Hi guys Im new to this forum and I hope its ok for me to complain about my night. I REALLY need an outlet. lol. I was wondering if anyone else goes through this. I am a 12-hr night-shifter on a med/surg floor. Last night was one of the worst nights ever. I had 7 patients, which I can handle easily (Ive had up to 11). But I had 2 units PRBC to transfuse, 1 pt with Cerebral Palsy and C-Diff who was TOTAL care and needed oral sx about q hour with Tubefeeds going per PEG, 2 one post-op pts (one running a temp with sats in low 80's and the other with neuro checks q 2 hours), 3 others with temps, and 5 patients needed fingersticks q 4 hours. On top of having to call docs about the temps and sats, I was having to do my vitals, fingersticks, I/O's, transfusion vitals, ALL my turns c skin care and oral care, and the additional temps that needed to be done due to the fevers. All this was on top of everything else I had to do. All the assistants did all night was the 04:30blood draws. If we ask for help they usually get mad (they dont have time). The assistant on my side left at 07:00 and 06:00 fingersticks still werent done. Assistants complain about their work in front of patients, which makes the patients feel like a burden. Do any of you have this same problem? Please dont think I am slamming assistants, Ive worked with some GREAT assistants with excellent teamwork. BTW, this site looks awesome. Its nice to have somewhere to go with people who can understand.
:frustrated: Geez! I would be on writeup mode, for sure. For the most part, I have some decent aides; yeah, there are a few I'd love to get rid of. Only way, though, is starting the write up policy. One question....if they were 'too busy'and 'didn't have time' to help you when needed, what were they doing? 'Cat'
They went downstairs to smoke or they were on ebay. One was reading a newspaper. If a patient calls out wanting help to go to the bathroom, they say things like "why dont these people just go to sleep!" or "will you give them a drug to make them sleep!" Honestly! Its sad. Today I picked up some job applications. I hate to leave but I cant work like this. I will miss my patients (we have some 'frequent flyers'). I have gotten used to them and attached to them. Thanks for your reply. :)
Understand completely. I had a CNA tell me he was to busy to transfer a pt. from my ER to the floor for admission, which by the way is the CNA's duty here. Of course he was busy, he was on the phone with his girlfriend and playing on the internet. I don't like to pull rank unless totally necessary, so I just did it myself, but I get really frustrated when I ask for assistance and am told no, by the CNA or LPN. I have days where I have stated, I'm not asking, I'm telling, do it. I am the ER and I override anyone else here. So, been there. 99
I once walked into a patient's room and found the CNA on the patient's telephone having a private conversation!!!! :firedup: She had all the blankets and sheets on the floor and looked up at me as I came in the door like the figured we all did that!! I about went apesh**! I was a fairly new nurse but I did know right from wrong. I wrote that babe up---using the pts phone was bad, but disrespecting him and leaving him naked on the bed, helpless and cold, while she ran her mouth on the phone---that was absolutely unacceptable. I never saw her again. I didn't intend to get her fired, but my patient's needs will always come before some babe who has a bone to pick with her boyfriend!!
Hang in there,
Jessica in WA
I agree with Cougar...write them up or approach administration about the problem. If nothing gets sorted out, then I would think about moving on. It is very sad, but at the end of the day you must think about your own sanity.
I too am new to this forum. I am a fairly new nurse and I am still learning myself although before becoming a nurse I worked for years as a CNA. I totally share your sentiments. I work the Med/Surg floor and we have what we call Huc/Techs meaning they work as ward secretaries and other days are scheduled to work the floor as a tech or another words a CNA. The problem is once they sit behind the desk they never want to leave even when scheduled a CNA that day. The desk area is like the town hall meeting place and too much talk goes on that they dont want to miss out on. When I do ask for help which I rarely do there are some that boldy tell me to do it myself. We are a tobacco free facility but they still sneak out with the floor charge nurse to smoke and leave the floor uncovered. I share your frustrations.
i'm an er nurse and i feel the same...majority are knowledgablable but don't give a rip....a few are good and feel like me{frustrated and exhausted}..and here in the south i get the ole your the rn and get paid all that money...so they answer phones fine/do computer work fine and bring back pts. to rooms to be seen and maybe can get them in a gown..that's iffy....but when it comes down to their jobs,,like getting urines/transporting pt./cleaning up pts/stocking....it don't happen unless you directly tell them to...i feel your pain..i don't care what i did for a living;i'd want to do it right and have a little respect for myself....needless to say;i'm not their favorite nurse:frustrated: :frustrated:
Well I'm STNA and I am a hard worker, I don't go to work to just sit around and be lazy. I know and I've seen exactly what you nurses are talking about you get paid to do a job not talk on the phone read the paper and BS the shift. Nurses put up with a lot and I just want you to know that not all aides work this way. Where I worked we had aides telling the RN supervisor what they weren't going to do.The aides ran our unit,it was sad. So please don't bash all of us because I care about what I do and that makes the difference!!!:luck:
I am a STNA and i know what you are talking about. I am a hard worker and i take my work seriously, even picking up other people's slack. There are some aides that sit around all day and eat and drink and text on their phones. It is a huge fight every time a patient turns their light on for something, its like they have to play rock-paper-scissors to see who is going to go down there. And getting someone to help you with something? Its impossible. I feel for all you nurses who are going through that. I am currently in nursing school so i agree with the quote that all the good STNA's are in nursing school (well not all but most i guess) or thats what it seemed at the nursing home i worked at.
