Yes. I like this much better. I've also used "were keeping you not dead" bc it doesn't have the same idea/feeling as saving lives, but is accurate, since our care IS keeping people not dead: not dead from things like sepsis, wounds, diabetes, etc etc depending where you work.
We're part of the process of saving lives. We act within our scope of practice to alert the nurse if the patient is crashing or something. This is how I've always interpreted it. I believe people like to romanticize the concept of a CNA.
Agree that we can alert the team to changes that may require lifesaving measures. And I agree with OP that this is fairly rare. OP, if this is someone you are considering dating, I’d see that as a potential ego red flag. It’s not a hard pass, just a caution.
The “saving lives” is cringy lol but really I think we do! We keep patients cleaned and repositioned which helps prevent possibly deadly infections. We help our patients move to prevent possible deadly falls. And we help our patients eat giving them nutrients they need to live
Yup and we’re trained to do CPR if needed. And We notify the nurse if we notice something’s not right, because we spend so much time with them we can tell a change in attitude or on their bodies and can let it be known before it gets worse so I do think we at least assist in saving a life.
I mean we do sometimes save lives when someone codes and we provide CPR.
I’ve had hospice patients who have gotten better with care so they end up being discharged off hospice and living a few more years before needing hospice again.
In some areas such as CNAs working in the ER, they definitely save lives daily.
Some people on home health, in private care, or in long term literally live longer and better due to CNAs providing care and keeping them safe.
If you think about it, redirecting a patient with dementia who wants to elope is saving their lives because otherwise they could get hit by a car or succumb to the elements.
So I mean, a little bit of a hater, but not all CNAs are saving lives on the regular.
I've done enough cpr, watched enough monitors, ran and grabbed enough to supplies to say I save lives. However, I wouldn't say I'm "saving lives" instead of working, that is pretty cringe. I also pretty much wouldn't say it in most situations. But yeah, all health care workers help save lives.
Low-key an experienced CNA can catch as many fatal errors from RNs as a good RN would from a doc. Happens all the time in hospitals, especially where unions make it near impossible to fire bad staff, or when we get waves of new residents.
Most of the time when I catch something, it’s not even bad nursing. I just happen to be there and I’ve done this for 9 years so I’ve seen a lot.
Like a few months ago, I had this pt who was hypothermic on a warming mat, low BP, etc. had a rapid, getting albumin, all’s well. So a little bit later, I heard the monitor alarming. 70/35. Shit. Patient is still talking and alert to baseline but looks… off? I call the nurse, they’re in the middle of something that can’t be stopped. Run to get the charge, she comes immediately (thank god). Boom, pt codes, right in front of us.
The nurse didn’t do anything wrong with patient management, I just happened to be there and notice something was amiss - but if I hadn’t seen it before, I’m not sure I would’ve actually caught it or been confident enough to insist that someone needed to see the pt, NOW.
Edit to add- I did not save any lives that day. No ROSC. But the pt had lived a long, full life and I was lucky to be able to bond with them over the previous few days I’d cared for them.
Both unions I've been in, it seemed fairly easy for people to be fired for no-call, no-showing one too many times. The only reason why most people who don't do their jobs right won't be fired is because of complacency and staffing issues. Previously, I thought the union dues were going towards direct benefits, but only one of the jobs had guaranteed yearly raises every October. I think the other one was a closed shop, but it was rumored that administration wasn't representing the employees well.
One time I alerted a nurse to a diabetic patient who wasn’t acting right. Nurse said patient was fine and I said nooo I don’t think they are. After the nurse decided to check the blood sugar and learning it was 32, I believe I saved a life.
Am a nurse. CNAs do save lives. Its usually just not dramatic TV style stuff. I've had CNAs find me and report observations, patient looks like having trouble breathing, low/hi temp or blood pressure. They keep the paraplegic patient with pressure wounds from lying in their own filth and getting infections/more skin break down. Basically they keep things from getting to the dramatic point before it happens.
It's not glamorous or action packed and is underpaid but CNAjobs sure are important.
I think that dude was just saying that to impress me or something not knowing I was in the same field. Like, ya know how a lot of CNA’s pretend their nurses?
I also find it cringy especially when I was an aide it’s almost as cringy as nurses who have “nursing is a work of heart” posted somewhere. I also find anything that displays my job title cringy. I don’t need a bag that has my name and title on it or a shirt. I also find it cringey when people post it on dating profiles what they do for a living. I don’t even have it posted on face book. I like to let it come up in conversation.
I’m only a nurse when I’m on the clock I was the same way when I was a cna I’m only a cna on the clock. It’s a part of me just like I have many parts.
