Aides being "nurses"

1 Ok... so poor grammy is in the hospital on the tele floor. Thought it was gonna be the icu, thank you Jesus! Anyway, the aides on the floor are doing things that I as an LVN can't do. Pushing buttons on the IV pump mainly. I watched the aide come in and adjust the pump yesterday afternoon. I was shocked! They also call themselves nurses, and speak directly to the doctors about patients. That last one just seems odd to me. I just think its outrageous that they're stepping way outside their scope of practice and are getting away with it!

Also... what is an "ACA"? I know CNA, and PCA but I've never heard of an ACA...
You're sure they're aides? They might be externs, which means they can act in the role of RN under supervision.ACA might be Advanced Care Aide. Where I work, we have ACPs - advanced care partners, which are nurse externs.

Quote from kloneYou're sure they're aides? They might be externs, which means they can act in the role of RN under supervision.ACA might be Advanced Care Aide. Where I work, we have ACPs - advanced care partners, which are nurse externs.

Then why don't you ask them?

Is grammy getting good care?

Quote from raekaylvnand speak directly to the doctors about patients. That last one just seems odd to me.

I agree, why dont you ask? There were occasions when I was an aide that a nurse would ask me to add volume to a bag of IVF to give her time to hang the next bag without it beeping for 5 minutes. Certainly if an MD asks a caregiver a question about a pt like 'how was their night' an aide couldn't answer from their perspective? It sounds like you need more information about this hospitals staff and roles before going off half cocked.

Quote from systolyIs grammy getting good care?

Quote from Up2nogood RNI agree, why dont you ask? There were occasions when I was an aide that a nurse would ask me to add volume to a bag of IVF to give her time to hang the next bag without it beeping for 5 minutes. Certainly if an MD asks a caregiver a question about a pt like 'how was their night' an aide couldn't answer from their perspective? It sounds like you need more information about this hospitals staff and roles before going off half cocked.

Quote from raekaylvnIts ok care... could be better. One of her aides (the one who actually acted in the role of an aide) was amazing! I was blown away! The nursing care could be better, but the floor is pretty full. I wouldn't complain about the care, it just bothers me to see the aides acting outside of their role. It might be the RN's asking them to do it because they're so busy, but thats still unacceptable.I've just never seen it happen before. The way I've always seen it done is aides talk to the nurse, nurse talks to the doctor. I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed to, but like I said, I've never seen that happen before.

Quote from raekaylvnAsk them what exactly? Why they're doing things they shouldn't be?

Quote from raekaylvnAsk them what exactly? Why they're doing things they shouldn't be? The role of an aide is not to maintain the IV pump and flow. That is a job for the RN. Like I said before, I'm an LVN and I'm not even allowed to do this. I know what the roles of an RN and Aide in my state are.

I think that before you make any more assumptions you should ask to be sure. You could speak to the nurse manager. Hard to know weather or not there is "practice outside of scope" for sure seeing as they seem to have a title you are not sure of. Absolutly if they not nurses or nurse interns then by all means doing anything with the pumps --other then maybe silencing as long as they tell a nurse right away--is not okay. Communicating with the doc is not necessarily wrong. There are things they (the docs) may feel they could just as easy ask the aides providing direct care and get the info they need without bothering the busy nurse. --"Has Mr. Smith been up to the bathroom recently?" "Has Mr. Smith been sleeping much this shift?" --the doc may be there seeing the patient quickly and just want to ask a couple of simple questions that the aide would know. Not a big deal. They are a part of the team too. Not saying that those same things should not be also reported to the primary nurses but simple things can also go to the docs. I know where I worked the aides often would silence a pump as it is loud and annoying for the patient.....and as the nurse I didn't have a problem with that as long as they came and told me that they had done this, right away so I could go and check on it if need be, change a bag, deal with air in the line, etc. If they are doing more then silencing--and are not nurses--yeah that is a problem and should be mentioned to a manager. But start with finding out the exact role of these people.