tipping nurses?

shel_wny · Jul 17, 2004

Hmmm. I'm a certified nursing assistant at a long term care facility and we are instructed not to take tips of any kind. Sometimes an appreciative resident will give us a card with some money in it and we have to give it to the Nursing Supervisor so that it can be put back into the resident's account. So although I cannot really tell you how much to tip or if you should tip...I can tell you that depending on who she works for, she might not be able to accept it.

I hope that helps a tiny bit.

Shel

altomga, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN · Jul 17, 2004

Absolutely not!...if your family hired her she is already getting paid to "do her job"....And this person should not accept a tip either. If at the end of her job she did wonderful and card thanking her would be nice, but not money. It is inappropiate for anyone in the healthcare field to accept money as thanks.

Genista, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Just my opinion, but I'm against tipping healthcare employees (nurses, nurses aids, or whatever).Pay the nurses aid a wage that shows you appreciate her hard work, and give her verbal thanks for a job well done & that should be plenty. Hope your Grandma is feeling better soon! :)

RN92 · Jul 17, 2004

Im confused. Did you mean that you were wanting an aide to come and sit on her days off? or is the aide doing this on her work time? If she is coming in on her days off, then you would need to pay her something. If she is doing this while working for the hospital - then the hospital will pay her. I know a lot of aides who sit with pts on their days off to earn some extra money.

Audreyfay · Jul 17, 2004

If she works for an organization, write a letter to the organization and recommend that she be give some kind of an award (i.e. Employee of the Month), for whatever reason you think makes her an exceptional employee. That would be the best payment to me. I have had patients give me different small tokens of appreciation, but have never received an "Employee of the Month," or "Star Award," and would really cherish that recognition. Some organizations allow small gifts of appreciation, as long as it is less than $15 in value. I'd recommend contacting her employer regarding their policies. It would be terrible to give her money, and then she has to turn it in, and be faced with the temptation of keeping it. :rolleyes:

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Tipping? I thought that's what servers in a restaurant received?

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Nurses and health care assistants are not supposed to accept tips. Just as a police officer, fire officer, EMT, or a Teacher should not be tipped.

I agree with the "Write a good letter", or a small token of appreciation. Money/Tips are not considered appropriate as nurses/healthcare worker is a professional, like an MD or the above noted groups.

Destinystar · Jul 17, 2004

first of all i need to clarify if this person is an employee of yours working for you exclusivly in your grandmas home or if this person will be an employee of a nursing agency? if this person is working for and getting paid directly by you then it would have to be according to the domestic employee guidelines in your state. assuming the guidelines in your state have been met & you & the nurses aid have agreed upon a wage then your financial obligation begins and ends there. please remember that the nurses aide does not expect you to pay her any more than the agreed upon wage & you are in no way obligated to offer any more money. because the nurses aide is employed directly by you, you are free to offer and the nurses aid is free to accept whatever extra compensation you see fit. if the nurses aide is employeed by a nursing agency then it is customary that the nurses aide will not be allowed to accept any form of tip in the way of money or gifts. i think your question is a very considerate one. hope i was able to help:rolleyes:

i have a question and i truly apologize if this is an inappropriate forum for it but i have been trying to find the answer and stumbled upon this board in my web search.
we have recently hired a nurses aide to assist in the care of my 96 year old grandmother. she recently fell and broke her pelvis, and is in the hospital recovering. the nurses on the floor recommended a nurses aide because my grandma is not motivated to stay awake or ask for help (she doesn't want to be a burdento the floor nurses, even though they have reassured her she's not!) and we are afraid she might "give up" if someone isn't there with her to keep her going. the aide is going to come in every day from 8-3pm to sit with my nanny, make sure she eats and washes herself, and make sure she stays motivated. my grandma is a lucid, active 96 year old, her only real health problem is being a little physcially slow.
should we be tipping this aide on a daily basis? what is a good tip for her? should we offer to compensate for transportation?
thank you so very much.

KibbsRNstudent · Jul 17, 2004

Nurses and health care assistants are not supposed to accept tips. Just as a police officer, fire officer, EMT, or a Teacher should not be tipped.
I agree with the "Write a good letter", or a small token of appreciation. Money/Tips are not considered appropriate as nurses/healthcare worker is a professional, like an MD or the above noted groups.

agree with the letter of appreciation. If she is workign for an agency or the hospital then they will pay her to be there and if it is on her of days then you can pay her an hourly wage taht you can discuss with the aide of what is appropriate and that you both have agreed on. Or you can just set the hourly wage or even a set salary amount and that is that. Tipping is not for professionals only waitresses or bussboys or cot checks (and the like) She is doing her job and you do not need to feel obligated at all. In the home health agency I worked for a few years ago, we were told to NEVER accept gifts. It is highly inappropriate. :nurse:

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Pay the nurses aid a wage that shows you appreciate her hard work, and give her verbal thanks for a job well done & that should be plenty. Hope your Grandma is feeling better soon! :)

What Kona said :). Some of our most poorly paid and underappreciated workers in this country are those with whom we entrust the care of our elderly and children.

chel_m · Jul 18, 2004

I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses.

Just to clear some things up- the aide we hired is working independently for our family (no agency involved and not affiliated with the hospital), after several nurses on the floor recommended that we might consider extra care for our grandmother. All the nurses highly recommended this aide, and she was *wonderful* to my grandmother today, their first day together.

Apparently this aide needs the work, so we were wondering if we should pay her above the fee she stated ($15 an hour, which seems very low) for her hard work. Hence the "tip" question- we don't assume her to be a "servant" as someone implied upthread. We just want to make sure she is well compensated for the work she is doing. We appreciate her and want to show it, and sometimes (especially in this economy and in this part of the country) people can use money more than they can a card or an award, especially if they are unaffiliated with an agency or hospital.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my question. I really appreciate the answers as well as all the hard work you do. As someone with Spina Bifida who has been in and out of the hospital throughout her life, I do appreciate nurses. Several have touched my life and helped me more than anyone else. Thank you.