I am really enjoying this site... its great to get on here and chat about things that you are interested in!
I have lit fires under butts by saying "hey so and so...come and help me move Mr/Mrs whomever." I look 'em straight in the eye, too. Don't have to do that often, as I am known for that! I figure it's everyone's job.
I am a Tech in an ICU and step down unit. I undestand what you are saying, but I have had nurses hunt me down while I am eating lunch to tell me that a patient with GI Bleed has pooed the bed.
I have also had nurses tell me to go give thier patients meds too. Ofcourse I refused.
Or walk out of a room to find me in the middle of cleaning another patient up, and tell me to walk another patient to the bathroom.
And I have seen nurses throw a fit because they had to put a magazine down to go give a patient pain med.
So I have seen just as many lazy nurses.
It doesn't make either right.
Don't blame the profession blame the person! :23:
As a traveler I have worked with some great techs and some horrible techs. My last assignment their was a tech there named Teva, she was GREAT, a year ago I was a hospital where the tech I worked with actually watched a patient FALL and her response instaed of trying to catch him or assist him to the floor, was she just clocked in and hadn't hung up her coat yet! People are differant as much as places are differant, but I have learned from experience that some of the more difficult people to work with respond alot more if you treat them with the respect they deserve and not like they are just "the aide." Sometimes people just get burnt out, and being a nursing assistant is one of the most thankless jobs in the world, and just being told thank you can mean a whole lot to people.
I have worked with some excellent aides that do their jobs well, however if you ask them to re-prioritize patient care and do one patient's care before the one that is still asleep, they get their panties in a wad. Some aides have been straight up beligerent. If you notify the manager, the aides will make your life a living hell and patient care only suffers at that point. I don't have time for petty crap like that. Yep, I may be sitting at the desk - but I will be charting, taking off orders, etc. Nor have I ever refused to help my fellow staff members with a difficult bath, answer a call light, take a patient to the bathroom, or discharge a patient to the front door. It is a rare day that I would even have the time to read a magazine, play on the computer, and rarely do I have a personal phone call. I'm the one still charting way after my CNA's have left trying to figure out where the hell my I & O sheets went. I do agree, there are some nurses that seem to have a lot of free time and often pull rank, but take a look at their charting and it stinks too. It takes a cohesive staff to make it thru a busy day.
I definitely understand this subject. I always seem to end up with at least one CNA who is lazy. The one I'm speaking about now thinks that she is supposed to come to work to get her sleep and get a paycheck. She gets upset when the residents turn on the call lights all night long. I have to constantly remind her that she is there only because of them. And if they weren't incontinent etc. that she would not have a job. This is the main reason why I am tired of nursing homes. The DON knows about these problems with this and other CNA's like her but does absolutely nothing when you write them up. I feel like what is the point of writing them up then? Nothing is being done to correct it and find staff that appreciates the job. Don't get me wrong we have some excellent CNAs also. One is almost 75 and she is the best one in the building probably one of the best I've ever encountered. But unfortunately the bad apples come with the job.
Part of the problem icould be unionization, strawberry. My facility had to go through 'channels' to get rid of an extremely lazy aide. Union wanted to 'see a pattern'. Then, she turned around and brought in a lawyer, with other complaints.... Big headache, but she's gone now.
Just remember that quality control sampling is not effective in judging the overall merit of a profession. Just because a few individuals are lazy, this does not mean that the profession in itself is lazy. Remember the functionalist theory that you covered when in your sociology class? This is much the same. Each profession functions as an "Institution", a team effort in which all of us must work together for a common end.
I can just as easily think of as many lazy RN's as I can CNA's.
Wherever you go in this life, there will always be lazy individuals; whatever the profession, be it: RN, CNA, LPN, MA, MD, PA-C, MSN, BSN, DO, etc. We must stop judging an entire profession based on the actions of a few.
Think about it this way, if 1 in 10 CNA's are lazy, that means that 9 in 10 are not.
Hello:
I am a PCT(PCA) and I hope you dont mind my responding to this, if so I apologize.
I have worked for 8 years in an ICU. I was trained by old school PCTs and we know how to work and pull as a team.
I have seen this kind of behavior in the newer younger PCTs and its rediculous. Now..... please Nurses's dont take this personally....
Unfortunatly I am also so seeing it in our younger nursing staff. They dont get up and help with baths, if Im busy and need them to get an FBS for me.... well you would think the world just ended. I dont know what is wrong with some of the up and coming new work force......but we could be in trouble.
Just like Nurses though...... not all PCTs are bad ones. There are some of us you take pride in your jobs and do them well. I agree with the rest of the comments though..... write thier butts up........
Have good day
DreamWriter:star::star:
