False accusations.

[Capp]

I work as an LPN at an assisted living facility while I'm in school to be an RN.

I got a call over the radio Sunday that a grumpy family member wanted to complain to someone about his father's care (something that had nothing to do with me.) I said I'd be there in five minutes. A second later I got a call from a CNA saying there was an emergency in the room next to the grumpy family member's father's room. I rushed to that room and found the CNA with the resident who had fallen and broken both his legs. So I called for an ambulance and did all the things necessary to send someone to the hospital. Then, literally as we are pushing the screaming man out the door of his room, the grumpy family member confronts me and says, "Are you the guy that said he would come to my father's room 'in five minutes'?" And I said, " . . . yeah, that's me." Anyway, the guy complained that I chose to treat the patient with the broken legs before listening to him complain about his father. So I listened to his complaints, told him I would pass them on, and went back to work. By the way, his complaints were stupid.

The next day my supervisor tells me that the grumpy family member complained to someone that it took me a half hour to arrive to help the resident with the broken legs.

I don't even know if this will get me in trouble, but it has me pretty angry and upset. What are everyone's thoughts on this situation? Especially if I get fired over this can I sue the scumbag for damages? I have witnesses who can say I was there in a minute.

I won't do this, but part of me is tempted to find where the guy lives and break his legs. I just get kind of irritated when people randomly make serious false accusations against me.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Do you guys have security cameras?

[Capp]

I don't think so.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Well, you've got witnesses and the 911 call and your charting.

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

A simple phone call would have (maybe) averted all that. As RNs we need to multitask and that means consider everything at once and act accordingly. Once I received the emergency call I would have radioed and told whoever to tell the family member that an emergency happened and you would be with them as soon as possible.

Your attitude is extremely unprofessional. Hopefully if you become an RN you will have a better outlook. You're going to be working with a lot more then just a grumpy man and you need to be ready.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

I'd sit down and write your own account long hand on paper with everything you saw and did and who was there etc. This will help you to de-stress - not having to hold it all in your memory, and it will be complete so you can refer back to it if need be.

See newbies to the real world? This is one reason why nursing can suck. Maybe we should have a forum with this stuff for all the irritating posts against vents I've read lately by those who just have no flippin idea...

[Capp]

Yeah, but there's no record of when the call was made over the radio. So arguably I might have called 911 when I showed up thirty minutes later.

[Capp]

How is my attitude unprofessional?The grumpy family member was standing next to the person on the other end of the radio and knew I was going to other room first.

I don't have a right to be angry with someone who maliciously lied in an attempt to deface me?

[Capp]

What if the guy came to my place of work and stole my wallet would it be "unprofessional" of me to call the police and report the theft since I'm a nurse and I should be prepared to deal with worse than a grumpy family member?

[netglow, ASN, RN]

A simple phone call would have (maybe) averted all that. As RNs we need to multitask and that means consider everything at once and act accordingly. Once I received the emergency call I would have radioed and told whoever to tell the family member that an emergency happened and you would be with them as soon as possible.

Your attitude is extremely unprofessional. Hopefully if you become an RN you will have a better outlook. You're going to be working with a lot more then just a grumpy man and you need to be ready.

True about the call, but probably in this case, not really gonna happen. Yes my outlook would be poor too after that situation. Come on tyvin, seriously. Can't this nurse come to this forum and just let his feelings flow about this situation? It's not like he said these things at work.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

A simple phone call would have (maybe) averted all that. As RNs we need to multitask and that means consider everything at once and act accordingly. Once I received the emergency call I would have radioed and told whoever to tell thefamily member that an emergency happened and you would be with them as soon as possible.Your attitude is extremely unprofessional. Hopefully if youbecome an RN you will have a better outlook. You're going to be working with a lot more then just a grumpy man and you need to be ready.

Oh, come on. If I were dealing with a resident with multiple broken bones, there is absolutely no chance I would stop to make a phone call or radio some unrelated complaining family member of another resident. They would receive zero consideration in my brain until the other resident was safely in the ambulance....

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

And I'd say that 30 minutes to assess and send out a resident with two broken legs is pretty darn good. Yeah, that family member in question is all kinds of stupid.