Trying to avoid undesirable CNA duties

[girtenbt]

Does anybody know of any CNA jobs where you don't have to wash the patients or or wipe butts? Also I'm a sophomore BSN student with an associates in engineering and 6 months volunteer work at a hospital and worked in plant engineering at another hospital. Might any of this helps with job oppertunities where I don't have to wipe or wash people?

[Scarlette Wings]

i'm a cna and i love my job and do not plan on becoming a nurse. i have coworkers who have been cnas for almost 30 yrs and i have friends who are retired aides. i think that all of us "career cnas" don't appreciate so many people thinking our job is mostly associated with poop and pee. there is much more to our job than that. in fact, as many of you nurses know, there is so much to basic care for the ill and elderly that it would take hundreds of pages to describe what we do on a daily basis.

i think it is the people who aren't meant for this job or who lack respect for the job who say things like "wiping butts" or "grunt work" in regards to cna work.

perhaps its because we receive less education for the license, or because we make less money, that people think our job doesn't require "critical thinking" skills. i'm telling you, when you have a large load of dependent and needy patients- you are constantly needing to weigh the importance of each task- using your limited time correctly while trying to ensure everyone has been well taken care of. a good memory, multi-tasking, and observation is essential to being a good cna.

well said.

i remember the day that i would rather have one experienced cna than any licensed nurse fresh out of school and still wet behind the ears. i was an assistant for years before i ever thought about being a nurse. cna's are the ones i go to even now when i want to know what is "really" going on with the patients ...... the nurses were then....and are still.... "too busy."

responsibilities have changed, skills and realm of care has progressed, but the "true essence" of nursing has never really changed. patients need to be touched, appropriately, and cared for. they need to be listened to and respected.

back in the late 80's and early 90's we would have maybe one rn to the entire hospital on the evening and night shift. forget rn verses lpn verses bsn. the one rn did everything from cover er to or and labor and delivery. the lpn's were the o-n-l-y nurses and in spite of how gung-ho everyone acts about wanting rn's only, most rural areas still have lpn only staff with the don being the only rn.

the nursing assistants worked the newborn nursery and remained with the laboring mother and in many small hospitals they still do. that is reality period. cna's even now get training and they sit and watch the telemetry monitors in many icu's. they did vital signs, patient dressings, and urinary catheters. they actually did everything short of passing the medications, and patients got well and there were not as many infections back then. (even before gloves for iv starts and lab draws etc)

a good cna is worth their weight in gold. they have the "wisdom" that comes from experience, and they have more "gut sense" in their little finger than most bsn's with all the "book learning."

cna's may not have known all the medical terms, or be able to track a blood cell through the heart, but they were the "nurses" long before most places had a nursing school within a hundred miles.

i still respect the assistants and will pull them aside and give them report on the patients that we share. i would never do anything less. they are a part of my team and it is the nurse who brings the cna's and others in and sets the tone and the mood of a unit.

each of us has a task to do and in this day and age, it takes all of us together to make it work. if my patient has mrsa or any other "alphabet" illness, i tell the assistant because they are the one's giving the most direct patient care. we need to start supporting each other. while nurse's are getting higher degrees and education ...it seems each degree takes us further away from the bedside. imho.

[Chamorrita671]

Sorry, but if you think you can pick and choose the tasks you want to perform, then CNA is NOT for you. If it is in your job description, then you need to carry out the task to the best of your ability. No one said "CNAing" was an easy job. There are the good, the bad, and the ugly. You have chosen the wrong field to get into if changing diapers is the most of your problems! *Just being real about it!*