Verbal abuse from a Nursing Aide

Nurses General Nursing

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I really like my unit but now I am thinking of leaving. Today I was verbally abused by a nursing aide in front of a patient - The story - i came into a pt room and the aide said - why didn't you help me (clean up) with this patient...i said,,, did you ask me? she said she didn't have to ask me----and this bantering went back and forth...i told her that i was busy talking to doctors etc...she said i was sitting when she saw me...and it started to get heated.. i told her she needed to ask me for help so i could prioritize things then---we did the back and forth you need to ask, i should have known thing --then she goes --now you are interupting me as she is putting a blanket on the pt...i go i am giving a vital medication right now to the patient she has edema and needs this iv lasix...she ignores me and continues to go off about how i am interupting her---i said ---you know what, i am going to go to the supervisor- she says ya, go ahead ---anyway the super talked to her and she fake apologized to me (stated that she was joking and everyone else knows how she jokes and that she is sorry i took it that way) after -i went back to the supervisor and said this is not the first time she has done something like this and that this assistant is creating a hostile work environment. I have seen her and heard of her doing crazy stuff like this to other staff-- just last week she kick a therapist out of a pt room and stating that she was just there 5 minutes ago and she needed to give the pt a bath and told the therapist to leave...Anyway

I really do not like this assistant...she is mean and tries to run things - I just have had about enough of her --- this is definately the straw before that last straw...grrrrrrrrrrrr:angryfire

Perhaps it isnt anything you did but the rules and or something another nurse has done to the NA

I am not an CNA i am a RN student but have been in the medical field for about 8 years as a medic in the army out patient care clinic care emt-b emt-I currently work in a day program for the mentally disabled that also cares for elderly patients. Most of the people who work where i work are ex CNA's who will never go back into that field.

to the point My wife works LTC at the moment as a CNA she has been a cna for 6 years is going the the RN program as i graduate this year.

she currently works in the best facility she has ever seen and she worked registry for 3 years covering most of the facilities in this county and has worked in 2 states

being this is the Best facility she has ever worked in here is why she is quitting

Half of the nurses imho should be looked at and the management need to be removed, in the last week...

one patient had a wound to his R hip apon exam so she goes to get gloves (there are never any) so she goes to get some from the med cart... the nurse proceeded to tell her she cannot get gloves from the cart but nurses are the only ones who can and are supposed to stock the golves but will not get her any to restock ... so the verbal abuse begins from the CNA my wife and she took the gloves anyway(but in reality it was an argument about the lack of care and support she gets from this nurse)

she tells the nurse about the wound and suggests she come look at it while she has the gentleman up... she cannot document this without the nurse (per facility rules) the nurse proceeded to go and do a physical exam on a new intake and finally gets there 45 min ish after the man has been waiting on the toilet even though she was right there 5 foot from the patients door when informed. she tells my wife to apply cream BUT it is against the policy of the facility and her CNA to do this another argument insues.

3 days ago the DON told a LVN to write orders for meds (in front of my wife I love this lvn he rocks) he said I can't im not a doc, she proceded to tell well IM the DON you do what i say he said your not a doc LOL she was angry and wrote the orders her self. he is looking for another job he is pretty sure he will get fired for this. this guy is the best LVN the facility has but has been there 2 months.

I have seen patients with dilocated arms that needed to go the hospital And she told the nurses daily But cannot document... this patient was taken to the hospital after her arm turned a funny color about a week later and guess what it was dislocated.

Off the subject but to the point we had a gentleman sent to my day program with a deformed broken arm from a different facility... i immidiately called our director and took him to the hospital he received pins and plates due to the extent of the injury and was hospitalized 2 weeks (this is what i see from LTC god help me if i ever have to go to one)

My wife is told specifically to NOT take BP on specific patients BEFORE the blood pressure medication is given by certain nurses... because they are late giving it.

this facility had a RN take "all" the pain meds the patients were supposed to be receiving for a week before she tried to kill her self. the management knew there was a problem for along time (some meds were missing alot but the nurse said they got there meds) but never followed up or did anything about it.

in my opinion when all the residents say i didnt get my meds perhaps the management should listen.