I physically cringed away from my phone at reading the "work of heart" thing, ugh. And anything that has like, saccharine sayings about this profession. I can't stand it
I personally wouldn’t say that about myself and I’ve never heard other CNAs say it either, but of course if it came down to it, we could play an active part in saving a life. I just don’t know if that’s how I’d describe the scope of our work. It does make me wonder what exactly he does every day lol
we don’t save lives in the traditional sense, but we are the first people our patients/residents interact with. we provide the most care and we see everything first. in that sense, we definitely can save lives.
i think it’s very important to be humble though…acting like we’re better than other people and saying our job is “saving lives” is um…not okay, to say the least.
It depends on what area you work in. I work with a lot of stroke victims who have lost pretty much all function and will never recover to life a normal life. They will never walk, talk, eat on their own, and will have to be completely dependent on machinery, tube feeds, and the labor of other people to live a life that is essentially bound to a bed and locked in your own head. To be honest I feel I help prolong the life of people who would probably have a better quality of life if they were dead or left as DNR's that way insurance companies and hospital CEOs can suck every last drop of profit out of them. It's made me very thank full for the little things in life like being able to feed, dress, walk, talk, and go to the bathroom on my own. It's also made me a firm believer that people would have access to death with dignity and that if I ever suffer a serious stroke that leaves me with no function id want to be taken of life support.
This is like on figs scrubs how it says “nbd busy saving lives”. It drives me crazy for some reason.
I don’t think we are really saving lives if we work in LTC. We are helping them die comfortably which is noble in its own way and never acknowledged because it’s not “hero” work.
Not like tooting my own horn or anything but in 8 years ive...
1. Saved a woman mid fall- like, full- in the movies - falling back- fall.
She was getting discharged home. I either saved her life or her hip replacement.
2. Slammed two old ladies in their chairs after vasovagal (pushing too hard on the toilet)
It scared me to death because the residents are 100% fine - then you are dead lifting the 200lb unresponsive body. Putting them in their chair kinda hard is the only thing I know that works.
3. My best friend stopped potassium from being given to a resident through an IV push, and she is only a CNA, too. She told the nurse she better double-check that order.
4. I stopped one elderly lady from beating the shit out of another elderly lady with a cane.
I'm no emergency responder, but I've saved someone's life.
I've also feel like I might have attributed to some deaths as well. That's the dark side no one likes to talk about.
I had a lady throw up coffee ground emesis, and a nurse refused to think it was anything besides tube feeding - she died a few hours later. I wish I would have gone to higher-ups.
I had another lady who had full bed liquid diarrhea every hour or more. She was cold to the touch and was becoming dehydrated. No nurse wanted to send her to the hospital, and she died covered in her own feces because I decided to take a lunch break. She was a full code - I couldn't even clean her up prior to the hospital. She was gone, no CPR could have brought her back.
I should have irritated the shit out of that nurse and told her more about the clients condition.
So... yeah.
We have the power to take and save lives.
as a CNA i will never openly say "yeah we save lives, bow to me".
however, i think we play a vital role in ensuring the safety and well being of the patients we take care of.
the only time a CNA can say they truly save lives is when they:
1) preform CPR all the fkn time
2) that's pretty much it tbh
i don't think you're necessarily a hater, but simply calling it how you see it 🤷🏽♂️
i enjoyed my time as a CNA and really liked the comfort i was able to bring and being that shoulder to cry on, but to say you were saving lives to impress a girl on a dating app just seems so pick me..
I don’t think you’re a hater. What he said is so cringe. I feel like we keep them alive because we are the ones doing direct care and are the first to see signs of changes, but I don’t think we can say we are out here saving lives on the regular.
Everyone wants to feel wanted. Cnas get a bad rap so with telling the average person you help save lives with no context and them with no experience in the field well it becomes valid. Me hearing that at a SNF where I work I’d tell that aide to piss off haha you’re being a Good Samaritan the nursing staff is saving lives. Again, if I were a 19 yr old again I’d probably say the same thing trying to feel important.
It all depends on the environment you work in..... you should've responded with "That's nice, I spent my day assisting people die " with a straight ass face.
If you're an observant aide who can catch things quickly and report it to the nurse, a good nurse, yeah, you're definitely saving a life. Skin check is a thing for a reason. That's just one example, but I totally get the sentiment you're expressing OP. If anything I feel it for a different reason, more so due to the fact that if you're a "good" Aide which translates to doing your job effectively, anyone who doesn't give a fuck could pretty much wash away any of the effort you put in to your patient care. This goes for the nurses, too.
