Too good to aide?

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Question....do any of you by chance think because ur an RN you can't play the CNA for a shift?

In a dream world, staffing would always be in accordance to skill.

Taking turns amonst "themselves" isn't necessarily realistic either, since i remember several days, evenings and nights of doing the 16 hours shifts (i needed the money, the pay sucked 8 years ago) and then asked to double-back on my day off, because there wasn't enough people on the payroll to start with, and then corporate *****ed about overtime (of course). You have to make sure there's even enough staff to take turns in the first place, not to mention there's a few that are already stretched thin in the stress dept.

Yes, but we aren't talking about OT. Instead we are talking about canceling CNAs and having nurses do their work so that the total number of people there will fit some "magic" staffing number. I can't believe management is allowing this. It's ridiculous as far as cost is concerned: saving the cost of having a CNA there and paying RN/LPN salary for CNA work, rather than saving the cost of having an RN/LPN there and paying CNA salary for CNA work. Our bean counters would have an MI, right there at their calculators.

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I may be wrong but it appears you have a nitch with this RN, and as you stated above you all (7 nurses) are doing this by choice, by signing up so...if she don't participate by signing up isn't that her right? I mean by you signing up to do the work aren't you getting LPN pay? What's the big issue? I'm not trying to be sassy, it's just she have a choice, you and your co-workers also have a choice so that doesn't make her too good or you all any less because she don't sign up.:rolleyes:

I believe that the "sign up" is for who wants the day off if there are too many staff members scheduled. According to the OP, the nurse manager gets on the case of the nurses for not wanting to spend a shift working as an aide (even though they would get their regular rate of pay) because the aide was low-censused. I would be upset about that policy too. What's next? Give physical therapy the day off and have the nurses do their work too? To me, it's about not calling people off when they are needed, just because there are other people there that could do their jobs.

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I have the attitude that I can do RN, LPN, CNA job. If the bucks are the same then just do what needs to be done. Now if I am truly the CNA that means no taking orders off charts, no giving meds, no starting IV's, no calling MD, and no giving blood. Sounds cushy to me. Here if the patient needs something and the aide is busy then we get to do it. It's part of the job. I guess I have done the job for so long that I never stop and think if it's my job or the CNA's. Some of the best coversations I have with patients are when I am cleaning up messes. Nobody likes to do the dirty part of nursing, but it is part of the job.

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Question....do any of you by chance think because ur an RN you can't play the CNA for a shift? We're having this big debate that's even gone to our nursing manager, and she agrees everyone needs their share of aiding. Seems, our former lpn....who is now an RN as of may (it seemed to have gone to her head real quick and forgot where she's come from), thinks RN's shouldn't have to aide, because their getting paid more money. So that leaves LPN's to help aide sometimes(if we give our aids off d/t low census). Now, I, as an LPN, have no problems aiding. I loving taking care of patients, but sometimes it's a nice break from it all, to aid, and know for once ur getting out at 1115pm! We have RN's who do aide, and voice no problems with it. However, it's always the same 6 of us nurses who aide, and no one else will. So my friend allison, and the new Rn got into this huge fight over it, because she(the RN) said "just pick a number" on who should aid(it was between 3 ppl). What, are we in grade school? That's what most of us at work thought when she said that. Anyway, so i'm just curious if anyone thinks because their a nurse, they can't be the CNA for the night(and still get nurses pay for it).

Sara

You state that you find it a "nice break" and you get out on time. Yet you complain that this other nurse won't do it! If you find it a "nice break" then what is the problem? Volunteer and get the break, and leave on time. Me thinks there is more to this post than you admit. Personally I am too busy to keep score when I work.

Actually it is a poor use of resources. It makes little sense to pay RN wages to someone to do work that a lower paid person can do. Leave the RN free to do those things that only an RN can do.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
Doesn't sounds like good financial sense to give CNA's the day off and have RN's work at RN pay to be CNA's...

That's my take on this.

What's management doing???

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You are totally correct about the fiscal issue!!! One has to wonder where the bean counters are!!! In our institution, the low census calls are rarely made to our CNAs -- unless census is so low that they figure the RNs can do their job and the aide work for their patients. Our staffing grids dictate how many patients there has to be for what staffing mix. Acuity levels are supposed to be considered -- but there are non-nursing personel making the staffing decisions -- so sound clinical assessment and judgement are not always a factor in the staffing decisions.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... don't mind in the least helping out when I am needed and where I am needed... I went to school to be a nurse... A whole shift? I don't think so...

Totally agree.

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You state that you find it a "nice break" and you get out on time. Yet you complain that this other nurse won't do it! If you find it a "nice break" then what is the problem? Volunteer and get the break, and leave on time. Me thinks there is more to this post than you admit. Personally I am too busy to keep score when I work.

Actually it is a poor use of resources. It makes little sense to pay RN wages to someone to do work that a lower paid person can do. Leave the RN free to do those things that only an RN can do.

Right on, Agnus.

OP - Look at it this way, if they didn't waste their resources by paying nurses to function as CNA's (on what appears from your post to be a fairly regular basis), they could afford to pay all of you more money per hour, or at the very least give a bonus at the end of the year.

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I know this is an attitude problem, not functional one. I remind our new nurses that the duties of the aide are NURSING duties and that the nurse is ultimately responsible for the duties being performed, whether by oneself or a delegated individual. So, in my opinion, every nurse should be willing to do what is necessary to care for the patient. However, it does not make sense to have an aide checking blood sugars while I change linens. So, some judgement is required. I prefer to think of the tasks as part of the big picture, and everyone chips in according to their training and talents. Then we all go home on time.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... Then we all go home on time.

Agree generally with much of your post. But the above closing line makes it sound like that's the key concern.

Sheeesh! So many other more significant reasons for properly staffing a unit than the above.

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Calling a CNA off because of low census means there is no need for a CNA. It means that the census is low enough that each Nurse has a small enough assignment that she has the time to do total care.

It would be wiser to give the nurses smaller assignments and that means assigning all nurses a patient load. 5 nurses and say 20 patients adds up to about 4 patients each. Take a nurse out of the picture because she is functioning as a CNA that mean you have 4 nurses who will take the 20 patients. But you are still paying for 5 nurses.

If that is what you are going to do then send the nurse home and keep the CNA.

Math is not my strong point but I can figure this one out.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... Math is not my strong point but I can figure this one out.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Your math skills are great.

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