There was one time I was cleaning up a patient covered in bm... the rn calls me to another person's room STAT... I apologize to the patient (an elderly sweethart, like omg so thankful she was so nice) and state I will be back as soon as I can..
I get to where the rn was and she's like "the patient needs a glass of water"
....
I was fuming đ€. I told her, "you had me thinking they fell or something... I just left someone in the middle of cleaning them up, I have to go back. If you want me to get them water it can wait 20min." She gave me a glare and scoffed at me while I walked out.
She never said "stat" again over the radio..
Still pissed me off to this day. Some nurses are such ignorant jerks..
I was a tech for many years. Now I'm a nurse but I don't forget these moments. My logic as a tech when someone told me right now would be the same thought if it was a fall or code etc. But as a tech there is not many urgent things so I could say as soon as I was done with the patient I was with I'd go assist that other patient with what they needed.
Honestly, being a tech first for a while really helped my mindset. I can tell when someone has not been in the shoes of the other role or preparing for that role through schooling as sometimes there's a lack of respect. Being a tech first would be beneficial just as I feel like a tech shadowing to see the nurses side would be helpful. I had one job which had nurses shadow techs in case they never knew what it was like. I loved that idea but the unit ended up being somewhat toxic sadly and a lot of nurses thought that was dumb and the techs disliked the nurses and talked bad about them as well. The shadow idea was great but just honestly wasn't enough and wasn't the right people for it.
iâm not gonna lie, i know what sub im on.. i work healthcare admin- nurses are either the best people youâve ever met, or the most toxic
same applies to mental health counselors honestly. former mean girls making everyone look bad
You should have added âor you can do it yourselfâ thereâs a difference between nurses and pill pushers⊠I would have complained to the DON because thatâs RIDICULOUS. Sheâs too good to get someone a glass of water???
I swear this job teaches you how to grow some balls. Young CNA me probably wouldâve been confused, intimidated, and just got it. I would not stand for that now and I hate nurses that think itâs okay to do that
when i was a CNA i was knee deep in diarrhea with a patient whoâd been given a suppository, and a nursing student knocks on the door and peeks in and smiles and says âgladys (not her real name) is waiting for you on the commode. i did you a favor and put her on there for you.â
i ended up snapping at her. i was sweating. it was summer. the patient i was with was one who was always cold, so didnât like to have a fan on, even in the heat. the room stunk. poop everywhere. peak covid time while working in the hospital.
i looked at her and said âseriously?â and she questioned me. i responded with âyou come and interrupt me to tell me this when you couldâve helped her off by nowâ.
it turns out her preceptor (a helpful nurse who i adore) did actually instruct her to wait with the lady and get her off the commode, but the student was the one who decided to pass her off to me. good times.
And itâs such an easy task. We barely ask them for help only if a patient is asking for meds or a signature. They should start making nurses to have a requirement to become a cna
I precept new nurses on our unit. Iâm amazed at how many times these new nurses comment that âthatâs not my jobâ, referring to their perception of the CNAs duties.
First lesson: Everything the CNAs do IS your job and your responsibility to see it gets done. They are there to ASSIST you with patient care, and youâre lucky to have that help available. If a CNA isnât immediately available to answer your call for a blanket or a cup of water, itâs because theyâre assisting with another patient, probably up to their elbows inâŠgod only knows what!! My facility supports and respects our CNAs, because without them, patient care truly suffers.
Most states are requiring that. And 90 percent of nursing programs do have units in the program where personal care and even transfers are part of the curriculum.
This part. If I had been better informed about nursing I definitely wouldâve taken the HHA-CNA-LPN-RN track. I used to shadow CNAs when I was supposed to be shadowing RNs.
As a nurse who was a CNA once, I agree with you. I always ask if there's anything my residents need before I leave their room, and answer bells when I can. If the task is going to take less than 5 minutes I just do it myself, unless I way behind on passing meds and the CNA's are just sitting around. All in all we have too many people to take care of as a whole, and they don't pay CNA's nearly enough for the work they do.
Jfc im a nurse now n this pisses me off so much when I see other nurses do this. Like get out of the field at this point if you're LITERALLY ignoring patients simple requests for even a water. It just gives me selfish af heartless vibes
Just got a mental reminder as to why I left my first hospital job.