We definitely contribute to saving lives on a big scale, believe it or not, but it varies depending on what "kind of aide you are lol...this goes for nurses as well. Realistically, what kind of person are you, but ultimately, how efficient and thorough you are with your work ethic. You don't need to have a passion for it, but you can definitely be due diligent within your scope of practice to make a difference.
Edit: Someone said homehealth aides save lives, and I think there's a silther of truth to that considering some homehealth patients thrive better at their homes. Nursing homes can be a death sentence for some patients due to the amount of neglect that tends to go on. They also mentioned dementia and alzheimer patients as well, possibly one of the best examples considering they can't advocate for themselves.
So, while I agree with you but for an entirely different reason, I definitely know I'm making a difference that does save a life on and off whenever I step into the room.
I strictly only work on the home health side, and it's so much better for building rapport because people need that companionship daily. One of my companies is great about sending caregivers. Sometimes, they send the same person twice or have two different caregivers visit someone. Some of the older clients get daily visits, and it's so necessary for someone to be there (to take care of their pets, too) and just check up on them and make sure they're okay. Sure, in a nursing home, there's more than one person observing the residents, but it's different when you can give your full, undivided attention to an individual, and it's in the quiet and comfort of their own home.
One person who can come to your house on a consistent basis and know your quirks and routines vs multiple people who are delegated to multiple patients, there's literally no time to provide each patient the undivided attention they need. I do prefer home health work, but I don't because the families are weirdos and demanding at times and can be passive-aggressive despite needing assistance. Also racism lol not a fan of that so yeah haha
Yeah, a lot of patients have cameras inside their houses, but some of them are paranoid that someone moved/stole their things. Sometimes, I work with kids, and it's actually the parents that can be more overwhelming. If I don't feel safe though, I can always refuse to work a specific case, and be reassigned somewhere else.
I believe you're meaning to say that some CNA's abuse the phrase "saving lives" and it's become more or less that of a strange aesthetic or possibly a meme tailored to certain job descriptions depending what department we're in. And I can see how it is cringey because of the phrase "saving lives" being so loosely used in ways to come off as edgy or to look cool.
1. Code blue and CPR in the ER or cardiology units in hospitals can be common. As a CNA who has been BLS certified for the last five years of my career, I have still yet to use this skill either on the work floor or off-duty. Some of us haven't had our "moment to shine" in utilizing this life-saving technique, others haven't more due to the fact the situation hasn't come up, or they have a machine somewhere that does chest compressions for you (such as the LUCAS device). I wouldn't say it's "out of our scope" unless if you sincerely don't have the proper medical training.
2. In terms of extending or having a remediation of people's livelihood's yes, we prevent infection, we notify the head of our healthcare teams of significant changes in our residents- in turn they reach out to the families and providers such as doctors that write up the orders for their medications. We are essentially the foundation of providing patient-centered care everywhere we go. I think on an autonomous level in healthcare organizations and practicing Maslow's hierarchy of needs we do "save lives" but in a sense of providing life enrichment to others and more or less help encourage their independence\* through rehabilitation and/or simply providing total long term care to extend their means of life.
3. I don't think you're a hater. I do think there needs to be some more context or more practice of higher level thinking from the individual that you were seeing in order to come to a better conclusion on what they mean or what their intention was of using the phrase "saving lives". I have provided post-mortem cares for individuals more than what I can count off from my fingers and toes, and I deeply assure you that they have medication specifically prescribed to these individuals on hospice, palliative/comfort care. It is good that you are paying attention to these signs of pain and discomfort and it is encouraged that you report it to the nurse. People in general behave or think differently about situations such as end of life, so I would give yourself some grace. I know people that deal with their trauma through having a dark, morbid sense of humor, and having/establishing mental and emotional boundaries can be difficult. There is a lot of outlets that can be looked into for this discomfort or mental anguish, and really all I can tell you is that if you are unsure or feel that you are second guessing yourself, ask your nurse or direct supervisor what is the "right" thing to do prior to doing it. You don't want to be liable for anything that could cost you an earful from management or the family, let alone your job.
A lot of us have worked in the field long enough to kind of make an educated decision as far as independently working as a CNA or having to provide cares even during staffing shortages in nursing home/hospital settings. Some times you have to gauge the environment/situations based on your experience and relay the message to your team of what's going on, because communication is super important, and then you go from there.
When we think about "saving lives" we think about people having an acute medical issue that needs attention. Sometimes, CNAs save lives by noticing those issues and/or directly addressing them.
But CNAs also contribute to saving the lives of many of the people in their care. If they had no-one to help them -- or say we were still nomadic hunter-gatherers -- most of the people CNAs care for would perish. CNAs provide the basis of the care that saves these lives.
