I feel so bad, is this considered abuse?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Ok, so I'm a CNA and The lpn who's in charge tells me she had to catch the new lady from falling and tells me to put her in bed, i tell her, that i never transferred her before and send the other aid in. Well the other aides comes and and walk out and never comes back. So i asked the resident could she stand and she says yes. So i put her wheelchair on the side of the bed, lock the wheels and she stands a little then when we are up she freaks out big time and drops her weight. I thought for sure i lock the wheelchair but when i try to but her back in it, she's refusing and acting out and crying and screaming. and the wheelchair keeps moving and going back..so i help her to the floor and she's reaching up and i bend down and lift her by the waist and when i have her up i kinda slang her the bed, and she cries so bad that i wanted too and then when i have her in bed, i call the nurse and explained to her what happened and she says she doesn't considered it a fall and she helped me pull her up in bed and she was more angry that i didn't get someone to help me get her up. Because she has a herniated disc from during previous cna work. But the resident has a small scrape on her toe..I'm just worried because the lady tells everything to her family. But when i finished putting her in bed, she said thank you and was smiling. I'm scared i abused her, and that this would go on my certificate. My back was hurting all day afterwards? so is this abuse?

Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

I have heard it is a lesser amount if you were going against safety guidelines.

first of all, she's a one assist I'm assuming because every other CNA transfer her by themself. Why would my nurse ask me to put her to bed, if she wasn't? We don't have access to if she's a one or two assist???

I ASKED for help and the other CNA, walked in looked at me and kept going and I did it myself and she stands, she just freaked out.

That's all you have to ask, are you trying to be funny?

Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

You are correct - it is the job of the facility to make it clear the transfer status of each resident to the staff. CNAs often figure out the "easiest" way - however it is often because the lift machines aren't available, short staffing, ect. Bad situation all the way around

Thank you Hope, I never had anyone tell me anyone's transfer status, I asked her to stand and she did, so I thought she could do it herself, but she freaked out and dropped her weight. I don't care if your a CNA,LPN or RN. Everyone made and are going to make mistakes in nursing. No one is perfect. All you can do is learn.

I asked my nurse again today,she said not to worry, its not considered a fall in their book.

Specializes in LTC.

I agree that all people make mistakes, but the BON will not accept "I didn't know" as a viable excuse as to why a res was injured during a transfer if that res was not asst'd as is care planned. Neither will a court should the family decide to sue over an injury to their loved one. I'm not trying to berate you at all. I'm trying to point out that while accidents happen, if you're following their plan of care then you have nothing to worry about as far as the BON, your employer, or possible law suits go. In my facility, all resident's plans of care are on a single sheet of heavy, orange paper in front of their ADL book section. That way, all CNA's, and nurses for that matter have easy access to them so that everyone can know what asst the res needs in all areas of ADL care. I am a nurse, I have no problem telling you that I do not know all of my resident's plans of care off the top of my head. I have to look myself on some. If you do not have a way to see what levels of asst your residents are, I strongly suggest that you ask for them for your own and your resident's safety. In my former state, if you did not follow the plan of care and were injured, you did not receive workman's comp and in most cases, would be terminated. Here in Texas, most facilities (the ones I've worked in anyway,) do not even have workman's comp. To answer your original question, no, that is not abuse in any way. It was at best an incident.

I understand, but all of ADLS and charting are done on the computer, no one told me about anyone's plan of care. I had to LEARN the patient. We don't have a DON as of now. We basically go by word of mouth by other LPN's and CNA's. They gave us a paper, about how to set of the residents bed, with foot rest and if they're feeders or not. Thats all. My back is fine and as I said before my charge nurse, said i wasn't a fall just a small tear and she left it alone, i don't know if she reported or not.

Specializes in Critical Care.
I agree that all people make mistakes, but the BON will not accept "I didn't know" as a viable excuse as to why a res was injured during a transfer if that res was not asst'd as is care planned. Neither will a court should the family decide to sue over an injury to their loved one. I'm not trying to berate you at all. I'm trying to point out that while accidents happen, if you're following their plan of care then you have nothing to worry about as far as the BON, your employer, or possible law suits go. In my facility, all resident's plans of care are on a single sheet of heavy, orange paper in front of their ADL book section. That way, all CNA's, and nurses for that matter have easy access to them so that everyone can know what asst the res needs in all areas of ADL care. I am a nurse, I have no problem telling you that I do not know all of my resident's plans of care off the top of my head. I have to look myself on some. If you do not have a way to see what levels of asst your residents are, I strongly suggest that you ask for them for your own and your resident's safety. In my former state, if you did not follow the plan of care and were injured, you did not receive workman's comp and in most cases, would be terminated. Here in Texas, most facilities (the ones I've worked in anyway,) do not even have workman's comp. To answer your original question, no, that is not abuse in any way. It was at best an incident.

Having the info in a book is of no practical value. I doubt people have time in these circumstances to stop everything and look it up! The info should be in the patient's room for everyone to see like it is at most hospitals.

I can't believe it is legal for a nursing home to go without worker's comp even in a notorius right to work state like Texas! But are there unethical places and workers comp admin, sure, that's what attorneys are for!

First off, I've had one patient fall while I was transferring them. The wheelchair was locked and against the side of the bed. Another Resident came to the door of the room to ask her a question, and she turned around to look at her. This twisted her body around in a way that messed up our transfer. Her legs went underneath the wheelchair, and neither she or I could move them out without injuring her. She did have a gait belt on, of course. I gently lowered her to the floor and grabbed a pillow from the bed to put under her head while we waited for the nurse to come for the call light. I did not get in any trouble. The nurse reassured me that this was an "assisted fall" which just needed to be documented as an incident but not as bad as a true fall.

I make it a point to ask people what types of transfers the patients are in the report. Typically, I get a printout or make a list of each patient by room number. Then I write a V for vitals, I or C for incontinent/continent, 2PT for 2 person transfer, H for hoyer, etc. This makes it very easy to see what I need to know very easily. Come up with a similar system for yourself, and if you come across someone you don't know about, ask. Taking the time to ask is worth it, even if you're in a hurry.

In most computer charting systems, you can look up previous entries (to find out how they were transferred, fed, etc).

Specializes in LTC.
Having the info in a book is of no practical value. I doubt people have time in these circumstances to stop everything and look it up! The info should be in the patient's room for everyone to see like it is at most hospitals.

I can't believe it is legal for a nursing home to go without worker's comp even in a notorius right to work state like Texas! But are there unethical places and workers comp admin, sure, that's what attorneys are for!

It literally takes 2 seconds to walk up and open the book. It's a HIPPA violation to display info such as POC on a res in their room. Texas does not require comp insurance for any business with less than a certain number of employees. The employer can opt to pay for injury expenses on their own. Look it up.

Ok I talked to the manager, she said that the Lpn did chart it, as a broken fall and everything is cool. She thanked me for breaking the fall and helping her to the ground and getting her up. She said she's a one person transfer and that the lady is known for falls and she's a high fall risk and that she felt alot at her other facility.

Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

Yay!!!

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