CNA's are not allowed to document ANYthing without a Nurses signature and if they do they are written up even if it is about the lack of care or improper treatment they can be fired for it.

Nurses give laxitives even if the patient have diarrhea but there is a brief issue CNA's are using too many...

Nurses killing residents atleast on 2 occations (in the last month) with dramatic med errors one example 10x the dose of methadone 3x daily for 2 days (the patient was doing well untill this, she died 2 days after the error was found) told the doctors and family she had a reaction to the medication and they took her off but NEVER told the family or doctor about the error and the DON coverd it up, (this is what another LVN who is my wifes friend told my wife, this LVN is the one who gave the patient narcan to fix it so i believe her) I never saw any proof and i hear it was changed in the paper work so i never reported and the LVN didnt want to rock the boat becuase she says she will be the one to get fired.

paper work is changed for days at a time my wife will fill stuff out to come in the next day to have it changed some of the stuff she did will be on day shift she she has to sign the new documentation if she dont then she will be written up for her stuff not being done and this si one battle she did try to fight with nothing comeing of it

patients have briefs BUT are locked up and only ONE nurse specifically can get them out and never can you get any on the weekend she wont come in even if she forgets to stock them. these patients had the noro virus come through in the last month but were only given 3 briefs for the day and one night brief so one in the morning one at lunch one after shower and one for the whole night BUT if the patient had a bm in the night they HAVE to sit in it no matter how much diarrhea they have. and they have meeting about How the CNA's are using too many briefs and if you try to talk to any upper nurses DON or DSD they proceeded to yell at you, not talk firmy they yell CNA's are not appriciated IMHO from what i see. I visit her facility alot and inform the cna's of their rights and tell them to stand their ground against very bad nurses

after seeing what my wife deals with (not hearing about it) i have a very bad opinion about LTC nurses and when i hear nurses put cna's down I realize this nurse probably isnt doing what they can to help their important counterpart because good nurses do not get into fights with CNA's about patient care.

The DSD gave a 4'11 cna a weggie in front of the whole facility to demonstrate what not to do when transfering she was humiliated this is my wifes best friend

CNA's are not allowed to doccument this

this facility has had 3 cna's quit this week but lucky for them they train them there.

the good nurses that i have seen come through never stay the 90 days and the ones that have been there for years either will tell you i am not qualified to do any other type of work ( these usually are the ones that try hard but arent the most proficient but great to the residents) or gods gift to the world cant fill out the paper work correctly, or say things like its only a stage 2 pressure sore so we dont have to do anything. (my wife will fill out paperwork for one LVN because the lvn don't know how to and the LVN signs it).

I could go on I do know some CNA's are jerks but alot of them are made jerks by the way they are treated but someone who says CNA is a butt wiper and im above that as a RN, LVN, LPN, when in reality they help provide the patient care all nurses are responsable for.

my wife is quitting she got a perdiem job at a hospital in medsurge she has decided to never work LTC again

in my RN program we have LVN step up and we lost 7 of 14 lvn's last semester mainly due to putting patients in danger i think all of these worked in LTC and i see some from LTC facilities that have 10+ years exp cannot even document a proper assessment let alone chart patient care.

not to knock LVN i work with some great LVN's that put PA's and some doc's to shame it just goes to my point someone who is kicked out of our program will go back to LTC train CNA's and abuse them to the point where they HATE nurses and will jump their cases anytime patient care is lacking.

I love my CNA's and the crabby ones i try to find out what is really going on. you rarely find ones that will fight with you about patient care who actually are bad cna's its the ones who dont provide care who take 20 breaks and are gone but you will never fight with these unless you initiate it in my experience.

bring a pocket recorder (like a memory stick) in such reprimanding situations... it would help a lot... its more of an evidence and it will speak for you so the cna would have no way out of constructing her own lies... ^^

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I agree that you should never argue in front of a patient. It is intimidating enough being in hospital without the staff who are caring for you become hostile to each other.

