CNA being "rough"?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Specializes in NICU.

I'm lpn night shift at a SNF. Two CNAs were changing a resident together, and afterwards one of them reported to me that the other CNA was very rough with the resident and stated she was "throwing her around". I'm so upset by this. I mean, I'm upset that one of these fragile elderly people could possibly be hurt by someone they trusted. I emailed the DON, she will see it in a few hours after we get off and she's gonna want a statement from the CNA that witnessed the behavior. My question is, was I wrong not to confront her? I'm fairly new at this, been an lpn for less than a year and this is the only job I've had as a nurse. Is there any way the accusation is not true? What am I supposed to do in this situation? It happened at 430 in the morning. I'm just so upset!

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Well, I think the question here is - what exactly have YOU personally witnessed/seen? Second hand info may not be enough. You should try to find time to work with this aide, and see for yourself how she handles the patients.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

You should have ask accused how she handles residents, asked the accuser what she meant by rough, and then you should have assessed the resident head to toe. "..throwing her around" would most likely have created a bruise or some sort of redness.

Always always err on the side of protecting the resident.

Being new isn't really an excuse in this situation. You don't need to witness something first hand to act on it.

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Specializes in NICU.

An update on the situation. I assessed resident, didn't see any physical damage. DON acted on the report, got a written statement from the accuser and mailed to corporate or the state or whoever handles such things. She and managers also spoke with resident and residents roommate and determined what accuser said was true. CNA marked off the schedule. I just feel horrible that the whole situation happened! I hate this.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I don't know what state you're in, but most have set regulations on how to deal with abuse. If your facility takes Medicare and Medicaid, you MUST have a written policy. Next time you are at work, you might want to review the policy.

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