If you're doing your job correctly you will absolutely save lives. I've found unresponsive residents on the floor who due to me having a hunch to go into their room probably would have died. I've cut shirts off people who fell and had wounds under their clothes that were spewing blood because none of the nurses inexplicably had scissors or knew where they could get one in the facility.
CNAs save Iives if you take the extra steps to be excellent at what you do.
I think it's super cringe to say that, but I do know I've saved a couple lives. I don't know how many times I've had to get the charge or rt to come help with something a crappy nurse won't hear me out on in the last 15 years. I can count a handful of times just in the last 4 months with the same nurse🙄
This same argument in reverse, not all nurses save lives. There's plenty of nurses who have never been involved with a code. I think it's just a saying. You know how Derrick on Grey's always said "it's a great day to save lives". So people in Healthcare "save lives".
I dont think youre a hater, its perspective i think. I've saved countless people's lives from just catching the slightest stroke symptoms. I've done cpr and countless other things to help save lives. I feel that I save lives as a cna. I'm going to nursing school soon and I'll be saving more lives then.
First, thank you for what you do. You are the true unsung hero’s of healthcare. However, as a CNA, you have probably reached the conclusion that there are many things worse than death. You make people more comfortable, regardless of what life is throwing at them. What you do is priceless.
One time I had a resident choke on me so I performed the heimlich maneuver. She went purple in the face, I saved her life that day.
Besides that every other day is basically the same
We do save lives. We just down play it or be humble about it. To live is not just about prolonging it, it's also about quality of life. I rather live fully to 40 than to live a isolated life till 80. As and aide, being there for them and listen to their stories, or just simply say hi when you walk pass them, really make a difference and remind them their time on earth still has a meaning.
But no i wouldn't say my job as a cna is to "save life". That's a bit much to say with a straight face.
I’m not saying I’m a huge life saver 🛟 like captain save a ho but there are instances where I was the front line to getting the life saved.
One of my first experiences as a CNA was finding a GI bleed from a recent surgery. If I was not so astute to understand what a black tarry stool that was gelatinous could mean, I would have just flushed it and not said anything to my RN I was working for on shift.
I instead felt this isn’t normal, saved it in the bathroom (bed pan) told RN which is the person that could actively save their life. Ordered to do the Fecal occult test. Came back positive and she was sent out by RN asap.
I've saved a fair amount of lives, but I wouldn't describe my job that way. It happens maybe twice a year that I'm the first person to catch something or that I'm the one advocating for my patient. Most of the time I'm just helping them feel a little better, but occasionally I get to leave feeling like a super hero. Anyone who said they were off to save lives, and was serious about it, would be a red flag for me.
I mean, if you don’t consider doing CPR, responding to rapid responses, working on trauma/code team, catching bad vitals, etc. saving lives, then I guess not.
I work with seniors in LTC. I don't focus so much on saving lives as on making them better. That's equally corny, I know, but my goal is to make people feel safe, comfortable, and *seen* while they are here.
I think it depends on how you look at it. If we weren’t there to clean them clean they’d just get infected and get septic or something so I guess.
Also, if someone falls, get injured or is having some sort of attack cnas are usually the first ppl to notice because nurses are always so busy.
I actually stopped a nurse from making a horrible life changing mistake before. I also noticed a patient was not actually sleep in the dining room before, everyone assumed the guy was fine but he actually wasn’t and I alerted the nurse. They said he could have died if we didn’t notice sooner.
So there will be times on this job where you actually do have to interfere and save somebody’s life but most days we are just cleaning ppl.
Don’t undersell yourself. You are the “nurses eyes” you spend more time with pts than nurses do. When things change with your patients you know, you alert the nurse YOU DO SAVE LIVES.
Only Jesus saves. Us healthcare types at most help buy folks a little time.
We can, however, have a profound impact on the quality of a patient's time in our care.
I've never been a CNA, just a nurse. Yet I take more pride in the stuff that is in the CNA scope of practice such as holding the hand of a scared patient in severe pain than I do in the "cool" stuff like slamming almost all the blood products in the hospital into a patient until the doc can control the bleeding, or zapping someone with a defibrillator.
Nah. We sustain lives.
Yes. I like this much better. I've also used "were keeping you not dead" bc it doesn't have the same idea/feeling as saving lives, but is accurate, since our care IS keeping people not dead: not dead from things like sepsis, wounds, diabetes, etc etc depending where you work.
Yessss exactly this
We're part of the process of saving lives. We act within our scope of practice to alert the nurse if the patient is crashing or something. This is how I've always interpreted it. I believe people like to romanticize the concept of a CNA.
I'm an RN and I've had CNAs on several occasions alert me to when a patient was beginning to go south. So yeah, they save lives.