If she yells at you in front of a patient again i recommend what others have said and calmly tell her that you will discuss it with her later. If she continues I would repeat myself. If she still yells then i suggest you then tell her that you will have to call security to have her removed if she continues to act in such an aggressive manner. And if she's stupid enough to still scream and yell then i would call a code black. May seem a bit extreme but it would show her that you mean business and as for the patient, they deserve to be cared for in a non hostile environment. Personally, i doubt that it would actually get to security coming in, just the threat of it should be enough to stop her.

bring a pocket recorder (like a memory stick) in such reprimanding situations... it would help a lot... its more of an evidence and it will speak for you so the cna would have no way out of constructing her own lies... ^^

i'm not sure that's legal.

and while the nsg asst was rude and out-of-line, she wasn't abusive.

a private, verbal 1:1, citing inappropriateness, followed up with documentation, is far more credible, and within p&p.

if the asst acts this way with the nurse, i'm sure she does it w/others.

all incidents that have been documented, will only serve to vindicate the complainer's concerns.

and, a paper trail can (legally) act as a foundation for further discipline.

leslie

... yes we can't be sure that it's legal but the fact that we could get from carrying such devices in a compromising situation would be undeniably true...

its just like impartially placing the judge (nursing supervisor in this case) on the same situation wherein he/she was able to here the entire conversation behind closed doors...

it could be helpful for them to discern right away who is telling the truth because some persons may become so manipulative that they would turn the tide against us causing us more troubles...

Specializes in Telemetry, CCU.

Draken, I'm sorry that you're wife had some issues at the LTC facility, but all the stuff you typed here, about nurses supposedly killing patients and whatnot, well I don't think its exactly legal for you to be discussing that here, and if the patients were in danger in the ways that you stated so many times, I hope you reported it to the proper authorities :)

An argument here in front of a patient gets the nurse and the CNA written up. Patients are sick and do not need or want to be part of staff drama. Next time this happens, act professionally, even when it is the most difficult. Tell the CNA you will discuss any matters outside of the patient area. Ask her to leave the room, you can finish with the patient. If she refuses, pick up the phone, call the desk and ask for the CN to come to the room now. No further words need to be spoken in front of the patient by you until the CN comes. Tell the CN you have asked the CNA to leave the room and she refused, you will explain later. Try to reassure the patient by being calm, kind, and skillful. Finish your task with the patient, do make sure there is no other pressing need, then go to the area where this type of situation can be handled professionally. Say your piece, write the CNA up, and go on with your day. There is no excuse for arguments in front of patients. None.

Draken,

I read your post, and I hope the facility has been reported, since there are some serious neglect issues going on, and they have been going on for far too long. I don't know whether you're from California or Texas, but there are agencies you can report the facility to. The nurses need to be reportd also to the BON.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

While I know that it is important to maintain professionalism in the work place and communicate with supervisors when we experience some of these wild card employees, reality also is that many times, (especially when the employees have a strong union), these people get away with murder and continue to even after numerous reports.

Around New Years 2007, a CNA was taped hitting a patient on the side of her head while holding her baby (this happened in outpatient services). The tape hit everyone it was supposed to, and the employee was suspended for 30 days. Almost everyone was saying that this girl would not be back, etc, but I had a feeling that it wasn't over, that this person would once more return to work.

Well, guys, the employee came back to work today; in uniform, smiles for everyone and waving like she is campaigning for an election. This person has caused numerous problems for many years and even with all of the reports, basically, her wrists were slapped and that was it.

This is why many people wind up resorting what happened here. If the place is run like a jail cell, some defend themselves in order to survive. Sad, but many times, this is a reality.

Interesting news. I was told that the nursing aide went up to another nurse and talked about how bad she felt for acting like that the other day. Supposedly the NA said she was going to look in to getting help for her anger problem.

-FYI : verbal abuse one form = Using words to shame. Critical, sarcastic, mocking words meant to put you down either alone or in front of other people.

nurses aides and LPN are the "Nursewanabees" of the nursing world. I have been stabbed in the back by so many of them, that working with them makes me leary and I really don't speak to them other than to talk about work and what needs to be done. If they wanted to be nurses, they should have went and got the degree.

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
nurses aides and LPN are the "Nursewanabees" of the nursing world. I have been stabbed in the back by so many of them, that working with them makes me leary and I really don't speak to them other than to talk about work and what needs to be done. If they wanted to be nurses, they should have went and got the degree.

Is this for real? If so, it sounds utterly contemptuous and disrespectful of these people! Nurse Wannabes?

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