Think I could get fired for this.....

[luvmy2angels]

Our facility is currently short of CNAs (i am an LPN in LTC). Much to my surprise when I went to work over the weekend I find that I have been pulled to work as an aide. Needless to say I didn't want to, and it isn't because I don't like that type of work! I worked as a CNA for 18 years before I went to nursing school. I went to nursing school because my body just couldn't take the physical demand of aide work anymore. I am still young (in my mid 30s) so people find it hard to believe that my body can't do it. Besides my back killing me my one leg is held together by plates and screws, anchors...you name it, it is there holding my ankle and leg in place due to injuries i got in a car accident. I don't want my employer to think I am not physically able to do my work as a nurse. Yes, I am on my feet alot but I don't have the lifting and bending that the aides do, plus I have time that I have where I can sit down and do my charting etc, it is CONTSANTLY being on my feet. I also don't want to come across as not being a team player, which is a big deal where I work. I feel threatned when the RN superviser tells me I have no choice but to accept the assignment. I know she herself can't fire me, but can the DON fire me because I feel that I can't work as an aide?? After all I was hired as a LPN, so can they legally fire me for not accepting an aide assigment?? There are other LPNs that were hired the same time I was that have never been put on an aide assignment, I was told they like to use me because of my experience as compaired to the other LPN that never worked as an aide. ANY advice?? Thanks for reading and lettting me vent!!

[humglum, BSN, RN]

I would *love* to be paid my RN salary to work as a CNA. I have volunteered to work as an aide and cheerfully reported to the nurse. It's so nice not to have all the responsibility that comes with being the nurse.

I don't know that you'd be fired but if you refused your assignment, there could be repercussions. Are you unable to handle the tasks of a CNA for a single shift or two? I'd speak with the DON about it and see where that gets you. Just be honest, regarding your physical limitations and your concerns about doing more physical work.

If this becomes a problem for you, couldn't you look for a job in a different setting, so even if you had to act as a CNA every now and then it wouldn't be so difficult?

[ANnot4me]

I think you should refuse the assignment as a CNA. I believe if you were to call your board of nursing that you would find that no matter what your function, you are still held to the same standard as you would be held were you functioning as an LPN. This is true if an RN is functioning as a CNA also.

That said, it is just wrong to expect nurses to come to work and perform in any other role other than that for which they were hired. I am a nurse, but I have cleaning experience; shall I clean the unit? I have restaurant experience; shall I work in dietary? I have taken graduate level computer science classes; shall I float to IT? Should physicians be expected to function as nurses when needed?

The goal of everyone in a hospital is patient care. Everyone is there for the same reason. Nurses are no different than anyone else -- we are hired to do a specific job. One of the problems with the profession is that many nurses have unhealthy boundaries and often outnumber those with healthy boundaries. Sometimes these nurses establish a very unhealthy working culture within a unit or group. It can be difficult to stand up for yourself in such an environment.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

I have been a weekend supervisor for years at a very large LTC facility. My question here is if you are ask to work the floor then who is taking your spot? I was responsible for staffing as well and would never ....NEVER ask a nurse to switch over and be a CNA for the day. However, what I have done is put all my stuff aside and hit the floor as a CNA. I have done this numberous times. The nurses on the floor know more about the internal working order and patient needs than I, so it just makes sense for them to do the nursing job and me do the CNA duties. What was your RN supervisor doing while all this was going on? At other jobs I worked as a CNA to fill in and loved it...It was a good break from the politics of dealing with all the nursing stuff. Plus I could do really good skin assessments get to know the patients better. So I guess the main point of my post here is I think your nursing supervisor should have rolled up those sleeves and got on the floor to help.

[luvmy2angels]

I have been a weekend supervisor for years at a very large LTC facility. My question here is if you are ask to work the floor then who is taking your spot? I was responsible for staffing as well and would never ....NEVER ask a nurse to switch over and be a CNA for the day. However, what I have done is put all my stuff aside and hit the floor as a CNA. I have done this numberous times. The nurses on the floor know more about the internal working order and patient needs than I, so it just makes sense for them to do the nursing job and me do the CNA duties. What was your RN supervisor doing while all this was going on? At other jobs I worked as a CNA to fill in and loved it...It was a good break from the politics of dealing with all the nursing stuff. Plus I could do really good skin assessments get to know the patients better. So I guess the main point of my post here is I think your nursing supervisor should have rolled up those sleeves and got on the floor to help.