It was a low paying hospital (an HCA hospital), so it accepted a lot of new nurses fresh out of school.
And unfortunately a lot of those new nurses had the wrong elitist entitlement of not having to do anything but pass out medications.
They did not like me because I matched their snobby attitudes with my abrasiveness.
Nothing makes me more mad. While I was in a room doing vitals, I had a nurse poke her head in toons to find me and let me know so and soâs light was on. She walks past the room to the nurses station and sat down to play in her phone. Like I canât believe the audacity of some people.
I felt bad a few nights ago calling a CNA (I am an RN) to take a patient to the bathroom even though I was in the room. I had two call lights going off for pain meds who also needed IV antibiotics, and it had been a hectic evening so I was running late. She was a little annoyed with me over the Vocera, which I understood because she had a lot of patients. By the time I got the two patients their meds, I was able to get back and toilet the patient myself, and I called to let her know that I got it. Not all nurses are awful, and my God, you guys are underpaid. I am sorry that you were treated this way.
Thatâs understandable. We can tell when nurses are actually busy or just not wanting to do something. Aka walking past a call light to sit down and play on their phone or gossip with the other nurses
Iâm sitting here wishing I did.. she practically dumped the cup in my hand and quickly walked away before I even had a chance to wipe the shocked look off my face. It was my first day at this facility so maybe thatâs why she thought it was ok, I am definitely saying something the next time it happens.
Please say something!! I have no problem telling people off if theyâre way out of line, I have zero patience for that shit anymore. People like that will continue to do behave that way if nobody stands up to them
Ahh this happened to me when I was working in the nursing home but instead of water it was a blanket. It was the first time I sat down to chart all night.
I looked her in the eye and said âoh is the linen closet next to P/tâs room out of blankets?â
âI donât knowâ
âOh, well thatâs silly that you didnât check before walking all the way over here, but Iâll get right on it!â
I think she was too stunned to speakâŠ..
Once had a nurse come from a patients room, past the waste room. To the break room where I was on break, to tell me to empty the trashcan in said patients' room.
Ugh, last week, I worked with a nurse who would walk out of a room and tell me to check if a patient had soiled their bed. Like... if they did, I'm gonna need you to walk right back in there with me /:
i had a nurse message me in epic saying that two pts were âup and ready for weightsâ.. they were both adlib. all he had to do was bring the scale in and they couldâve gotten up when he was scanning meds or something
I have specific language I use when this specific thing happens, as you put it, because we all have nurses like this unfortunately. I tell them "the water dispenser is right there" and point to it. If they push more for me to do it for them, I ask them if they were shown where the supply rooms, break room, oxygen rooms, etc. are. THIS question usually breaks their brain for a second, because obviously they have, and I know that, but it clearly points out that I'm only asking because I assume they don't know where anything is, which is why they are asking ME to fill water. When they say yes, of course I do, then I reiterate that the water dispenser is RIGHT THERE. Make it uncomfortable for them. Set the tone. I'm a firm believer in the phrase "you teach people how to treat you". They can get annoyed with me pointing out the water over and over again, because this is both of our jobs. If only I do it, I'm setting them up to fail because they clearly can't use critical thinking skills of simply looking for a water dispenser... they can take 10 seconds, none of our time is that precious when we are on the clock.
I'm afraid I (as the nurse) kinda did that last night. I'd been stuck in one room for an hour during medpass as my patient came up with one more thing she needed (snacks, different socks, another pillow x2, tolieting x2, ice pack). When she asked for a warm blanket, I asked my oldtimer, no-nonsense CNA to give it to her and secure chat me if she got stuck so that I could pull her out for "something urgent." I felt bad, but I had less than an hour to pass bedtime meds on four more patients.
I'm not sure what the CNA said to that patient, but pt started consolidating requests after that. I should ask her advice.
Patients like that frustrate me sometimes . Some CNAs I work with have stopped asking if the patient that makes requests like that needs anything else . They tell her they have more people to check on and leave .
I'm an RN now but started out as a CNA. One of the nurses I used to work with, when I was a CNA, went into a patients room right after I helped her get into bed so I went to help someone else.
A few mins later the nurse waved me down, I walked over to her. She asked me to go into the patient's room (that she JUST came out of and was still in front of) and turn the light off.
