Subordinates

In some cases the only thing that truly separates a nuses assistant from an LPN or RN is money to attain the degree. My ex-wife attended college to become an RN and was working as a CNA. She had to drop out of college to take care of her newborne son and her mother suffering from cancer. You can learn something from even the dumbest person no matter how smart you are. Just because you're paid more than others doesn't mean you are a better person than they are. Every job in a hospital is important

I understand where you are coming from but I do not like being pinned down as a subordinate, I am a nursing assistant and my job is to assist the RN. I know that because it was what I was trained to do and I will keep doing it until I remove myself from my position.

The problem I believe comes from the older nursing assistants who have not been able to keep up with the changes in the nursing world. Back in the day NA's only worrired about performing patient care, but now we have more and more responsibilities that keep us from performing our basic duty, Patient Care.

I continually find myself caught between these two worlds, do I help the RN or do I finish vitals. Do I help the RN do wound care or finish the blood glucose. It is challenging because I have a window of time to finish my duties but I have to balance that with helping the RN.

Hospital Administrators need to realize 1 or 2 Na's for 30 patients is not enough... it is not even safe. I believe as an NA I should have 10 patients top and even then things can get bad.

All of us (RN's, LPN's, NA's) need to band together and complain to administrators about the type of treatment we recieve because I believe until we all stand up for eachother nothing will get down and the perpetual place the blame will continue to happen.... and that is why I have given up on becoming an RN and I will do what I know I am capable of... MED SCHOOL HERE I COME!!!

Not to nit pick, but I HATE the term "subordinates"

It has such condescending implications

It reminds me of a situation at my current job, a man walked in and asked me "Where is your superior?" I said, "I don't have a superior, but my boss is out to lunch"

From the movie "Down Periscope"

General: You're addressing a superior officer.

kelsey grammer: No sir, just a higher ranking one.

In the Navy, us enlistedmen use to have a saying for officers we didn't like. The Navy says I must respect the rank but that doesn't mean I have to respect the person who wears the rank. I was an E-5 and so I eventually learned that a soft touch (voice commands) gets more accomplished than a hard touch (screaming, yelling, cursing, etc). As a supervisor you may already have a clean clear plan in your head but perhaps you should sit down your crew and explain why it is you want things done this way. They may surprise you with why it would be wrong and may provide a better method. You're not lowering yourself by doing this. You're still the one who must make the decision. But you are gaining input from your crew as well as discovering which mind is the one most open for development and possible advancement.

JBudd I understand that it is the "correct" word to be used but it is condescending especially when an RN goes up to you and asks you if you are her aide and then you over hear call you her subordinate. It has happened to me and it literally made me feel like crap.

So I am part of the nursing team and I am a co-worker... on my hospital ID it says Nursing Services just as it says on the RN and LPN Badge.

Oh no - here we go again!!!:chair:

mc3:nurse:

a proud "subordinate" LPN

I started working as a caregiver about 6 months into my nursing training, and already at that point I had more "knowledge" then the caregivers I found myself working along side.

Over time I started to see that a lot of CGs (esp where I worked) liked to boss me and other students around - even though we answered to the RN. The RNs gave students more responsibilyt - like wound dressing, IM injections, insulin administration, taking vitals, and when I saw the CGs respond the way they did to such "treatment" I was none to impressed.

I noticed other things too, when a CG screwed up it was the RN who took the blame. A RN rushing to an emergency left four pottles of medications on the desk in the room of a bed ridden, immobile pt, the pt was no where near the drugs, and the medicatiosn were doses for four different people - not the pt in the bed. A CG came in, noticed the four pottles and proceeded to give the pt all the drugs. And there were at least 50 pills that the pt ended up having.

Now who took the blame? THe RN, even though she had left the meds safely out of the way of the pt she was the one who responsibiliy landed on. I really had to wonder about the common sense of the CG - I mean, she actually beleived all four pottles were for that one patient? WTH?? I dont' think so!

amazinging, all the drugs sort of neutralised each other and the pt survived.

The CG didn't even get a "dont' do that again" speech from the boss. The RN was officially repromanded.

I will view CGs as subordinates when I'm a RN (in a few months eeeep) because I am legally their superiour, and if the poop hits the fan because a CG mucked up, I'm the one who will be taking the blame. The pt's life and wellness is paramount to me and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more important then some CG's feelings and self esteem. I do not want pts or my career harmed because of a CG or anyone else under my leadership! With that said, I treat everyone with respect, whether they be a cleaner or a CG or the Neruo specalist.

But at the end of the day, its about legal responsibily and if CGs want that responsibily or they want that "power" then go to nursing school, its not that hard.

jbudd, I see your point. I think part of the problem isn't so much the word used as how some nurses see or treat those they are in charge of. I saw this problem all the time in the military. Some officers were cool and still managed to maintain reasonable control over their division. They were respectful towards those who had to follow their orders and did not have to throw rank around until one of them got out of line. Those were the officers we enjoyed working for. Then you had other officers who used their rank like a bullwhip. Right or wrong they expected you to blindly obey them and almost anything you said that was contrary to their ideas or orders was seen as insubordination. When I was in the military, we had ways of dealing with those types of officers. One thing we did was study the UCMJ (military law) and discovered there were times we could legally disobey an officer's command but we had to be sure of our case and disobey in a respectful manner. Just because you have rank and responsibility doesn't mean you should flog your subordinates with it. Just because you have the license and responsibility doesn't mean the subordinates need to worship the ground you walk on nor does it make you a better human being than they are. Think of the doctor the nursing staff hates the most and that's how some RN's treat their subordinates.

all i have to say is GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR:banghead:.

Encarta:

subordinate: 1. of lesser rank: lower than somebody in rank or status

The word is not condescending, nor insulting. It simply describes the relationship that exists.

I agree. Some people may have some negative feelings associated with the word, but that doesn't mean it's an inaccurate description of one's position in relation to another in a working environment.

Some people may abuse their authority or be poor leaders but the reality is that if one is in a hierarchically lower position that they must ultimately concede to their 'higher up''s authority or else go above that person to the next level.

Valid points posted on this thread, about team work etc, also about the ranking of the team, and where the buck is going to land..(firmly on the licensed nurses backside)

However, subordinates is not a word I would like to use, I can see how it would get peoples backs all fired up, valuable team members, all of us.

It still remains the fact though, that whatever we call each other, someone has to be the charge for that shift, ultimately the person who the poop hits when the fan is off!

With utmost respect to all the team, it's still the licensed RN who has that responsibility.

Superior is no a word I like to use either.. and would never...I'm not in anyway superior to any human being, just sometimes , if I'm charge, I have to take the flack for their mistakes.......