Both of our RN supervisors are not "allowed" to do patient care due to prior back injuries. On the days that i was assigned to be an aide the RN did my med pass and then sat on her a$$ buying things on line. Our main RN supervisor won't even take someone to the bathroom. After giving us all a lecture on "team work" and how we all need to pitch in and help I have seen her answer a bell, and when the resident said they needed to get up and go to the bathroom she turned the light back on and said you'll have to wait for your aide. I would NEVER do that!! Like I said, I DO help, but i can't take on an entire assignment.

[la bellota, BSN, RN]

When you are assigned to take on the role of the CNA do you still get paid as a LPN?

[banditrn]

Having worked in a hospital for many years in primary care, I did my own 'aide' work. But the hospital was much better set up for it with adjustable beds, pull sheets, more staff, etc. I still came out of it with a bad back, shoulder problems, etc. Plus, I injured a knee not too long after starting LTC trying to hoist a heavy woman out of one of those low beds.

I was hired as the RN charge nurse, but I still find myself doing a lot of physical care things because there are only two of us at nite, and the aide can't do it all herself.

I find it interesting that in OUR facility, our DON will fill in for a CNA, but not for a nurse. If I were asked to float as a cna, I would probably refuse, but only because I don't think I'm physically up for it anymore.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

At the very least, you should express to them that they need to rotate the other LPNs in this type of assignment that it's not fair to take advantage of you like that.

To answer your question, yes they probably can fire you for that.

Good luck.

[luvmy2angels]

When you are assigned to take on the role of the CNA do you still get paid as a LPN?

Yes, we still get the LPN pay rate.

[Plagueis]

I'm still a CNA, but I've seen LPNs where I work take CNA assingments because of call-outs. As far as I know, the few who have done this said they would do it to help us CNAs out, but a CNA always helped the LPN, and they worked as a team. The LPNs who did this were ones who were CNAs before becoming LPNs. However, I have also had LPNs tell me that they wouldn't mind helping out CNAs because of short staffing, but that they wouldn't be able to take a whole section because they had never been a CNA, didn't think they could handle the physical part of the job, or that they were hired as nurses, not CNAs. I don't know if you could be fired for not taking a section, and I do recall that a couple of nurses where I work have refused to do CNA work, but they weren't fired as a result. However, I'm sure refusal policies vary by workplace, and some employers may claim that refusing to do CNA duties is a form of abandonment, which is what nurses at other facilities have told me. I would ask the DON exactly what you agreed to when signing the duty list, and whether it mentions that nurses can be floated to work as CNAs. I wish you the best.

[kranken_schwester]

I have a question about all this. I never worked as a CNA before nursing school, and while obviously I got some experience with bathbaths, I&O's, etc in school, I am not certified as a nursing assistant. So is it even legal for a nurse without CNA cert. to work as an aide?

[Todd SPN]

Put me in the column of those who went back to school so I could escape being an aide. It is hard demanding work and I will admit I can no longer physically do an 8 hour shift of this type of work. I don't think that means I can not be a nurse. If all the hospitals and SNFs require perfection in physically fit employees, then there would be a lot fewer nurses (and CNAs). If your facility is willing to fire you as a nurse because you can't or won't do 8 hours of CNA work then I think you have lost nothing. That is not the type of work place mentality that I personally would put up with. Fact is, it they scheduled me to work as a CNA without asking, I would be out the door.

Todd

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

Then if I were upper admin (meaning DON) I might just have a problem with that... Your supervisors not being able to do patient care. To me that is a part of being a supervisor to make sure it gets done, even if it means you (the supervisor) are the one that does it. I think that it was unfair of them to pull this on you at the last minute and I am not saying that you did anything wrong by refusing . What I am saying is your supervisor needed to get off her hinny pinny and get busy. I dont think you will get fired and I dont even know if you will get in trouble for not accepting the assignment.. however, now that I have had time to think about it you might get writen up for insubornation...How many aides did they have that day and how many patients? Did the supervisor take your spot as a nurse or did the nursing part work short because you were moved? To me someone dropped the ball here with staffing. It does not seem like enough was done to staff this position.....

Both of our RN supervisors are not "allowed" to do patient care due to prior back injuries. On the days that i was assigned to be an aide the RN did my med pass and then sat on her a$$ buying things on line. Our main RN supervisor won't even take someone to the bathroom. After giving us all a lecture on "team work" and how we all need to pitch in and help I have seen her answer a bell, and when the resident said they needed to get up and go to the bathroom she turned the light back on and said you'll have to wait for your aide. I would NEVER do that!! Like I said, I DO help, but i can't take on an entire assignment.