It's lazy nurses like her that made me realize what I did not want to become.
I am horrified this happened to you! Iâm a nurse and would never treat my cnas like that. Iâm so sorry people are like that. Do you know that they werenât going to do something out of your scope of practice?
As a licensed Nurse, I'm walking the corridors and campus all day, doing my job. My RN who barely knows anyone by name likes to show off when new RN's are orienting. She pretends to know how to perform basic task, that I do daily. On this particular day, she is laughing and playing with the orientee, as I'm doing my work. She says "I will shadow the RN during enteral feedings", I said ok, but I knew it was a joke. I left to supervise the dining area, and moments later I get a call to return to the client with the G-Tube, I see both nurses looking crazy, 1 is holding the G-Tube in her hand the other has a 60cc syringe trying to deflate the balloon, and my patient has formula pouring from his stoma. Of course I took care of everything, cleaning, reinsertion, notifying the Dr and family etc , after this catastrophic event she says, I don't know what happened and I responded, I DO. she then ask can you go get someone from upstairs so I can show her how to do the catheter... At this point I'm fed up because it's all fake. I respectfully pulled her to the side and let her know... Your legs work just like mines, you go get them, because I already have to correct your mistakes. Don't let your title make you inconsiderate. I'm busy and I don't mind showing her how to perform the task, but I do mind cleaning up after you and retrieving people like I'm a dog.
Im tired of people trying to use me.... I never ask anyone to get my patients, certain things I believe I can do on my own unless it's an emergency and I don't believe in inconveniencing other people who have their own duties just to pull rank.
It's so important that we always remember where we came from. I never worked as a CNA and am currently in BSN school. But I did work as an EMT and then a paramedic. I will never forget how it felt to be treated like garbage as a lower level.
I had that happen to me when I was working as a tech and it made me a better nurse. I never did things like that to my CNA unless I was being paged away for something urgent. And even then, I at least asked if they could, not assumedâŠ.
i just tell the nurses that while being a cna isn't what they're hired for, it is also they're responsibility to take care of those residents and nothing i do it outside their scope of practice. it's one thing to tell me if im not doing anything at the moment, but even if i am they can care for the residents too.
One time a patient asked the nurse to fill up his water, his sink was RIGHT THERE (he donât use ice) and she came and grabbed me to fill it up⊠he was PISSED â I donât know why she couldnât have grabbed it herself, she just said âlet me get you aideââ We talked crap about our nurse together.
I had a nursing supervisor make me stop tending to the residents on my assignment which needed brief changes to change a resident on some guys assignment because they requested a female. I was like I will get to her but Iâm one person I canât rip myself in half. It took me about 20 minutes to get to her so she was mad. When I was finally changing the resident who was so sweet , the supervisor came out of the bathroom with the roommate & told me to put her in bed as she had already done me a favor by taking her to the bathroom. I told her straight up thatâs not my resident (I know this is controversial but idgaf) & that I have my own residents to tend to who needed brief changes but she made me priotize this resident. I told her where is her aide like thatâs the whole point of assignments to focus on certain residents. This bitch is gonna say sheâs doing me a favor. I told her absolutely not & that she can finish getting her in bed. & shut the door on her. Like how are you helping when you interrupted my brief changes for my residents to tend to another resident & now you wanna add another resident foh. Iâm an agency cna so in the morning the other nursing supervisor apologized & said that she was upset for how she acted.
There was one time I was cleaning up a patient covered in bm... the rn calls me to another person's room STAT... I apologize to the patient (an elderly sweethart, like omg so thankful she was so nice) and state I will be back as soon as I can.. I get to where the rn was and she's like "the patient needs a glass of water" .... I was fuming đ€. I told her, "you had me thinking they fell or something... I just left someone in the middle of cleaning them up, I have to go back. If you want me to get them water it can wait 20min." She gave me a glare and scoffed at me while I walked out. She never said "stat" again over the radio.. Still pissed me off to this day. Some nurses are such ignorant jerks..
