Was I taken advantage of?

[Darby71]

I am no longer a CNA (I let my certification expire as I am pursuing nursing school now); however, when I was I worked home health. One assignment I had was to help a quadriplegic woman with her ADL's (personal hygiene, showering, dressing, transfers, bowel program and driving patient to run errands and go to medical appts). Once I started this assignment, this persons mother also had me cleaning all the areas her daughter (the patient) used. I ended up having to clean the bathroom, dust and vacuum the patients room, computer room and living room, wash the floors in the bathroom, living room and kitchen, wash the patients dishes etc. I was required to do these things every shift. Looking back, I have no problems with washing my patients dishes and keeping their area tidy but Im wondering about the other stuff. I felt like the majority of my time was spent cleaning. Is this normal or was the patients mother taking advantage of me?

[Libby1987]

I think it depends on the care plan established by your manager as to whether you were taken advantage of and by whom.

Our CNA's can be hired for cleaning, it depends on the agreed upon written arrangements.

[caliotter3]

If it was in the Plan of Care, no, you were not taken advantage of. You should have been advised of the parameters of your duties before you even started the case. For run of the mill, "keep the patient area tidy" general instructions though, it seems that you were being used as a cleaning service. But only if that extent of cleaning was not mentioned in the Plan of Care. When you first had a question about this, you should have had a clearing of the air with your supervisor.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

If the patient was an adult, then you weren't taken advantage of, IMO. You were hired to help with her ADLs, and had she been able-bodied and living on her own, she would have been cleaning her own bathroom, sweeping her own floors, doing her own laundry, etc.

If the patient was a child, then she probably would not have been expected to do all of the household chores -- those would likely have been completed by the parents.

[Whit2389]

I am a registered nurse and I take care of a quadriplegic. He is total care and very active. We wash his dishes, his laundry, tidy his room up, sweep, clean his toilets, etc.. as well as all of our nursing care. He was 15 when I started, he is now almost 19 years old and in college. The nurses still do these tasks. It's different being a home health nurse than it is being an acute care nurse. In the home health setting your patient is typically stable and your only patient. Especially in the situation where you have a quadriplegic patient, we are there to be their hands and medically treat them as well as keep them safe.