PCA not respecting the EN position of being in charge / Enrolled Nursing / Nursing General / Forums / NurseCentral -

Hi there. We had that situation (and still do to an extent) at my workplace. Policy changed and PCAs not allowed to administer medications any more: this was a job to be done by EN and/or RN only. This helped. Also ensure they know what you expect: all PRNs are to be checked prior to administration; every time this does not happen, follow up verbally with PCA for a reason, then write incident form: each and every time. Have a meeting with your manager and let them know what is happening and how they wish you to handle it. If PCAs aren't listening to you, it sounds as though management will have to have a staff meeting and review PCA job duties and policy regarding clinical care.

It can get very dodgy when PCAs help out with clinical care which is why a clear division of duties has to be made between trained staff and carers. PCAs are very valuable for the very hard job of doing the 'front line' care of the elderly and deserve respect and hopefully would appreciate hearing that things are done a certain way by trained staff for the benefit of the residents; eg the consequences of PRNs given incorrectly can be extremely harmful which is why it must be reviewed by EN/RN. This is respectful also for the EN/RN in charge; after all, if anything goes wrong, it will be their fault alone and the blame will rest on them for not following up and being told these things. Change is very hard to adjust to but stick at it. Good luck.

Author	PCA not respecting the EN position of being in charge
HelenJ (offline) Joined: Nov 2011 Location: VICTORIA UNIVERSITY Posts: 3	Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:06 am I have been having issues with a few PCA that do medications and try and boss me around I don't take it but they talk to me very badly when I have to council them it gets up their nose and they can't except that things are changing there. They give PRN without permission and do assessments without the RN/EN permission or review I have done a incident report I can't think they need to be put back into their own place. What to do does anyone else have to deal with this? I don't know what to?

MissyA (offline) Joined: Jan 2012 Location: Posts: 19	Jun 03, 2013, 09:53 am Hi there. We had that situation (and still do to an extent) at my workplace. Policy changed and PCAs not allowed to administer medications any more: this was a job to be done by EN and/or RN only. This helped. Also ensure they know what you expect: all PRNs are to be checked prior to administration; every time this does not happen, follow up verbally with PCA for a reason, then write incident form: each and every time. Have a meeting with your manager and let them know what is happening and how they wish you to handle it. If PCAs aren't listening to you, it sounds as though management will have to have a staff meeting and review PCA job duties and policy regarding clinical care. It can get very dodgy when PCAs help out with clinical care which is why a clear division of duties has to be made between trained staff and carers. PCAs are very valuable for the very hard job of doing the 'front line' care of the elderly and deserve respect and hopefully would appreciate hearing that things are done a certain way by trained staff for the benefit of the residents; eg the consequences of PRNs given incorrectly can be extremely harmful which is why it must be reviewed by EN/RN. This is respectful also for the EN/RN in charge; after all, if anything goes wrong, it will be their fault alone and the blame will rest on them for not following up and being told these things. Change is very hard to adjust to but stick at it. Good luck.

HelenJ (offline) Joined: Nov 2011 Location: VICTORIA UNIVERSITY Posts: 3	Jun 03, 2013, 11:25 am Thanks for that I need to have a chat with her yo make sure it doesn't happen again I have to be more assertive and explain the bottom line if she has issues to bad

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PCA not respecting the EN position of being in charge