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?

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
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.

I think you read way too much into that last line, actually. Sheesh.

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Specializes in Case Manager, LTC,Staff Dev/NAT Instr.
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.

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

before this thread turns into a RN/LPN dilemma I would like to answer your question.

1st I think your management needs to step in and fix this situation because it doesn't make sense letting a CNA off and work her nurses be it RN or LPN.

2nd I don't think the RN feels she is too good to work as a CNA she just wants to do her job description she was hired to do and you shouldn't judge her or any other RN making these accusations if you do it here on the post I can imagine how you make her feel at work. I know some nurses do act as if they are God, also some doctors I have work with act in the same manner, you just have to let some things flow, if your DON is not addressing this to her attention then why should you?

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.
Leave the RN free to do those things that only an RN can do.

Bless you. But think about this. There is NO job on the floor the RN cannot do. They can "RN", "LPN", "Tech/Aide" , Unit Secretary", "dietary aide passing trays", "sweep up" etc. Now this isn't an original idea, I had a nsg director nearly 20 yrs ago tell us this.

Somewhere in this mix is faulty scheduling. How can you start out wilh too many people on the schedule? There should be a appropriate mix of skills for a full census. If census drops then the staff may be decreased. In this ideal world no RN/LPN would tech/aide. The number of patients would be divided equally among the skill mix. Everybody would have fewer patients and more help with the ones they have.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
I think you read way too much into that last line, actually. Sheesh.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

Did so cause it was presented as the culmination of all that came before it in the paragraph. No other justification was even mentioned.

C'mon, Marie! Sheeesh! :)

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I don't think it would be a good idea for the RN to be the aide. You can never work under the level of your license so you could be held responsible for changes in vitals or conditions. For example if you do vitals on a patient and they have a really low BP or sugar then you must get the nurse and inform them. But what if she/he does not properly intervene? You go on to finish vitals and a patient who you reported to the nurse goes downhill or codes. Then what? Not a situation I would like to be in.

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At the hospital where I work, the census has to be high enough to call for an aide, if we have a census 2 or 3 pts. away from needing an aide, yet we are 1 away from needing another nurse, then one nurse will play aide until census changes. Either census goes up, pts get divided up into smaller ratios and nurses do total care, it may not change, and things stay status quo, or many discharges may happen, in which case the extra nurse playing aide can go home.

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Raphael.

Good point, but these things happen everyday on a unit. When I play CNA and I find problems like you described, I tell the RN assigned to the patient and also the CN. I do finish vitals, but I check on the trouble spots before I sit down to chart them. If I am needed to step into the RN role, fine, no problem. But with a lower patient census most of the time our RN's are on top of things. It does not make good sense to assign an RN to CNA role but it does happen here at times. We need our hours too.

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Hi folks,

I just joined this site yesterday. I'm the nurse wanna be with a degree in business.

As I thought about your question of whether an RN should work as an Aide I was taken back to the period of time when I was transitioning from a secretary to a finance analyst. I remember being very sensitive about performing the duties of a secretary. I was now a degreed professional and I didn't want to be doing secretarial work ...or to be thought of as "just a secretary". Several years have passed and along with some wisdom came a sense of self. I now actually enjoy doing some of both. Granted ordering office supplies or scheduling a meeting for a group of people is a far cry from cleaning up ...whatever. But hopefully you'll get my message. It does take team work. Unfortunately no matter what your profession there are doers and slackers. Just keep being a doer!

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Hi folks,

I just joined this site yesterday. I'm the nurse wanna be with a degree in business.

As I thought about your question of whether an RN should work as an Aide I was taken back to the period of time when I was transitioning from a secretary to a finance analyst. I remember being very sensitive about performing the duties of a secretary. I was now a degreed professional and I didn't want to be doing secretarial work ...or to be thought of as "just a secretary". Several years have passed and along with some wisdom came a sense of self. I now actually enjoy doing some of both. Granted ordering office supplies or scheduling a meeting for a group of people is a far cry from cleaning up ...whatever. But hopefully you'll get my message. It does take team work. Unfortunately no matter what your profession there are doers and slackers. Just keep being a doer!

Keep in mind that there is a BIG difference between doing some secretarial work here and there (like nurses helping out the CNA's here and there, getting their own vitals and the like) and walking into the office and being told "you are the secretary today" - not just once, but repeatedly. All else aside, what would it do to your morale? Would you be happy at that job?

Helping out is teamwork - doing someone else's job because that person has been given the day off because of low census is a different animal entirely (it must be a mongoose, or something...)

While I do agree with the poster that stated that the nurses need their hours too, instead of having to take turns "playing CNA", they would take turns being called off for low census. If it happens every day (or even weekly), then the unit is actually staffing for nurses to function as CNAs and that just does not make sense.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... a different animal entirely (it must be a mongoose, or something...)

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

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Specializes in ER, PACU.

This topic is actually mentioned on the NYS board of nursing website. It reccomends that you as the RN or LPN do not take an assignment like this, because you are still held to the standard of a licensed nurse, and can be held responsible if anything happens to the patient because of accepting an assignment like this. I would refuse to take a CNA assignment (and have before when I worked LTC), not because I feel that I am "above" this type of work, but because I am not 100% sure that I can do this safely, especially using hoyer lifts, and patient transfers, ect. I now work in ER, and the techs say to me all the time that I am one of the very few that help them out with patient care. I never say to the tech "go clean this patient up", I will go with them and help them from start to finish. If the patient needs a bedpan I am happy to give it unless I am in the middle of doing something so important that I really cannot stop to do it.

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Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

We frequently lose our aide if the census is low... 11 patients & it's 2 RN's, not a big deal, b/c we always help anyway. It's just that it is almost impossible to take even a 10 minute break. I am sure to always fill that out on our payroll sheet... no relief: you pay me my 30 minutes the law entitles me to. And God forbid, anything goes wrong.... I pray when I walk into that census.... It truly isn't safe!!!

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