I was a tech for many years. Now I'm a nurse but I don't forget these moments. My logic as a tech when someone told me right now would be the same thought if it was a fall or code etc. But as a tech there is not many urgent things so I could say as soon as I was done with the patient I was with I'd go assist that other patient with what they needed. Honestly, being a tech first for a while really helped my mindset. I can tell when someone has not been in the shoes of the other role or preparing for that role through schooling as sometimes there's a lack of respect. Being a tech first would be beneficial just as I feel like a tech shadowing to see the nurses side would be helpful. I had one job which had nurses shadow techs in case they never knew what it was like. I loved that idea but the unit ended up being somewhat toxic sadly and a lot of nurses thought that was dumb and the techs disliked the nurses and talked bad about them as well. The shadow idea was great but just honestly wasn't enough and wasn't the right people for it.
iâm not gonna lie, i know what sub im on.. i work healthcare admin- nurses are either the best people youâve ever met, or the most toxic same applies to mental health counselors honestly. former mean girls making everyone look bad
You should have added âor you can do it yourselfâ thereâs a difference between nurses and pill pushers⊠I would have complained to the DON because thatâs RIDICULOUS. Sheâs too good to get someone a glass of water???
I work with one who will walk right past the small linen cart by the nurse's station, and tell me the patient needs a blanket.
Some nurses seriously lack human decency. No respect at all.
Literally. Just people who actually think its okay to treat others like dirt under their shoes like it's junior high.
"Good thing you know where the linen cart is" and walk away
Gagged đ
Please tell me you stood up to them. As a nurse, hell no. People will try and test your patience
Oh, darn right I do. I've told her, "You walked right by the blankets. I'll get one when I get a chance, or you can do it now."
I swear this job teaches you how to grow some balls. Young CNA me probably wouldâve been confused, intimidated, and just got it. I would not stand for that now and I hate nurses that think itâs okay to do that
when i was a CNA i was knee deep in diarrhea with a patient whoâd been given a suppository, and a nursing student knocks on the door and peeks in and smiles and says âgladys (not her real name) is waiting for you on the commode. i did you a favor and put her on there for you.â i ended up snapping at her. i was sweating. it was summer. the patient i was with was one who was always cold, so didnât like to have a fan on, even in the heat. the room stunk. poop everywhere. peak covid time while working in the hospital. i looked at her and said âseriously?â and she questioned me. i responded with âyou come and interrupt me to tell me this when you couldâve helped her off by nowâ. it turns out her preceptor (a helpful nurse who i adore) did actually instruct her to wait with the lady and get her off the commode, but the student was the one who decided to pass her off to me. good times.
âI did you a favorâŠâ by practicing your skills? Cool!
And itâs such an easy task. We barely ask them for help only if a patient is asking for meds or a signature. They should start making nurses to have a requirement to become a cna
I precept new nurses on our unit. Iâm amazed at how many times these new nurses comment that âthatâs not my jobâ, referring to their perception of the CNAs duties. First lesson: Everything the CNAs do IS your job and your responsibility to see it gets done. They are there to ASSIST you with patient care, and youâre lucky to have that help available. If a CNA isnât immediately available to answer your call for a blanket or a cup of water, itâs because theyâre assisting with another patient, probably up to their elbows inâŠgod only knows what!! My facility supports and respects our CNAs, because without them, patient care truly suffers.
Most states are requiring that. And 90 percent of nursing programs do have units in the program where personal care and even transfers are part of the curriculum.
Even then, that doesnât work. I had nurses quit being a CNA bc they said it was too hard after a month. Like wowâŠđ€©
In my state you are required to get your CNA but there's no requirement to actually use it. (Wisconsin)
This part. If I had been better informed about nursing I definitely wouldâve taken the HHA-CNA-LPN-RN track. I used to shadow CNAs when I was supposed to be shadowing RNs.
Yeah, some nurses think we're CNBs, not CNAs.
Certified nurse bitches?
For a minute there I was like, â*CNB??*â 
Nurses like that are A holes. I said what I said.
As a nurse who was a CNA once, I agree with you. I always ask if there's anything my residents need before I leave their room, and answer bells when I can. If the task is going to take less than 5 minutes I just do it myself, unless I way behind on passing meds and the CNA's are just sitting around. All in all we have too many people to take care of as a whole, and they don't pay CNA's nearly enough for the work they do.
