What you love/hate about your assistants

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aaaaaand...GO!

How long until this is shut down?

From the ones I work with I love the ones that do their job and have a work ethic. If you are slammed they will go get another aide or nurse to help change a patient, most do not even check them unless you ask them to. Some will whine that the "nurse refused to help change a patient" meanwhile the nurse is dealing with something more important.

I hate the ones with a poor work ethic, ones who think they know more than you do and tell you what to do when they have no clue. Lazy ones who whine if youa sk them for any help. as if they are doing you a favor by helping turn or change a patient. IT IS THEIR JOB.

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Ok, I'll bite.

These are things that they're supposed to do, but 99% of the time, they don't. I hate when I finally sit down at 2am, look at my VS and see that my patient's temp was 39.2 at midnight and I wasn't notified.

These are really big issues where I work and of course the nurse is blamed by doctors and management because fi you were a good nurse you would have checked the vitals in real time.................................ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

I love nursing assistants who realize that they are professionals. Who take pride in the honest hard work that they do. I love when they report "something's just not right". More than one stroke caught and treated successfully. I love when we have a potluck and they include me. I love being their coworker.

I do not like nursing assistants who have to made to do their job. Anyone who thinks any part of nursing care is beneath them. Anyone too good to help anyone else.

I don't address them as 'aides' or CNAs. They are nursing assistants. Assistants to the nurse and they are a treasure when they look, feel, and act professionally.

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Specializes in Medicine.

Wow I wish we had aides on our floor:(

Does each nurse have an assistant? or is it just one per floor!?

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Specializes in geriatrics, dementia, ortho.
Wow I wish we had aides on our floor:(

Does each nurse have an assistant? or is it just one per floor!?

On my floor (ortho) it's 1 assistant to 3 nurses (each nurse has 3-4 patients each) so each nursing assistant gets 9-12 patients.

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Specializes in OB (with a history of cardiac).

I'm so lucky that all the PCA's on my unit (at night anyhow) are just awesome. They're always willing to help, though not always available. They cover 1:1's in weird shifts so everyone gets a break, some of them just go ahead and turn and change patients before I even open my mouth. They're awesome about reporting any abnormal vitals right away, they're willing to run downstairs and nearly across the hospital for box lunches when a patient gets the munchies at 0230. They're friendly, they're not cocky, they're approachable. I have had PCA's go in rooms with me when I assess a patient who has had a reputation for being not nice. I had one PCA talk an elderly dementia guy down from almost smacking both myself and another nurse. They don't act like they're the nurse- and I don't usually pick out that sort of thing but there's one PCA who floats to our unit on occasion, and I guess...I don't know, she just rubs me the wrong way. Personality, I guess. She's been a PCA forever, and I'm sure she's been a PCA long enough to where she's seen plenty, but she has this tendency to point out things that I may have missed... right in front of patients...loudly.

But even that is nothing compared to some stories I've heard about on this website and others about PCA's that sound like they've been hired right out of prison.

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