The aide is also the unit secretary! How???

MIA-RN1, RN · May 29, 2005

I was just talking to a friend of mine who works for the hospital chain whose name begins and ends with the letter 'T'. She tells me that for a while now they've been recruiting people to fill positions as patient care aide AND unit secretary because they are on the cheap and don't want to hire more people. I don't get this. Unit secretaries are always busy with the phone and the ever changing paperwork, how and when do they find time to do patient care? I'm curious to know how they get this to work. Do they do this at the hospital where you work? If so, how does it affect the amount of assistance you get from your secretary/aide?

I"ve heard that this happens at a local hospital near me. A friend of mine from school said that some of the techs are cross-trained to fill in as unit secretaries on a rotating schedule. I don't know the why's or how' s tho.

SmilingBluEyes · May 29, 2005

we had an aide/secretary on my OB unit for years. What is exactly your issue with this? As long as this person is qualified and can do both duties well, there is no problem. It works well on smaller units. Unit Secretary duties were not a fulltime thing for her-----and we were small enough that RNs did a lot of their own bed linen changes and such. On my small OB Unit, this worked out fine to have a secretary who was also able to help with patient lifts, ambulations and general aide duties when we were too busy or needed an extra pair of hands. It just depends on the unit as to whether it would be useful or not to have a dual US/Aide.

SmilingBluEyes · May 29, 2005

Cross-training is very common and in tight economic times, the wave of the future. In some situations, it works very well; others it is a nightmare. Like I said on smaller units, a combination Aide and US is a great thing to have!

nursemaa · May 29, 2005

We have some individuals who are cross-trained to do both. That way they can work in whichever capacity is needed for the shift. Or, if it's not too busy, they can tend to secretarial duties for the most part but jump in to help with turns, vitals, etc when they can and when it's needed. Works pretty well, actually. It doesn't mean they have to do a full aide assignment as well as all the secretarial duties. And it's not every shift, just when the situation on the unit will support it.

Aneroo, LPN · May 29, 2005

At a LTC facility I worked at, on evening shifts, we answered phones and such. There was ONE secretary thru-out the entire facility. I don't see how this could work on a busy unit, but on a smaller one, I see it as very possible. We actually had a woman who worked in human resources who was a CNA. Sometimes she'd get off work downstairs, go home and visit daughter and hubby, then come back and work a 7-11 or something as a CNA. -Andrea

suzanne4, RN · May 29, 2005

This is actually a very common practice, and especially if you think about it.

Normally a unit secretary is not permitted to assist you move a patient, etc., but if you need a set of hands in an instance they are right there.

Usually they are not assigned both functions at the same time, unless it is a small facility, but otherwise are just there to help out in either fashion, or can function in either of the roles as per staffing needs.

MistyDawnRN06, BSN, RN · May 29, 2005

I'm in nursing school, and am currently working as a tech/sec in an ICU setting. It doesn't work that well for us. I answer phones, take of orders, do paperwork, etc., and in between all that I get chemsticks, help with turns/cleans, get call lights, empty foleys, etc.

I don't feel that I do a particularly fabulous job as a tech or clerk when I'm in both roles. The charts are the most important and get done first, so things like baths don't get done when I'm here. Nights gets stuck with that. The nurses seem more stressed when I'm tech/sec becuase they end up having to answer the phones.

The nurses say that it helps them more than hinders them. I can say from my side, that on tech/sec days, I don't get a lunch!

AKav8trix · May 29, 2005

This is actually a very common practice, and especially if you think about it.
Normally a unit secretary is not permitted to assist you move a patient, etc., but if you need a set of hands in an instance they are right there.
Usually they are not assigned both functions at the same time, unless it is a small facility, but otherwise are just there to help out in either fashion, or can function in either of the roles as per staffing needs.

Yes, that is the case where I work. I've worked as a US/CNA for a few years now at a medium-sized hospital. During day and evening shifts I'm assigned as a CNA or US for the shift depending on the unit's staffing needs. However, being able to fill both roles it now easy for me to jump in and help either the aides or the US if either one is "drowning". For night shift, i'm usually assigned as a CNA, but if an admit comes in then often I have some extra time to help the nurses out with orders so they can take care of their patients.

