Accused of Falsifying Vital Signs

I'm a registry nurse and I worked at a facility for 1 day. I never worked there again but 6 months later I received a letter in the mail stating that I was being accused of falsifying vital signs by the DON.

Upon further inspection, I was told that 20 different nurses received this same letter.

I spoke to the board investigator and she said that they had 3 patients they were looking into that the facility's Don stated I falsified vital signs.

This case has been going on for 5 months and counting and I've been stressed for so long regarding what the outcome is.

I honestly don't even remember that day and it's unlike me to falsify vital signs in fact I wear a Fanny pack with my thermometer, blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter at all times. So I'm just extremely stressed out because it's unlike me to falsify vitals 

Do you guys know what possibly might happen? 

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

On 11/2/2022 at 2:20 PM, Wuzzie said:

Whaaaaat?! You mean that not everyone has a RR of 16? ?

I knew a nurse who charted 16 when eyes were closed and 18 when eyes were open. Without fail. ?

[Tired nurse]

No nurse would ever do such a thing unless your in long term care and have anywhere from 30 to 60 or more pts

[FiremedicMike, RN, EMT-P]

On 11/2/2022 at 2:20 PM, Wuzzie said:

Whaaaaat?! You mean that not everyone has a RR of 16? ?

Ugh, I just had a flashback of one of my clinical instructors condescendingly lecturing us on assessing a proper respiratory rate.

It's pertinent to mention that she later told us she had virtually zero RN experience, she merely went to RN school to enhance a different career path she had chosen.

[klone, MSN, RN]

16 hours ago, Tired nurse said:

No nurse is would ever do such a thing unless your in long term care and have anywhere from 30 to 60 or more pts

That's a bold statement. Nurses are disciplined all the time for doing just that.

[mtmkjr, BSN]

On 11/2/2022 at 8:26 PM, Emergent said:

16 or 18...gotta mix it up a little ???

Certain nurses are known to document 17 that always amuses me. ?

[chare]

2 hours ago, mtmkjr said:

Certain nurses are known to document 17 that always amuses me. ?

Why do you find this amusing?

Way back, when I was taught how to count respirations I was taught to count for 30 seconds if the were regular and 1 minute if they were irregular.  A quick internet search revealed that this still seems to be current practice.

[mtmkjr, BSN]

9 minutes ago, chare said:

Why do you find this amusing?

Way back, when I was taught how to count respirations I was taught to count for 30 seconds if the were regular and 1 minute if they were irregular.  A quick internet search revealed that this still seems to be current practice.

Because they ALWAYS document 17. On every patient ?

Amusing because the only way you can get to 17 is counting for a full minute. 

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

What if the CNA takes the vitals?

That is the only way I can see all 20 nurses getting the letter for falsifying vitals.

[Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN]

I had a CNA that falsified vitals. He literally took yesterday’s vitals and copied them for my shift. I didn’t even report him. I just redid them myself. I never trust their BP even though they use a dynamap. 

[Nurse10150]

Scary!!  

[nursecolley, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN, EMT-P]

On 11/3/2022 at 4:15 AM, Nurse Morris said:

Something triggered an investigation by the facility or state surveyors and according to your post the Board of Nursing is now investigating.  What I find odd is that twenty other nurses are also being investigated since they received the same letter. If your five months into the investigation I take it that you have given your statement to them already. For future reference if you are being accused and investigated remain quiet and hire a lawyer. It is possible there is an alert and oriented resident that made a fuss and reported that nurses were not obtaining the resident’s V/S, or someone saw that the V/S had an obvious pattern, or possibly a resident was documented with normal V/S and no change in condition but suddenly went into distress, and ends up with a diagnosis of septic shock, just as an example. There’s too many scenario’s and not enough information to say for sure.  I have experience as a nurse manager and the longest I’ve known so far for a nurse to receive a decision is about six months. 

I’ve been waiting over a year now for a decision from the Board