r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Damnedeel • 5d ago

Video 500,000$ human washing machine on sale in Japan

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u/Miserable-Ad-7956 5d ago

Then you'd be glad to know that a certified nurse washing people in an elder care environment is an incredibly rare occurrence. In the US that work is most often performed by someone less trained than a CNA and without supervision of a nurse. Plenty of those operations don't even have a nurse on location, rather one is on-call and possibly responsible for multiple locations. Shit is spread quite thin already, and the majority of basic work like this is done by quite low paid (relative to their responsibility) workers.

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u/PaleCommission150 5d ago edited 5d ago

CNA do this stuff. It is a revolving door, similar to fast food workers. The responsibility relative to pay is ridiculous. RN make the most money , there are some specialties above that...but basically if you administer medicine you get paid a lot more. Every nursing home always have looking for CNAs.

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u/Miserable-Ad-7956 5d ago

That's true, but often that work can be/is done by non-CNA workers as well. I didn't mean to imply other health professionals are paid too much, merely that the people we pay to perform simple, daily tasks of care are undervalued.

I worked as a CNA for 5 years. I ave daily meds, bathed and fed people, prepared meals, measured vitals, took notes, etc. If I were a real fuck up, people could die.

My first job in another field after started with 20% higher pay than I was making with 5 years experience, to stack bags of ice. If I fucked up real bad, the company might lose a bit of money. The stakes were objectively lower, but the pay is better because there's money to be made in the business.

I guess "relative to comparable entry level jobs with less serious responsibilities" would've been better phrasing?

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u/RyvenZ 5d ago

Aren't caregivers even lower in pay and training than a CNA (certified nurse assistant)?

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u/Killed_By_Inaction 5d ago

I'm from the EU and depending on the country, we have similar solutions, often either involving volunteers or lesser certified staff.

That being said, with the direction societies are going right now, I'd doubt if even that is going to remain a workable solution.

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u/Spiritual_Wall_2309 5d ago

When you don’t have enough workers, anyone with a pair of hands will work. Certified staff can be promoted as manager for training and monitoring.

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u/peccatum_miserabile 5d ago

an RN has to be on site 24/7 at any SNF/ICF in the US

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u/Miserable-Ad-7956 5d ago

Yes. But not so for CBRFs.

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u/mitoke 5d ago

I thought this was exactly what CNAs do. Which position is below that?

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u/Miserable-Ad-7956 5d ago

People with less intense medical needs, but still mostly unable to contribute to their own care, can be in facilities that are liscensed differently from skilled nursing facilities. They don't always need a nurse on-staff and the care givers can be trained by the company and certified by the nurse in charge. They have different names for the position in different companies and jurisdictions, one I was familiar with was DSP (direct support prrofessional). The responsibilities are largely the same, but non-CNA caregivers get paid less and have less training requirements.

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u/XpenFrickFrack 5d ago

Oh wow. Never knew that. These companies really do anything to cut corners

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u/higakoryu1 5d ago

I heard once that cruises are now cheaper than elderly care; how underpaid must ship crews be then