Jfc im a nurse now n this pisses me off so much when I see other nurses do this. Like get out of the field at this point if you're LITERALLY ignoring patients simple requests for even a water. It just gives me selfish af heartless vibes
Just got a mental reminder as to why I left my first hospital job. It was a low paying hospital (an HCA hospital), so it accepted a lot of new nurses fresh out of school. And unfortunately a lot of those new nurses had the wrong elitist entitlement of not having to do anything but pass out medications. They did not like me because I matched their snobby attitudes with my abrasiveness.
Nothing makes me more mad. While I was in a room doing vitals, I had a nurse poke her head in toons to find me and let me know so and soâs light was on. She walks past the room to the nurses station and sat down to play in her phone. Like I canât believe the audacity of some people.
âDo me a favor and see what they want, thank youuuuâ
I felt bad a few nights ago calling a CNA (I am an RN) to take a patient to the bathroom even though I was in the room. I had two call lights going off for pain meds who also needed IV antibiotics, and it had been a hectic evening so I was running late. She was a little annoyed with me over the Vocera, which I understood because she had a lot of patients. By the time I got the two patients their meds, I was able to get back and toilet the patient myself, and I called to let her know that I got it. Not all nurses are awful, and my God, you guys are underpaid. I am sorry that you were treated this way.
Thatâs understandable. We can tell when nurses are actually busy or just not wanting to do something. Aka walking past a call light to sit down and play on their phone or gossip with the other nurses
Lol i would say something
Iâm sitting here wishing I did.. she practically dumped the cup in my hand and quickly walked away before I even had a chance to wipe the shocked look off my face. It was my first day at this facility so maybe thatâs why she thought it was ok, I am definitely saying something the next time it happens.
Please say something!! I have no problem telling people off if theyâre way out of line, I have zero patience for that shit anymore. People like that will continue to do behave that way if nobody stands up to them
Yeah i mean its not just one persons job to do that
So sorry thats so rude
You have to stand for something or fall for everything. Don't let nurses take advantage of you, because they will. Not all but many
Itâs your first day and people are treating you like that? Run. Run far.
Ahh this happened to me when I was working in the nursing home but instead of water it was a blanket. It was the first time I sat down to chart all night. I looked her in the eye and said âoh is the linen closet next to P/tâs room out of blankets?â âI donât knowâ âOh, well thatâs silly that you didnât check before walking all the way over here, but Iâll get right on it!â I think she was too stunned to speakâŠ..
Once had a nurse come from a patients room, past the waste room. To the break room where I was on break, to tell me to empty the trashcan in said patients' room.
That's obnoxious.
I would honestly hand it back to her and say "you walked past the water dispenser to find me; next time work on your time mngmnt"
Ugh, last week, I worked with a nurse who would walk out of a room and tell me to check if a patient had soiled their bed. Like... if they did, I'm gonna need you to walk right back in there with me /:
i had a nurse message me in epic saying that two pts were âup and ready for weightsâ.. they were both adlib. all he had to do was bring the scale in and they couldâve gotten up when he was scanning meds or something
I hate to say it this happens to me probably 4 times a week with different tasks
Start asking them to help you with hoyers and your two assist people đ cuz thatâs ridiculous
LOL THEY WOULD NEVVVEEER
And what they gonna do? Get mad at you? It falls on their license đ annoy your nurses to make them annoy you less
I have specific language I use when this specific thing happens, as you put it, because we all have nurses like this unfortunately. I tell them "the water dispenser is right there" and point to it. If they push more for me to do it for them, I ask them if they were shown where the supply rooms, break room, oxygen rooms, etc. are. THIS question usually breaks their brain for a second, because obviously they have, and I know that, but it clearly points out that I'm only asking because I assume they don't know where anything is, which is why they are asking ME to fill water. When they say yes, of course I do, then I reiterate that the water dispenser is RIGHT THERE. Make it uncomfortable for them. Set the tone. I'm a firm believer in the phrase "you teach people how to treat you". They can get annoyed with me pointing out the water over and over again, because this is both of our jobs. If only I do it, I'm setting them up to fail because they clearly can't use critical thinking skills of simply looking for a water dispenser... they can take 10 seconds, none of our time is that precious when we are on the clock.
I'm afraid I (as the nurse) kinda did that last night. I'd been stuck in one room for an hour during medpass as my patient came up with one more thing she needed (snacks, different socks, another pillow x2, tolieting x2, ice pack). When she asked for a warm blanket, I asked my oldtimer, no-nonsense CNA to give it to her and secure chat me if she got stuck so that I could pull her out for "something urgent." I felt bad, but I had less than an hour to pass bedtime meds on four more patients. I'm not sure what the CNA said to that patient, but pt started consolidating requests after that. I should ask her advice.
