A resident got hurt on my care..?

[PoppyLizz]

I was giving tub bath to resident who is one person transfer.When I finish,she had to hold on to bar and I proceeded to push her electric chair so she could sit down.I accidently pushed the button too hard and it jammed on the bottom of the tub and hit her ankle in process.She screamed in pain so I notify the Nurse...she was given pain killers.There were no swelling or visible bruises but she complained of throbbing pain by the end of my shift.

I'm afraid now that I might lose me job is she doesn't get any better.I apologize profusely but she told me not to worry about it.I feel bad..will I lose my job? Has anyone been in this situation

[Gr4ceffa, CNA]

PoppyLizz,

I know many CNA's who have accidentally hurt a patient in LTC. It's an accident, it's not like you purposely tried hurting her, even the resident knows you didn't intentionally hurt her. I know a CNA that accidentally pulled out a tube feeding because the CNA was changing her and the resident grabbed onto the tube, and when the CNA lifted her arm, not only did she lift the arm, but the tube feeding came along with it. Don't stress it. If anything, your supervisor or charge nurse is going to tell you to be more careful to avoid any more accidents, and take your time! Good luck!

[sroseyos]

While it's terrifying to accidentally hurt a resident or come close to it, it will happen to every nurse aide sooner or later. It's possible for someone to lose their job over an honest mistake like that, but from all the anecdotal evidence I've heard, it's very rare. Mistakes will happen in any job, it's just unavoidable that in our line of work people can be hurt by those mistakes. Usually the people who lose their jobs are the ones with a long history of injury-causing accidents or those who made a much more severe mistake than yours. You did the right thing notifying the nurse. I'm glad to hear that it sounds like the resident will be OK, and I'm willing to bet you'll never make that error with an electric wheelchair again!