Venting (How do deal with people who don't want to help?)

[PrettyNerd, CNA, LPN, LVN]

Hi everyone :) so I work at an ALF and since the first day, one of the aides has been giving me a really hard time. One of the residents had asked for someone else to help her with her shower. Since this resident was very difficult with me, I asked this particular aide to help me out in which she replied with "no, I can't!" I said she didn't want my help and if she can please help me out...this is really dumb but she looked at her finger and said Ii cant...umm..it hurts" I'm like :poop: !! so I go back to the res's room and she refused my help again, I go back to the aide and said if we can switch res (I'll help her with hers, she'll help with mine) in which she utter something under her breath and ran out the door, leaving me standing. Few minutes later, I'm called into the office to speak to one of the directors! She said the aid had said I was lazy and asking for too much help! She also said the aid said I never want to do my work and always want other people to it for me. Really? I only asked for help with one resident...which the resident herself didn't want my help. And since when can you get in trouble for asking for help?

Anyway I've been here for 6 months and this aid NEVER wants to help. I'm always helping out and trying to get things done and make sure the res are taken care of and happy but she doesn't even care if they have been calling for assistance! I can be in the shower room with a res and another res can be calling and she won't help! She will literally go look for me in the shower and say "are you almost done? this res has been calling for a long time" Why won't she go?!

I was very angry and annoyed this morning. I got to work and she sends me to do a shower. So I go and the res that doesn't want my assistance was calling but I'm doing a shower, I can't go...The entire time I was in the shower, the res was calling and the aid was not doing anything because she had the time to send me to do a shower and was talking to other people. Eventually she goes check on me and says to hurry up cuz the res is waiting. I hurry up, go to the res and she sees me and says "I knew it was you!" This made me so mad because since the aid never wants to help I'm always running late on my stuff cuz I'm helping her and just makes me look bad...just like this morning when the res probably thinks I'm lazy!

This happens every time I work with her. What should I do to stop this. Or how do I say something. I've talked to the director but nothing has changed. How do I deal with lazy people like this? Have you guys worked with these type of people?

[mvm2]

I am sorry that you have to deal with this, it is never easy to have to do this type of work and for it to go even half way smoothly without TEAM WORK. So for you tonight I want to give you a big hug.

Is there some other aide that can be more simpathetic to what you need and be the one to help you out? Also it is not easy when you take your concerns to the DON and they dont believe you, or they have some relationship with the offender that makes the situation unchanged. How do some of the other aides see this person? do they have problems with her as well, or at least see what she is doing and be able to go to the DON to back you up that your claims are true? If she has all the other aides in her pocket it also makes things more difficult and complicated. I see that you have been there for 6 months, how long has she been there? If she has been there a long time with this type of attitude it can be very difficult to have to put up with.

I hope things can improve for you. Good Luck sweetie tomarrow may be a brighter day. But if this type of thing does not improve, and the whole facility is going to make you miserable then Id say try to find another place that you can work that will be more plesant. There are a lot of places looking for good hardworking CNAs. it is not worth being completely miserable everyday at your job.

[Glycerine82, LPN]

Your post is really hard to read...... but here are my thoughts. Again, I didn't really follow your post too well but from what I understand you were denied help you asked for.....

One thing I have always said about asking for help is make sure you really need it, and that your are asking for it when you need it and not before. One thing that always made me angry was fellow CNA's who would :

A) Ask me for help before they were ready for the help. ie: Need help transferring patient, but patient isn't ready to be transferred yet. Still has clothes on, shoes on etc. Don't ask me for help and then expect me to stand there while you undress the patient. I want to come in, transfer the patient and go back to my assignment.

B) Ask me for help for something I could easily do alone. ie: changing someone who is able to roll, making a bed, toileting a 1 assist etc. Sometimes, said CNA would just be new, and I would show them how to go about the task without help. Sometimes they were just lazy and didn't want to do it alone because it was easier with help......

I'm not saying you're doing this, but just giving you my .02.

[ali.nystrom]

It always sucks when fellow CNA's won't help out on the floor-- I feel your pain. I help people out all the time and never get the help I need in return. I hate to say this--but a lot of times nothing does change. If a facility is short handed to begin with it is not likely that something will be done about "lazy workers", at least not in my experience. I have only seen one girl get fired for not helping on the floor consistently. She would hide in her resident rooms to avoid lights that weren't hers... not acceptable!

As far as her not answering call lights, I always tell people "everyone is your resident." There is no reason that lights should be going off for more thatn 5 minutes. There is no need to neglect a resident if they aren't busy--but if they do continue to ignore the call bells I would bring that up to the nurse or a DON. Someone has to be noticing that lights are going off for longer that necessary.

Just remember-- Residents have the right to refuse care. If they don't want you to assist them leave and tell the charge nurse. The nurse can then go verify that the resident is in fact refusing care and give you advice/help. That way it is documented correctly and you won't be judged as being lazy or not doing your job. It is not your job to report to another CNA--so don't bring problems to them. Talk to the nurses!