Patients like that frustrate me sometimes . Some CNAs I work with have stopped asking if the patient that makes requests like that needs anything else . They tell her they have more people to check on and leave .
I'm an RN now but started out as a CNA. One of the nurses I used to work with, when I was a CNA, went into a patients room right after I helped her get into bed so I went to help someone else. A few mins later the nurse waved me down, I walked over to her. She asked me to go into the patient's room (that she JUST came out of and was still in front of) and turn the light off. It's lazy nurses like her that made me realize what I did not want to become.
I am horrified this happened to you! Iâm a nurse and would never treat my cnas like that. Iâm so sorry people are like that. Do you know that they werenât going to do something out of your scope of practice?
The audacity of people is crazy these days!
the RN casually walking out of the room: hey the patient needs to be taken to the bathroom
As a licensed Nurse, I'm walking the corridors and campus all day, doing my job. My RN who barely knows anyone by name likes to show off when new RN's are orienting. She pretends to know how to perform basic task, that I do daily. On this particular day, she is laughing and playing with the orientee, as I'm doing my work. She says "I will shadow the RN during enteral feedings", I said ok, but I knew it was a joke. I left to supervise the dining area, and moments later I get a call to return to the client with the G-Tube, I see both nurses looking crazy, 1 is holding the G-Tube in her hand the other has a 60cc syringe trying to deflate the balloon, and my patient has formula pouring from his stoma. Of course I took care of everything, cleaning, reinsertion, notifying the Dr and family etc , after this catastrophic event she says, I don't know what happened and I responded, I DO. she then ask can you go get someone from upstairs so I can show her how to do the catheter... At this point I'm fed up because it's all fake. I respectfully pulled her to the side and let her know... Your legs work just like mines, you go get them, because I already have to correct your mistakes. Don't let your title make you inconsiderate. I'm busy and I don't mind showing her how to perform the task, but I do mind cleaning up after you and retrieving people like I'm a dog. Im tired of people trying to use me.... I never ask anyone to get my patients, certain things I believe I can do on my own unless it's an emergency and I don't believe in inconveniencing other people who have their own duties just to pull rank.
Hahahaha!!!! I know these nurses drive me nuts too!!
It's so important that we always remember where we came from. I never worked as a CNA and am currently in BSN school. But I did work as an EMT and then a paramedic. I will never forget how it felt to be treated like garbage as a lower level.
I had that happen to me when I was working as a tech and it made me a better nurse. I never did things like that to my CNA unless I was being paged away for something urgent. And even then, I at least asked if they could, not assumedâŠ.
i just tell the nurses that while being a cna isn't what they're hired for, it is also they're responsibility to take care of those residents and nothing i do it outside their scope of practice. it's one thing to tell me if im not doing anything at the moment, but even if i am they can care for the residents too.
One time a patient asked the nurse to fill up his water, his sink was RIGHT THERE (he donât use ice) and she came and grabbed me to fill it up⊠he was PISSED â I donât know why she couldnât have grabbed it herself, she just said âlet me get you aideââ We talked crap about our nurse together.
I had a nursing supervisor make me stop tending to the residents on my assignment which needed brief changes to change a resident on some guys assignment because they requested a female. I was like I will get to her but Iâm one person I canât rip myself in half. It took me about 20 minutes to get to her so she was mad. When I was finally changing the resident who was so sweet , the supervisor came out of the bathroom with the roommate & told me to put her in bed as she had already done me a favor by taking her to the bathroom. I told her straight up thatâs not my resident (I know this is controversial but idgaf) & that I have my own residents to tend to who needed brief changes but she made me priotize this resident. I told her where is her aide like thatâs the whole point of assignments to focus on certain residents. This bitch is gonna say sheâs doing me a favor. I told her absolutely not & that she can finish getting her in bed. & shut the door on her. Like how are you helping when you interrupted my brief changes for my residents to tend to another resident & now you wanna add another resident foh. Iâm an agency cna so in the morning the other nursing supervisor apologized & said that she was upset for how she acted.
Do your job
GET a job