Let me just clarify that title for anyone who doesn’t know – just because there is an aide on the floor, that doesn’t mean they are always qualified and helpful. I would like to shed some light on how common this problem is by sharing a few stories about some of the bad aides I have experienced over the years.
The first bad aides I will discuss are the ones who talk the most. As a matter of fact, they speak more than they work. There could be five call lights (patients calling for help) going off and they won’t even stop their conversations to answer the calls!
Then there’s the lazy aides. Those are the ones that don’t lift a finger unless you ask them for help. They will not volunteer help, answer call lights, or even toilet patients. Sometimes this kind of aide will literally just sit there as if there is no work to be done.
And let’s not forget about the disappearing aides. At the start of the shift, you will see them, but that’s the only time. As the shift wears on, they start to mysteriously vanish, especially when people are trying to find them. And when they finally are able to locate them, the aide will say something like, “I was right over there in that room”, to which the frustrated seeker will usually answer, “But I checked that room twice and didn’t see you in there.”
Then there are the aides who feel they know everything. They can be found in nursing school or doing research on the internet. They feel they know more than the nurses do. Because they’re in nursing school and doing their clinicals, they think they have gained enough knowledge to question the way the nurses do their jobs. These kinds of aides would be wise to brush up on Shakespeare, who once wrote: A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
Another kind of bad aide is the one who isn’t knowledgeable or experienced but insists on doing what the patient says instead of the nurse. For example, the patient is confused, bed bound, and unable to move their legs but still wants to get up and walk. The nurse knows the patient is confused and unable to walk, but the aide will say, “We must let this patient walk. How do we know he can’t if we don’t let him try?” However, the aide may not know, for instance, that this patient has been paralyzed for many years from a motor vehicle accident and has zero chance of walking, and could hurt themselves badly if they tried. To top it off, when someone tries to educate this kind of aide, they often cop an attitude instead of admitting they’re wrong.
Last but not least are the aides who take three to four 30–45-minute breaks every shift, and they always seem to think nobody notices. Anytime a nurse asks someone for this aide, they are on a break, and always at the worst times. I could continue this list, but let’s just skip right to the tip!
Tip: Whether there is an aide or not, work as if there isn’t one, and be grateful for the days when you have a good one.