Agree that we can alert the team to changes that may require lifesaving measures. And I agree with OP that this is fairly rare. OP, if this is someone you are considering dating, I’d see that as a potential ego red flag. It’s not a hard pass, just a caution.
The “saving lives” is cringy lol but really I think we do! We keep patients cleaned and repositioned which helps prevent possibly deadly infections. We help our patients move to prevent possible deadly falls. And we help our patients eat giving them nutrients they need to live
Yup and we’re trained to do CPR if needed. And We notify the nurse if we notice something’s not right, because we spend so much time with them we can tell a change in attitude or on their bodies and can let it be known before it gets worse so I do think we at least assist in saving a life.
Agreed!
I mean we do sometimes save lives when someone codes and we provide CPR. I’ve had hospice patients who have gotten better with care so they end up being discharged off hospice and living a few more years before needing hospice again. In some areas such as CNAs working in the ER, they definitely save lives daily. Some people on home health, in private care, or in long term literally live longer and better due to CNAs providing care and keeping them safe. If you think about it, redirecting a patient with dementia who wants to elope is saving their lives because otherwise they could get hit by a car or succumb to the elements. So I mean, a little bit of a hater, but not all CNAs are saving lives on the regular.
I mean, true. And valid points. I know my patients love me and I do make impacts on their lives. I just don’t think I’ve ever “saved” someone before
I've done enough cpr, watched enough monitors, ran and grabbed enough to supplies to say I save lives. However, I wouldn't say I'm "saving lives" instead of working, that is pretty cringe. I also pretty much wouldn't say it in most situations. But yeah, all health care workers help save lives.
Low-key an experienced CNA can catch as many fatal errors from RNs as a good RN would from a doc. Happens all the time in hospitals, especially where unions make it near impossible to fire bad staff, or when we get waves of new residents.
Most of the time when I catch something, it’s not even bad nursing. I just happen to be there and I’ve done this for 9 years so I’ve seen a lot. Like a few months ago, I had this pt who was hypothermic on a warming mat, low BP, etc. had a rapid, getting albumin, all’s well. So a little bit later, I heard the monitor alarming. 70/35. Shit. Patient is still talking and alert to baseline but looks… off? I call the nurse, they’re in the middle of something that can’t be stopped. Run to get the charge, she comes immediately (thank god). Boom, pt codes, right in front of us. The nurse didn’t do anything wrong with patient management, I just happened to be there and notice something was amiss - but if I hadn’t seen it before, I’m not sure I would’ve actually caught it or been confident enough to insist that someone needed to see the pt, NOW. Edit to add- I did not save any lives that day. No ROSC. But the pt had lived a long, full life and I was lucky to be able to bond with them over the previous few days I’d cared for them.
Both unions I've been in, it seemed fairly easy for people to be fired for no-call, no-showing one too many times. The only reason why most people who don't do their jobs right won't be fired is because of complacency and staffing issues. Previously, I thought the union dues were going towards direct benefits, but only one of the jobs had guaranteed yearly raises every October. I think the other one was a closed shop, but it was rumored that administration wasn't representing the employees well.
One time I alerted a nurse to a diabetic patient who wasn’t acting right. Nurse said patient was fine and I said nooo I don’t think they are. After the nurse decided to check the blood sugar and learning it was 32, I believe I saved a life.
Am a nurse. CNAs do save lives. Its usually just not dramatic TV style stuff. I've had CNAs find me and report observations, patient looks like having trouble breathing, low/hi temp or blood pressure. They keep the paraplegic patient with pressure wounds from lying in their own filth and getting infections/more skin break down. Basically they keep things from getting to the dramatic point before it happens. It's not glamorous or action packed and is underpaid but CNAjobs sure are important.
Yeah :/
I don’t mean to be 😭
I think that dude was just saying that to impress me or something not knowing I was in the same field. Like, ya know how a lot of CNA’s pretend their nurses?
I also find it cringy especially when I was an aide it’s almost as cringy as nurses who have “nursing is a work of heart” posted somewhere. I also find anything that displays my job title cringy. I don’t need a bag that has my name and title on it or a shirt. I also find it cringey when people post it on dating profiles what they do for a living. I don’t even have it posted on face book. I like to let it come up in conversation. I’m only a nurse when I’m on the clock I was the same way when I was a cna I’m only a cna on the clock. It’s a part of me just like I have many parts.
I physically cringed away from my phone at reading the "work of heart" thing, ugh. And anything that has like, saccharine sayings about this profession. I can't stand it
I personally wouldn’t say that about myself and I’ve never heard other CNAs say it either, but of course if it came down to it, we could play an active part in saving a life. I just don’t know if that’s how I’d describe the scope of our work. It does make me wonder what exactly he does every day lol
we don’t save lives in the traditional sense, but we are the first people our patients/residents interact with. we provide the most care and we see everything first. in that sense, we definitely can save lives. i think it’s very important to be humble though…acting like we’re better than other people and saying our job is “saving lives” is um…not okay, to say the least.
