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nursing home injustice? need advice!



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No. 10
Old May 08, 2009, 12:58 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
How about an order to CRUSH the pills which can be crushed...easier for the resident to swallow. I've always had residents do the Fear Factor Prove You've Swallowed The Whole Thing maneuver if I think they've not swallowed something.
Personally, I think your punishment was over the top. Perhaps a verbal counseling would have been more in line with what you did or didn't do.
And...for the record, not all administrators throw their staff under the bus when a family member complains. I had a family meeting yesterday and the resident's POA started complaining. She said if the resident had been anywhere else, she would have found out what was wrong. I suggested to her that if my facility was so 'horrible' and she was so unhappy having her person there, I'd be happy to help her transfer to a different facility. The look on MY nurse's face was priceless. Apparently they're not used to having a DNS stick up for them.
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No. 11
Old May 08, 2009, 03:17 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
I would like to thank each one of you for taking the time to read and reply to my post. It was just a way of venting out my disappointment. I do feel the sentence was harsh, if it was just a verbal then it wouldn't have been as bad. I would like to add in some details to my previous post. Don't get me wrong, I do check to see if the resident's mouth after meds administration when I am not familiar with the resident and believes the resident to be confused. However, in this case, she does not have trouble swallowing nor has given anyone (including me) any problems with pills in the past. It just happens that this was the case, just my luck. The letter made it seem like they did some investigation and found me to be guilty but I believe that is a lie because I have a witness who was present with me during meds administration. When the DON showed me the letter of what the adminstrator wrote to the family member, I told her straight up this is a lie. She didnt say anything. She told me that not to take it personal, she was just following the administrator's orders and that this will not go into my records or anything. She also advises me not to tell the administrator that I saw the letter as it was confidential materials. I mean, if there's nothing for them to hide, if they did not accuse me, why can't i mention the letter? You see what i am saying? Of course, at the end of all that drama, I realized it was no use to defend myself and talk to the administrator because he was the one who accused me in the first place. This is not the first time I have been in trouble at this facility. I feel that they will do anything to divert the fault on them (that is, systemic error) and to please the family members. I do feel I need to get out of this place because if they can not even support a nurse in something little, I can not imagine how they will stand behind a nurse when a big problem arises like a lawsuit.
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No. 12
Old May 08, 2009, 03:19 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
oh forgot to add in, when there is a systemic error, the last nurse who committed the error takes all the blame.
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No. 13
Old May 08, 2009, 04:35 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
I feel for you and every other LTC nurse who is out there doing everything they can do for residents who are in their care and get the shaft. I know so many underhanded dealings from Charge Nurses, ADON's and DON's that it makes me sick. I was called on the carpet so many times for sticking up for CNA's who do their job it finally just got too rediculous. I loved my rehab residents, worked extra hard for them so they could get back to their lives, wanted and expected feed back from everyone involved in their care, but same old story, always willing to point a finger and say all bad, never heard a word about the good outcomes, the catches of overlooked problems, the finding of ways to do what was needed but in a less stressful way for all concerned. I took care of 3 very important people from this state, they really appreciated my efforts but I was never given a kind word from other supervisors or higher ups. Finally, when I went out the door for the last time, she looked at me and said "we will miss you very much and we did appreciate the extra effort." Well, you could have told me sooner. Ofcourse, I realized after talking to a couple of the CNA's at a local store a few weeks later there was no one who wanted my job-too many duties. LOL!
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No. 14
from psalm
Old May 08, 2009, 08:03 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
When you get a complaint in written form and have to sign that you read and understand it, take the time to add to it...your story, and then sign it. AND ask for a copy of it, or offer to make the copy yourself! Example:

"I acknowledge the above complaint. I wish to state that pt. took her meds; later in shift CNA saw pt. take med out of her mouth and was going to report to me but...blah blah blah.and forgot about it until Suzy Supervisor asked her about pt the night in question"...then sign.
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No. 15
Old May 10, 2009, 03:49 AM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
What a miserable end to a problem that occurs so frequently. We are humans and make mistakes, the nurse that never made a mistake is the nurse that never worked.... It could have happened to anybody.
Your punishment was harsher than I would have wanted to see and I dont think you deserve it.
Was there any damage to the pt? Did the pt suffer because of the missing pill? Is there any long lasting effects d/t the incident?
Probably not!!

If you really want to work there, (and I don't recommend it),
I would write a letter to the DON explaining that you made a mistake and did not notice the patient spit out the pill ( I would not pass the mistake on to the CNA who was also wrong in not informing you). I would add how important this job is to you and if given a second chance you will prove to them what an asset to the facility you can be. I would offer to apologize to the family and explain your mistake, taking responsibility for the incident.

In truth, most pts would be better off skipping a pill here and there anyway- other than antibiotics, Synthroid, Digoxin etc., most pts livers and kidneys will thank you for the vacation!!!!!

Whatever you decide, if you move on, I would fully disclose this mistake when applying for a job elsewhere, better they hear if from you as a lesson well learned than from the DON while checking references...
Try not to be bitter, sometimes it is easier to find a scapegoat than answer the families...and in truth you were wrong (a wrong I too am guilty of...)
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No. 16
Old May 10, 2009, 03:58 AM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
Originally Posted by babybumblebee View Post
I feel that they will do anything to divert the fault on them (that is, systemic error) and to please the family members. I do feel I need to get out of this place because if they can not even support a nurse in something little, I can not imagine how they will stand behind a nurse when a big problem arises like a lawsuit.
Nursing homes like this are the reason I always carried malpractice insurance. Never had to use it, but I felt safer knowing that if they didn't support me or fired me or turned me into the BON for some ridiculous lie, I'd be protected.
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No. 17
from eldragon
Old May 10, 2009, 07:51 AM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
As a nurse who passes medications to 30 residents each day, I agree that this penalty was harsh and unjust. I have a few patients who pocket their meds and spit them out several minutes after they are given. With the schedule I am on - 2 hours to pass meds to 30 residents before I begin a new task - there is no time to stand around and make sure the pills have been swallowed instead of pocketed.

This whole thing will ruin the job atmosphere for you, and of course, eliminate any thoughts you may have had that your job was secure or that you are appreciated as a hard working nurse. Your DON should have supported you, in my opinion.

Or given you a verbal counseling, tops.

If I were you, I'd begin crushing that particular patients meds immediately, and looking for a different job.
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No. 18
from psalm
Old May 10, 2009, 11:58 AM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
I hope my suggestion wasn't taken as a way to pass the buck onto the CNA. Those of us who have worked in LTC know that there are always situations where the best nurse and CNA will forget something due to the high volume of work...and interruptions. There is always someone needing toileting, help ambulating, diverting from eating soap, etc. My "blah blah blah" was not to be taken as a pitiful excuse given by a guilty CNA. If it was taken that way, please accept my humble apology.
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No. 19
from TuTonka
Old May 10, 2009, 02:47 PM

Default Re: nursing home injustice? need advice!
Quite frankly you do not want my opinion of nursing homes and their owners. I will however state that a week suspension was too much but without knowing the states rules in regard to this issue leaves me in the dark as to what should have been done. Personally a verbal discussion of the issue and a discussion of how to resolve this incident and to prevent it happening again should have been enough. It should have been a learning time not a punishment. You could not pay me enough to work in a nursing home ever and I mean EVER again.


TuTonka
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