One of the units in the hospital has admits at night regularly and figured they could benefit from having a US on night shift. But, there's also usually not enough work to do at night to keep a US only busy...so the CNA/US works out really nice. They take a full patient load and then if new orders need to be processed they take care of them. True, sometimes it gets really crazy at night and the CNA/US isn't able to fully do each role, but that's not often, and the unit would be worse off if they didn't have a US at all during the night shift. :)

--Soon to be new ADN grad!!!! (June 2005!)

AKav8trix · May 29, 2005

I'm in nursing school, and am currently working as a tech/sec in an ICU setting. It doesn't work that well for us. I answer phones, take of orders, do paperwork, etc., and in between all that I get chemsticks, help with turns/cleans, get call lights, empty foleys, etc.
I don't feel that I do a particularly fabulous job as a tech or clerk when I'm in both roles. The charts are the most important and get done first, so things like baths don't get done when I'm here. Nights gets stuck with that. The nurses seem more stressed when I'm tech/sec becuase they end up having to answer the phones.
The nurses say that it helps them more than hinders them. I can say from my side, that on tech/sec days, I don't get a lunch!

Wow, on day shift I couldn't imagine having to fill the dual role. I have NEVER worked a day shift (and I've worked many) where I would have time to do both the pt care and desk stuff. That would be very frustrating. I too, would feel like I really didn't do anything well if I was stretched so thin. There have been times when nurses know that I do both CNA and US and ask me to help out with something, but if I'm primarily assigned to one or the other, sometimes I have to gently respond that I need to focus on meeting my primary responsibility for that shift. Once that is taken care of I'm more than happy to help them out. But if I was assigned both at the same time...yikes...I'd go crazy on day shift. :uhoh3: Day shift is one time where a CNA/US should only do one role or the other, imho. (Unless it's a REALLY slow unit...I don't think that most ICU's would qualify as slow units.) :)

--Soon to be new ADN grad!!! (June 2005)

tonicareer · May 29, 2005

They switched over to this here too. Unit secretary was a good job for the disabled here - then they were laid off because they can't do the CNA duties. I quess it saves the hospital bucks to make one person do both.

Wow, on day shift I couldn't imagine having to fill the dual role. I have NEVER worked a day shift (and I've worked many) where I would have time to do both the pt care and desk stuff. That would be very frustrating. I too, would feel like I really didn't do anything well if I was stretched so thin. There have been times when nurses know that I do both CNA and US and ask me to help out with something, but if I'm primarily assigned to one or the other, sometimes I have to gently respond that I need to focus on meeting my primary responsibility for that shift. Once that is taken care of I'm more than happy to help them out. But if I was assigned both at the same time...yikes...I'd go crazy on day shift. Day shift is one time where a CNA/US should only do one role or the other, imho. (Unless it's a REALLY slow unit...I don't think that most ICU's would qualify as slow units.) :)
--Soon to be new ADN grad!!! (June 2005)

palesarah · May 29, 2005

we had an aide/secretary on my OB unit for years. What is exactly your issue with this? As long as this person is qualified and can do both duties well, there is no problem. It works well on smaller units. Unit Secretary duties were not a fulltime thing for her-----and we were small enough that RNs did a lot of their own bed linen changes and such. On my small OB Unit, this worked out fine to have a secretary who was also able to help with patient lifts, ambulations and general aide duties when we were too busy or needed an extra pair of hands. It just depends on the unit as to whether it would be useful or not to have a dual US/Aide.

ditto what Deb said :)

On day shift, my unit usually has 2 LNA/HUCs (in NH, CNAs are LNAs= Licensed nurse assistants; HUC=Health Unit Coordinator, same as unit secretary). One person pretty much needs to be at the front desk all day, ours is a locked unit (baby security!) so someone has to be there to check in visitors and of course answer phones, and do all the wonderful magic they do with the charts & the orders. The other is available to help out on the floor. Evenings/nights it's tighter with just one LNA/HUC, but the phones aren't as crazy, there aren't as many visitors, if she needs to do something on the floor we just coordinate it when a nurse is at the desk charting or something. It works out fine for us. On those really crazy nights, things are generally so crazy that one extra aide really wouldn't make a dent in the craziness anyway!