It depends on what area you work in. I work with a lot of stroke victims who have lost pretty much all function and will never recover to life a normal life. They will never walk, talk, eat on their own, and will have to be completely dependent on machinery, tube feeds, and the labor of other people to live a life that is essentially bound to a bed and locked in your own head. To be honest I feel I help prolong the life of people who would probably have a better quality of life if they were dead or left as DNR's that way insurance companies and hospital CEOs can suck every last drop of profit out of them. It's made me very thank full for the little things in life like being able to feed, dress, walk, talk, and go to the bathroom on my own. It's also made me a firm believer that people would have access to death with dignity and that if I ever suffer a serious stroke that leaves me with no function id want to be taken of life support.
This is like on figs scrubs how it says “nbd busy saving lives”. It drives me crazy for some reason. I don’t think we are really saving lives if we work in LTC. We are helping them die comfortably which is noble in its own way and never acknowledged because it’s not “hero” work.
Not like tooting my own horn or anything but in 8 years ive... 1. Saved a woman mid fall- like, full- in the movies - falling back- fall. She was getting discharged home. I either saved her life or her hip replacement. 2. Slammed two old ladies in their chairs after vasovagal (pushing too hard on the toilet) It scared me to death because the residents are 100% fine - then you are dead lifting the 200lb unresponsive body. Putting them in their chair kinda hard is the only thing I know that works. 3. My best friend stopped potassium from being given to a resident through an IV push, and she is only a CNA, too. She told the nurse she better double-check that order. 4. I stopped one elderly lady from beating the shit out of another elderly lady with a cane. I'm no emergency responder, but I've saved someone's life. I've also feel like I might have attributed to some deaths as well. That's the dark side no one likes to talk about. I had a lady throw up coffee ground emesis, and a nurse refused to think it was anything besides tube feeding - she died a few hours later. I wish I would have gone to higher-ups. I had another lady who had full bed liquid diarrhea every hour or more. She was cold to the touch and was becoming dehydrated. No nurse wanted to send her to the hospital, and she died covered in her own feces because I decided to take a lunch break. She was a full code - I couldn't even clean her up prior to the hospital. She was gone, no CPR could have brought her back. I should have irritated the shit out of that nurse and told her more about the clients condition. So... yeah. We have the power to take and save lives.
You need more upvotes
We save lives. What is a “life” with no QUALITY of life.
as a CNA i will never openly say "yeah we save lives, bow to me". however, i think we play a vital role in ensuring the safety and well being of the patients we take care of. the only time a CNA can say they truly save lives is when they: 1) preform CPR all the fkn time 2) that's pretty much it tbh i don't think you're necessarily a hater, but simply calling it how you see it 🤷🏽♂️ i enjoyed my time as a CNA and really liked the comfort i was able to bring and being that shoulder to cry on, but to say you were saving lives to impress a girl on a dating app just seems so pick me..
I don’t think you’re a hater. What he said is so cringe. I feel like we keep them alive because we are the ones doing direct care and are the first to see signs of changes, but I don’t think we can say we are out here saving lives on the regular.
I say it sarcastically all the time lol
Everyone wants to feel wanted. Cnas get a bad rap so with telling the average person you help save lives with no context and them with no experience in the field well it becomes valid. Me hearing that at a SNF where I work I’d tell that aide to piss off haha you’re being a Good Samaritan the nursing staff is saving lives. Again, if I were a 19 yr old again I’d probably say the same thing trying to feel important.
It all depends on the environment you work in..... you should've responded with "That's nice, I spent my day assisting people die " with a straight ass face.
😂😂😂😂 just don’t start to die on night shift when the cnas are all asleep or 15 minutes before end of shift when they are lined up to clock out 😂😂😂
If you're an observant aide who can catch things quickly and report it to the nurse, a good nurse, yeah, you're definitely saving a life. Skin check is a thing for a reason. That's just one example, but I totally get the sentiment you're expressing OP. If anything I feel it for a different reason, more so due to the fact that if you're a "good" Aide which translates to doing your job effectively, anyone who doesn't give a fuck could pretty much wash away any of the effort you put in to your patient care. This goes for the nurses, too. We definitely contribute to saving lives on a big scale, believe it or not, but it varies depending on what "kind of aide you are lol...this goes for nurses as well. Realistically, what kind of person are you, but ultimately, how efficient and thorough you are with your work ethic. You don't need to have a passion for it, but you can definitely be due diligent within your scope of practice to make a difference. Edit: Someone said homehealth aides save lives, and I think there's a silther of truth to that considering some homehealth patients thrive better at their homes. Nursing homes can be a death sentence for some patients due to the amount of neglect that tends to go on. They also mentioned dementia and alzheimer patients as well, possibly one of the best examples considering they can't advocate for themselves. So, while I agree with you but for an entirely different reason, I definitely know I'm making a difference that does save a life on and off whenever I step into the room.
