Archive for June, 2010

I’ve always thought nursing homes, and the staff who work at them, place far too much “value” on resident safety issues. I’ve also always believed we use resident “safety” as an excuse to restrict residents movement, diet, preferences and so on. So when I read this article, it resonated with me in a big way.

Our culture values our ability to fix problems — or to think we can. We like to measure things, but happiness and autonomy are hard to measure. We insist that someone must be responsible for everything that goes wrong, which makes everyone obsessive about liability. And, of course, we don’t like to acknowledge that old people have limited life spans, or that some risks to life and limb — in the opinion of those whose life and limbs are at risk — might be worth accepting.

Is safety worth trading over autonomy? I’m not convinced it is.

I’d like to post a reminder of what is here at NursingAssistants.Net

First off, look up to your right. You’ll see a sidebar topic titled: POPULAR CONTENT. The list of articles speak for themselves.

We have many articles full of advice for CNA’s:

Getting Paid. For every minute you work.

Tips & Timesavers for CNA’s

What Not To Wear to Work

Lifts & Transfers: Doing It Right

7 Habits of Highly Effective CNA’s

7 Habits of Highly INeffective CNA’s

And there’s many more HERE.

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We also have an extensive archive of educational articles, that can be used for in services and other trainings. CNA’s are, of course, welcome to read these articles for their own benefit.

The Nursing Process and The CNA

Observation Skills for CNA’s

Legal Issues for CNA’s

CNA’s & Respect

LTC Survey Scope & Severity Scales

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Would you like to connect with other CNA’s? Join the NursingAssistant Yahoo Group- it’s free and you can read the emails or messages on the web.

Need to contact us?

Have questions about the nuts and bolts of Health Care Reform? The New York Times has a blog where you might find answers.

How Soon Will the New Law Help Me?
Will Employer Plans Have to Meet Higher Standards?
Will These Changes Increase My Health Care Premiums?
What to Expect in Next Year’s Health Benefits Offerings

There’s many more- go check it out.

As I read this article at Long Term Care Living, I thought of all the administrators I have known in my 18 yrs working as a LNA (CNA). At one assisted living facility I briefly worked for, I watched three administrators come and go…this was in less than two years.

How prevalent is this?

Research indicates that more than 7,000 administrators will leave their jobs in long-term care each year. Turnover for assisted living is equally as frequent and both are in excess of 40%, and as high as 70% in turnover each year.

What happens to the facility?

The negative impact of high administrator turnover has been demonstrated and includes increased deficiencies, citations, occurrences of resident pressure ulcers, and use of urinary catheters, restraints and psychoactive drugs—all of which become targets for surveyors and are highly recognized indicators of overall quality of resident care.

Usually when the administrator goes, so does the DON among others…

Research indicates that facilities with higher administrator turnover will yield increases in other staff turnover averaging 76% for RNs, 78% for LPNs, and a complete new group of nursing assistants with 107% turnover in a year.

What bothers me about the high turnover among our esteemed leaders is we just get things working, everyone gets used to the management and expectations, when BANG, they’re gone. So, we have to start all over again. No wonder this has such an impact upon staff, residents and families. Make no mistake, this does effect the residents- read this blog post to see why. How many administrators have you gone through?

This is interesting. At the Wyoming State Hospital, CNA’s were given raises to reflect a new job responsibility: Supervising other aides and LPN’s. At issue was the actual hourly rate these aides were earning:

CHEYENNE — Thirteen certified nurse assistant shift supervisors at the Wyoming State Hospital have been notified that their recent pay raise has been rescinded.

They also will no longer be allowed to supervise other CNAs and licensed practical nurses.

The change came after the state reviewed the basis for job classifications and salaries for nurses on the state payroll.

The review was ordered after some nurses at the Evanston institution threatened to quit because the new pay plan increased salaries for CNA supervisors to more than the LPNs earn and only $2.48 an hour less than registered nurses.

Apparently the hospital created these positions without checking the state’s Nurse Practice Act, which forbids CNA’s supervising anyone.

They also questioned whether the CNAs were properly supervising other CNAs and LPNs.

They were not, according to the Wyoming Nurse Practice Act.

The State Board of Nursing determined that the practice of CNA supervisors was contrary to state law, said Dean Fausset, administrator of the Human Resources Division in the Department of Administration and Information.

“So the Department of Health decided to remove the supervisory duty from the CNA shift supervisors,” he said.

I think CNA’s can and should supervise other CNA’s, provided they have training in doing this. Making schedules, assignments, approving time off, observing the work of others are all things a well rounded, experienced CNA can handle. I’d go so far to say CNA’s are capable of evaluating other CNA’s too. But I do not believe aides should EVER supervise nurses.