My Dream For Nursing

I have been a nurse for thirteen years, working in the Alzheimer/Dementia field. I have had experience in other areas,but primarily AD.

I have continually been dismayed by the ineffectual hierarchy that is embedded in the nursing field. Do we have  to have to have HHA, CNA, LPN, and RN, instead of just nurse? The result of this is that some LPNs and RNs  will not do hands on care. They want to keep their distance from the patients and tell the CNAs to do all the "hands on."

I have seen LPNs and RNs go to great lengths to avoid having to do the "dirty work" that is the real nursing.

After all, what is nursing? Is it not giving care to sick people? Care can not be given from a distance.

I used to work at a facility that required everyone to do "care" for a shift once or twice a month.  That facility had a higher standard of care as a result.

The CNA is relegated to the bathing, incontinent changing, and feeding of patients; the LPN to administering medications, changing dressings and solving problems with staff and patients; the RN to supervising and calling the doctor.  The LPN can and does call the doctor, but can not supervise.  Where I work, LPNs  can do the same thing under the name of ''team leader". Of course the LPN can bathe, change and feed, but this is where the conflict arises.  Many do not want to and indeed will not. This allows for lower morale among the CNAs and the fostering of a "better than thou" attitude. I have never seen an RN bathe, change or feed a patient.  I am not saying there are not RNs that do that , only that I have never seen it. Everything seems to fall on the CNA, the least educated and the lowest paid.

Legislation is the only way to change this situation. But there is little chance of it because now the young people going into nursing are getting BSNs and going on to an MSN, so they can teach or be DONs or work in offices and never see a patient.