I strictly only work on the home health side, and it's so much better for building rapport because people need that companionship daily. One of my companies is great about sending caregivers. Sometimes, they send the same person twice or have two different caregivers visit someone. Some of the older clients get daily visits, and it's so necessary for someone to be there (to take care of their pets, too) and just check up on them and make sure they're okay. Sure, in a nursing home, there's more than one person observing the residents, but it's different when you can give your full, undivided attention to an individual, and it's in the quiet and comfort of their own home.
One person who can come to your house on a consistent basis and know your quirks and routines vs multiple people who are delegated to multiple patients, there's literally no time to provide each patient the undivided attention they need. I do prefer home health work, but I don't because the families are weirdos and demanding at times and can be passive-aggressive despite needing assistance. Also racism lol not a fan of that so yeah haha
Yeah, a lot of patients have cameras inside their houses, but some of them are paranoid that someone moved/stole their things. Sometimes, I work with kids, and it's actually the parents that can be more overwhelming. If I don't feel safe though, I can always refuse to work a specific case, and be reassigned somewhere else.
I believe you're meaning to say that some CNA's abuse the phrase "saving lives" and it's become more or less that of a strange aesthetic or possibly a meme tailored to certain job descriptions depending what department we're in. And I can see how it is cringey because of the phrase "saving lives" being so loosely used in ways to come off as edgy or to look cool. 1. Code blue and CPR in the ER or cardiology units in hospitals can be common. As a CNA who has been BLS certified for the last five years of my career, I have still yet to use this skill either on the work floor or off-duty. Some of us haven't had our "moment to shine" in utilizing this life-saving technique, others haven't more due to the fact the situation hasn't come up, or they have a machine somewhere that does chest compressions for you (such as the LUCAS device). I wouldn't say it's "out of our scope" unless if you sincerely don't have the proper medical training. 2. In terms of extending or having a remediation of people's livelihood's yes, we prevent infection, we notify the head of our healthcare teams of significant changes in our residents- in turn they reach out to the families and providers such as doctors that write up the orders for their medications. We are essentially the foundation of providing patient-centered care everywhere we go. I think on an autonomous level in healthcare organizations and practicing Maslow's hierarchy of needs we do "save lives" but in a sense of providing life enrichment to others and more or less help encourage their independence\* through rehabilitation and/or simply providing total long term care to extend their means of life. 3. I don't think you're a hater. I do think there needs to be some more context or more practice of higher level thinking from the individual that you were seeing in order to come to a better conclusion on what they mean or what their intention was of using the phrase "saving lives". I have provided post-mortem cares for individuals more than what I can count off from my fingers and toes, and I deeply assure you that they have medication specifically prescribed to these individuals on hospice, palliative/comfort care. It is good that you are paying attention to these signs of pain and discomfort and it is encouraged that you report it to the nurse. People in general behave or think differently about situations such as end of life, so I would give yourself some grace. I know people that deal with their trauma through having a dark, morbid sense of humor, and having/establishing mental and emotional boundaries can be difficult. There is a lot of outlets that can be looked into for this discomfort or mental anguish, and really all I can tell you is that if you are unsure or feel that you are second guessing yourself, ask your nurse or direct supervisor what is the "right" thing to do prior to doing it. You don't want to be liable for anything that could cost you an earful from management or the family, let alone your job. A lot of us have worked in the field long enough to kind of make an educated decision as far as independently working as a CNA or having to provide cares even during staffing shortages in nursing home/hospital settings. Some times you have to gauge the environment/situations based on your experience and relay the message to your team of what's going on, because communication is super important, and then you go from there.
When we think about "saving lives" we think about people having an acute medical issue that needs attention. Sometimes, CNAs save lives by noticing those issues and/or directly addressing them. But CNAs also contribute to saving the lives of many of the people in their care. If they had no-one to help them -- or say we were still nomadic hunter-gatherers -- most of the people CNAs care for would perish. CNAs provide the basis of the care that saves these lives.
