do their jobs.
Now that I've moved on to another workplace, and am in clinicals for school as well, I've determined that that unit was just toxic. Its turnover rate was near 100% per year. Since leaving there, I've mostly dealt with nurses who respect and appreciate their aides, and since they don't always get one of us anymore, practically kiss my feet at the door.
I'm wondering if you're just in a bad unit and someplace else would be better?
kaydensmom01
475 Posts
And you say this because they did not automatically agree with you and gives some attitude back to your post that is saturated with superiority? Sad.