~What Pet Peeves Do You Have Regarding CNA's~

systoly · Jul 22, 2009

Pet peeves I have regarding CNA's: They only have two arms, they only have two legs, most lack the ability to be in three places at once, most are not mind readers, most resist cloning, sometimes they get tired sry, couldn't resist. On a serious note, as the nurse, you'll be the leader, however, while a certain amount of authority may come with a title, respect often times does not and has to be earned. I believe it is not the CNA, but the nurse who should lay the foundation for a good working environment. You do this by earning respect and teaching, teaching, teaching. The problem on the CNA side is that all too often they are expected to blindfoldedly follow orders without questioning in one situation, only to be reprimanded for not using their own prudent judgement in another situation.

sasha2lady · Jul 23, 2009

well.....i did cna work for 5+ yrs before i became a nurse. i was hassled by a drill seargent nurse who i thought hated me and had it out for me from day one as a cna...but once i started nursing school...i wanted to track her down and thank her for giving me the hell that she did b/c all the things i didnt understand before ...i suddenly did. I never really knew exacly why i had to do things that i did as a cna til nursing school. mainly..the legal parts and importance. i thought it was always assigned to me as busy work b/c she hated me. my first day as a nurse was rough.....the cnas i had worked the floor with tested me.....while i was trying to train on the med cart and learn the paperwork they kept telling me to go get their call bells and put pts in the bathroom etc.....now mind you i was newly pregnant at that time and so my hormones was unreal and so was my temper. after about a week of this i put my foot down to them and laid it all out that i couldnt learn what i needed to learn and do their job at the same time. I havent had a problem since in that area. They now know that they are not to come bother me when i am pulling up my meds or insulins unless its an emergency. They wait til they see im done with it. now....i do deal with a few aides who absolutely do not listen...they defy everything me or other nurses tell them. they refuse to check safety alarms on fall risks, they dodge call bells, they lie about giving showers, they lie about meal intake and vitals, etc etc.....if we tell them that we need a temp on someone they get ****** off and try to argue about it...etc etc......i have almost got that situated though. I stopped repeating myself and started writing them up instead. It only takes 1 or 2 bad ones to ruin the whole bunch. most of my aides are really good. I love them and they do good work. i have some that even help us out with our admissions.....they go get wt and vs before we even tell them to....they start filling out their adl sheets on new admits without us telling them to do it and they make sure the new person gets a food tray. These are the aides i could not do without! I have some who love to learn....if i have to do a tx...they run to where im at and want to help me....they ask why i do the tx and how does it work etc......thus a teaching opportunity arose. oh....another pet peeve of mine is when the aides sit behind the desk on the phone when they are not allowed back there to start with or when they tell a family member something that they shouldnt and then the family assumes the worst and bam.......there you are trying to smooth it out with the family and assure them that things are ok. Some dont know when to hush it up or what not to say to ppl. I try to also explain to them WHY they are supposed to do things like PERICARE, and vs as to its just what is assigned. I tell them a story about what our big nurse consultant told me...r/t a uti. A woman in a nsg home got a whopper uti......from lack of fluids and bad pericare....thus she ended up septic and in the hospital where she died from it. the family sued for 2 million bucks and WON!!!!!!!!!!!......same thing with safety and falls....if we find someone who has fell...at first they may not c/o pain then 2 days later they have awful leg / hip pain...do an xray....boom its broke in 2 places. Now ...when they fell...the alarm was turned off b/c the cna 'forgot" to turn it on or my fave line is " their family was in there and they were supposed to do it " ....still....we are responsible for these pts.....a broken hip costs thousands of dollars to fix if it can be fixed and then there is the cost of the hospital stay and then rehab costs.....all for one fall that at the time seemed less than drastic.

nursenow · Sep 15, 2009

Pet peeves? Bad attitudes, lazy. Pretty much the sames ones I have about nurses.

NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2009

Not that I don't agree with you, but I don't think you have enough time in the day to be lazy. How can you not pass out your meds to your patients and get away with it? Charting, how can you bypass that? I have worked with many RN's and LVN's who just lovedddd to delegate to the max. Even if they weren't doing anything and were perfectly capable of doing it yourself.

nursenow · Sep 15, 2009

Not that I don't agree with you, but I don't think you have enough time in the day to be lazy. How can you not pass out your meds to your patients and get away with it? Charting, how can you bypass that? I have worked with many RN's and LVN's who just lovedddd to delegate to the max. Even if they weren't doing anything and were perfectly capable of doing it yourself.

I originaly wrote a long answer including a list of things lazy nurses do(rather dont do) but decided to just say: Passing meds is only a small part of what a nurse does even though it may seem like that is all you do at times. Also I regularly tell CNAs to do things I could do but is their job not mine. Likewise I regularly do things CNAs could do but it is my job, not theirs.

If all I had to do was pass meds and chart life would really be nice.

NurseCubanitaRN2b, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2009

I guess I should make myself clearer when I say that they delegate things to the CNA that they can do themselves. I'm sorry but I see it pointless for a nurse to go spend 30 minutes hunting a CNA down to put the patient on the bedpan when the patient asked the nurse him/herself. That's a pet peeve. I don't mind putting someone on the bedpan. But there are lazy nurses and also CNA's, how they get through the day is beyond me. A nurses job goes beyond med pass as the previous poster stated. Nurses have the to do dressing changes, charting, admissions, discharges, calling the doctors, pharmacies, etc...and yet have to do all that for 25 patients. Rediculous if you ask me.

sasha2lady · Sep 16, 2009

Hmm...how can a nurse get by without doing meds or charting....??? Ive seen it done by a few with no problem. I worked with one nurse when I was a new nurse who parked her cart at one spot on the hall and that thing never moved out of that spot..even when third shift came in....I did see her at the desk eating and on the phone and balancing her checkbook.....and when I had to take that cart after she had worked it....narcs were missing, holes were all over the mar, nothing was stocked....etc etc. She did no charting as was clearly evident when I had to work in behind her. She got by with this for about a year before she was finally fired. As for cnas, oh man...Ive seen a few over the years who were terrible......I wrote one aide up and it took 3 pages to do it! She left the rooms in a mess, beds were not made, food was in the floor, none of her patients had been touched I found 3 that had dried bm all over them and their linens, she left a tube feeder flat on her back who had a continuous feeding...I was checking her people as I was doing my meds..which slowed me down alot and then when I got to the end of the hall....I saw her sitting behind the desk..which is against state regs....and I went up there and made her get up and come do her round AGAIN and then I wrote her up and after another month or so of that...she was fired. We recently got a new aide who has only showed up for work 3 x in the past 3 wks.....and somehow she still has a job???? IF that was a mill worker...they woulda been gone wayyyy back when. On top of that..I have an excellent aide that I love working with....I can be having the worst day ever and as long as I know she is in the building with me...things will be ok. She is more help to me than any nurse I work with. I taught her how to put a chart together for new admissions so when I come in..and I have a new one...she has already put my paperwork together and its correct, plus she puts the other papers I need in the room for me so its waiting on me when I go to the new pts......plus..If i have to send someone out to the er....she knows the exact forms I need and what copies I need for EMS....she handles that for me and I fill out my forms and do the rest. No other aide does that...none of them care to learn it because they think its not their place to help us with anything other than their rounds and telling us someone is in the floor or has a skin tear. There is nothing this aide cant do...she is like a nurse without the title. If I need something from the supply room....she can get it for me...she knows what cannulas, masks, o2 tanks, nebs, neb tubing, o2 water bottles, bipap water bottles.....everything....I told an aide to bring me the treatment cart one day so I could fix a skin tear....she brought me the CRASH CART!.......it helps to have good aides...no doubt. I just wish that more aides would take the time to learn WHY they do the things they do instead of learning to do them.