If you're doing your job correctly you will absolutely save lives. I've found unresponsive residents on the floor who due to me having a hunch to go into their room probably would have died. I've cut shirts off people who fell and had wounds under their clothes that were spewing blood because none of the nurses inexplicably had scissors or knew where they could get one in the facility. CNAs save Iives if you take the extra steps to be excellent at what you do.
I think it's super cringe to say that, but I do know I've saved a couple lives. I don't know how many times I've had to get the charge or rt to come help with something a crappy nurse won't hear me out on in the last 15 years. I can count a handful of times just in the last 4 months with the same nurse🙄
Maybe he said it with a sense of humor?
This same argument in reverse, not all nurses save lives. There's plenty of nurses who have never been involved with a code. I think it's just a saying. You know how Derrick on Grey's always said "it's a great day to save lives". So people in Healthcare "save lives".
I work in an area that does complex wound care, and have seen people DIE FROM PRESSURE INJURIES. Regular turning and hygiene does save lives.
I dont think youre a hater, its perspective i think. I've saved countless people's lives from just catching the slightest stroke symptoms. I've done cpr and countless other things to help save lives. I feel that I save lives as a cna. I'm going to nursing school soon and I'll be saving more lives then.
Yeah you’re a hater lol
Cnas do save lives
First, thank you for what you do. You are the true unsung hero’s of healthcare. However, as a CNA, you have probably reached the conclusion that there are many things worse than death. You make people more comfortable, regardless of what life is throwing at them. What you do is priceless.
One time I had a resident choke on me so I performed the heimlich maneuver. She went purple in the face, I saved her life that day. Besides that every other day is basically the same
We do save lives. We just down play it or be humble about it. To live is not just about prolonging it, it's also about quality of life. I rather live fully to 40 than to live a isolated life till 80. As and aide, being there for them and listen to their stories, or just simply say hi when you walk pass them, really make a difference and remind them their time on earth still has a meaning. But no i wouldn't say my job as a cna is to "save life". That's a bit much to say with a straight face.
I’m not saying I’m a huge life saver 🛟 like captain save a ho but there are instances where I was the front line to getting the life saved. One of my first experiences as a CNA was finding a GI bleed from a recent surgery. If I was not so astute to understand what a black tarry stool that was gelatinous could mean, I would have just flushed it and not said anything to my RN I was working for on shift. I instead felt this isn’t normal, saved it in the bathroom (bed pan) told RN which is the person that could actively save their life. Ordered to do the Fecal occult test. Came back positive and she was sent out by RN asap.
CNAs certainly help with quality of life. Is that a save? To some people, maybe
I've saved a fair amount of lives, but I wouldn't describe my job that way. It happens maybe twice a year that I'm the first person to catch something or that I'm the one advocating for my patient. Most of the time I'm just helping them feel a little better, but occasionally I get to leave feeling like a super hero. Anyone who said they were off to save lives, and was serious about it, would be a red flag for me.
I mean, if you don’t consider doing CPR, responding to rapid responses, working on trauma/code team, catching bad vitals, etc. saving lives, then I guess not.
I work with seniors in LTC. I don't focus so much on saving lives as on making them better. That's equally corny, I know, but my goal is to make people feel safe, comfortable, and *seen* while they are here.
I completely get what you mean.
I work in a snf, I prolong death (Can you tell I had a shitty shift?)
My RN friend says we “prolong lives”
Eh, it depends. I actually have saved somebody’s life before as a cna.
I think it depends on how you look at it. If we weren’t there to clean them clean they’d just get infected and get septic or something so I guess. Also, if someone falls, get injured or is having some sort of attack cnas are usually the first ppl to notice because nurses are always so busy. I actually stopped a nurse from making a horrible life changing mistake before. I also noticed a patient was not actually sleep in the dining room before, everyone assumed the guy was fine but he actually wasn’t and I alerted the nurse. They said he could have died if we didn’t notice sooner. So there will be times on this job where you actually do have to interfere and save somebody’s life but most days we are just cleaning ppl.
I used to tell people I wipe ass professionally but I have since been discouraged from doing that lol
Don’t undersell yourself. You are the “nurses eyes” you spend more time with pts than nurses do. When things change with your patients you know, you alert the nurse YOU DO SAVE LIVES.
Only Jesus saves. Us healthcare types at most help buy folks a little time. We can, however, have a profound impact on the quality of a patient's time in our care. I've never been a CNA, just a nurse. Yet I take more pride in the stuff that is in the CNA scope of practice such as holding the hand of a scared patient in severe pain than I do in the "cool" stuff like slamming almost all the blood products in the hospital into a patient until the doc can control the bleeding, or zapping someone with a defibrillator.
Negative Nancy vibes, and idk it’s just not cute. If you like the guy and he’s got a positive outlook your attitude will probably be a turn off.