What can a RN delegate to a CNA?

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So, what can a RN delegate to a CNA?;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

As a graduating nursing student in one more week, i think it is hard to delegate things to the CNA..First of all, some have an attitude and dont want to do any type of work..Maybe, I always ended up with bad CNAs but that is from my experience.

As an RN student working as an NA, I can easily say that some nurses have attitudes and don't want to work either. ;-)

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Specializes in med surg.

I just finished my first year of the ASN program and I just finished an interview today for a pt care tech job at the hospital affiliated with my school. I decided that I was going to work as an aid so i can better understand the scope of nursing. But, at the hospital, they like to have student nurses, but you don't have to be certified as a CNA to work there. Yet, at nursing homes in the area, you do have to be. So, even though I've been in school for a year, I had to go and take that stupid test that cost $100 dollars to take so i could work as a CNA since I wasn't getting interviews at the hospital. AND I DIDN'T EVEN PASS THE FIRST TIME! I had to take the CNA test twice. They don't go over CNA skills very well in the first semester of nursing because we're not going to school to be CNA's, and really I had more experience the other people there taking that stupid test. Anyhoo, I thought an interesting note to put on here, was that some nursing schools require you to be a CNA before admit into the program. I personally think that it will be a very good experience to be a CNA before a RN. I will get to see and I know that the nurses will trust me to be involved in more things because I am a nursing student and they know i will be a RN in a year.

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Specializes in med surg.

Oh, so the point of my last post is that it depends on the facility, because in some places you have to be certified and others you don't. And certification differs in every state too. I opened a CNA book to study for that test and there were things in there that I think everyone is expected to know, but not everyone can do. As a nursing student, i don't know how i would be able to delegate things to a CNA that technically i was supposed to be able to do myself, but wasn't skilled at.

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According to the Nurse Practice Act in Texas, nothing that involves assessing or teaching. Mainly hygiene care, oral care, ambulation, glucose checks, bed changes.

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Where I work a VA hospital Nursing Assistants routinely insert foley and do straight caths.

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Specializes in ED tech on a resp. therapist adventure.

What is the difference in a straight cath and a foley cath?

I just recvd my CNA I certification here in NC and we can do all of the basic care of pts, including Accuchecks and EKGs. There is a CNA II designation, it is another certificate you can go to school for after you have worked as a CNA I for at least 3 months. At the CNA II level you can do caths, suction airways and d/c IV's and other such things.

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I never was tought in my CNA program how to put foley in we where told that is for the LPN or the RN to do that.

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Specializes in Hospice.

A CNA's scope of practice for the state they are certified in, the protocols for the facility they are working in and the competency of the CNA in a particular skill must all be considered when delegating duties to a CNA. I'm so sorry that some nurses encounter CNA's that are not willing to complete appropriately assigned duties or have an attitude. I'm with Bethin, as a CNA, I always welcome the opportunity to do any skills that I have the opportunity to do.

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Specializes in ED.

Ours insert and d/c foleys. All of these things depends on where your from.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I can remember when in CT you did not have to be certified and we did all kinds of things: tube feedings, suctioning of patients, inserting foleys and straight cathing, when we did vitals we only did TPR. We fed, bathed, toileted and ambulated pts as well. It was kinda scary to me when I first started as I was expected to do these things and did not feel qualified...but I was trained by the other CNAs. I am glad that you have to be certified now. It was really scary back then.

I work as a tech now, I am also in my last semester of the ADN program. I do all kinds of things when I work in the ER. Now on the floors it is a different story...that depends on who the nurses are that I am working with and if they are willing to supervise or not. Most will let you do just about anything that they know you have learned in school. Most graduated from the same program I am in now too. (guess I got off track again...LOL...sorry think its called BURNT OUT):lol2:

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According to the Nurse Practice Act in Texas, nothing that involves assessing or teaching. Mainly hygiene care, oral care, ambulation, glucose checks, bed changes.

Not to play devil's advocate here: but aren't accuchecks assessing? For the record- I was an STNA in Ohio for 10 years before I became an LPN. My comment is in no way a slam to anyone.

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Not to play devil's advocate here: but aren't accuchecks assessing? For the record- I was an STNA in Ohio for 10 years before I became an LPN. My comment is in no way a slam to anyone.

That's an interesting question- the easy answer is no, just like checking BP, temp, HR, RR the aide is simply obtaining a number and reporting it to the RN. The RN is responsible to check all vitals including glucose levels, then the RN is responisble to analyze/ assess those values and decide on any action to take. In real life however, how many times does an aide check do an accucheck only to have the pt ask right away "is it OK? is it too high?" Answering those questions is out of the scope of the aide, even though she's done enough to have a good idea of the answer. Now the hard part is to tactfully and professionally explain that can't be answered immediately, and the nurse will let him know.

When I was a HHA, that was really sticky. I actually had to "chart" on my patients... I did a checklist flow sheet that documented vitals and basic care but if there was an emergency I needed to chart what prompted me to call the case RN. Sometimes it was easy- "pt c/o chest pain" but some patients are more stubborn and I called even though they denied problems "pt c/o 'heartburn' skin pale and moist, breathing labored" I tried to keep it less medical than a nurses entry where I would have said "diaphoretic" and been more detailed about lung sounds, etc.

Clear as mud??

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