Allegation of abuse

[dshine54]

I was just called this morning and told I have an allegation of abuse and that I am to stay home today, Thursday and Friday due to investigation. I was asked to come in at 11am on Friday to talk to DON. My shift starts at 2:30pm. I was totally surprised. Have no idea what is going on. I only know the resident who reported it. Don't know what he reported. I have done nothing but speak to the man and give his medications. I am so scared. I don't know what to think or expect. Other staff members I work with through the years have gone through this and was ok. I can't believe this has happened to me. I received a merit last fall for volunteering my time to take care of an aquarium for the residents.

[ThatGuyNurse]

Every allegation of abuse has to be investigated and every facility will have their own policy. In this case is sounds like you facility has the accused nurse removed from shift rotation pending an interview. They are going to call you in and ask you about the incident. In your case you did nothing wrong so when you are asked about your interaction with the patient just tell them about it. Don't venture a guess as to what the patient might have accused. Tell them from start to finish about your interaction and when they tell you what you are accused of you calmly state that the allegation is not true. This is going to happen to you more than once in your career. It sucks, its hard not to take it personally, but keep calm and Nurse on.

~Nurse K

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Are you a member of a union? If so, can a union rep go with you?

If not, write down every little thing. Ask for the organization's policy on remediating complaints to make sure what is going on is appropriate. Good luck.