Am I going to be in trouble, I accpted a gift

Nursing Students CNA/MA

Published

A family of a patient knitted me a kitchen towel and handed it to me personally. During the moment, I didn't refuse the gift because she made the towel specially for me and that she made sure she finish knitting it before my shift ends. I didn't want to disappoint her. But now, I'm having a thought that I might be in trouble for accepting gifts. Another worker in the hospital knew I accepted the gift. Should I go and talk about it with my supervisor before she finds out from another person?

Specializes in Med Surg, Home Health.

I think a lot of whether or not you're in trouble depends on how understanding your administrators are, and how much flak your facility has gotten into over gifts.

In my facility, we haven't been burned yet, so residents give us cookies. Admin had a box of gourmet chocolates from a resident's family the other day.

Valuable jewelry, clothing, and/or money on the other hand is a whole other ball of wax.

The intention of the "no gifts" rule is to make sure that all residents get equal care whether or not they can afford to tip. Also so that the vulnerable elderly can't be convinced to give away their possessions. And also so the facility doesn't get sued by protective or overprotective relatives.

How do you think your administrators would react if you told them that you accepted a gift, but are willing to give it up if they think that's appropriate?

Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.

I'm probably not the person to advise you here.

I personally don't see anything wrong with handmade items and homemade items given as tokens of appreciation. I actually have no idea what my healthcare system's policy is, and I've been here five years.

I once accepted a "gift" from a patient. Someone brought her a "Get Well" Teddy Bear and she wanted me to have it. I couldn't turn it down, although I tried for the entire shift. She had just been diagnosed with cancer at the age of 34, with three young children. She died a year later. I hope giving that silly bear to me helped her even the tiniest bit with making peace with everything.

Also, I did try to give the bear away to other staff, but no one wanted it and by the end of the night someone had placed a bandaid on his head and made some sort of cast for his leg. I shoved him in my bag, where he lived at the bottom until I bought a new bag.

Was that wrong? Hmm. Oh well.

I know, I'm naughty. :)

Go talk to your supervisor.

I really don't think it's going to be a big deal, but it sounds like this is going to "eat at you" until you get feedback from someone higher up.

Although it makes me EXTREMELY uncomfortable, I will accept small things that have no real monetary value from residents if they continually insist on it. Many of them would have their feelings hurt or just aren't able to comprehend why it's not good for staff to accept things.

I had a lady give me some type of metal "coin" (not money) that had "Thanks for taking care of me today" engraved on it and a picture of a stethoscope on the back. I thought it was such a nice touch. :) Unfortunately, it fell out of my top scrub pocket about 3 minutes later while I was taking someone to the bathroom and I never saw it again. I have a feeling it fell in the toilet and went bye-bye. Bummer. :smackingf

Also want to throw out there that I had a former administrator tell me that there were some residents that would hand-make quilts for the staff and that they wouldn't take "no" for answer. She said, in this situation, to graciously accept and, I quote, "Just give them a dollar or two for it. That way you won't feel bad for accepting and they won't feel bad for not being able to give."

Is this sound advice? I'm really not sure. But maybe someone else can pitch in. :)

I have one lady, one of my favorite people actually, who tries to give me things on occassion. She is sweet as all get out and a touch confused at times, which is what I count on here. She often tries to give me a piece of jewelery. She doesn't have anything expensive at all, it's pretty much dime store stuff but she wants me to have things. If I can't talk her out of it, I take it and later when she's asleep, sneak it back into her drawer :) She doesn't remember and thus, no hurt feelings in the morning.

I haven't come across bigger or handmade things yet, sorry I can't help you there. But I would think something like a small towel would be ok. It would probably be good to ask, if it's still bothering you.

Specializes in LTC.

I've had residents make me necklaces and stuff before. I would feel terrible saying I couldn't take something that they put so much effort into.

My LTC facility policy is NO gifts, no matter how inexpenive it might be. What we can receive as a "gift" is something that can be shared with ALL on the shift..(think food items). My facility can and will and has fires people for accepting gifts. Usually for major offenses (accepting large cash gifts, major items, etc)

I had one residents wife try to give me a $5.00 gift card for the local coffee shop..she gave them (or tried to) to her husbands 'permanent nurses and CNA's. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness but polietly declined the card explaining that I was unable to accept due to facility policy. She attempted to give it to me several times during her visit and I felt aweful for turning her down, she looked so hurt but said she understood.

When I got home that night, I emptied out my lab coat (i didn't wear it all night as the floor was warmer than usual so it had hung on my chair at the nurses station). As I emptied it of my usual stuff, personal hand lotion, sanatizer etc, I noticed what I found to be the gift card the wife had tried to give me. The next day i went to my DON and administrator and explained what had happened. They both laughed and told me not to be so worried, obviously the residents wife was insistant that I take it. So I took that $5.00 gift card, added some of my own money and bought coffee/tea for my team.

It seems as this is bothering you. Go to your supervisor and tell him/her. You'll feel better, you're being honest and then you'll get the answer you want

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I don't think I'd have the heart to refuse a hand-knit towel that someone hurried to finish so I would be sure to have it when my shift ended, but maybe that's because I myself have knitted thousands of cotton dishtowels for everyone I know. :)

I've had my share of crochet nylon pot scrubbers and little felt pink turtle pincushions etc., too. Oh, yeah and chenille wrapped coathangers. If I worked for a super-strict facility, the most I would do is turn the item in to the authorities. Never would I refuse it to their face. I look at little hand made things like that in a different way than gift cards, cash, etc.

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg.

A hand-made item isn't such a big deal compared to some "gifts" that have bounced around over the years. Discuss it with your supervisor.

I personally think that most policies towards gifts that I have encountered are ridiculous in one way or another.

Hello all. I did finally get to talk to our nurse leader and she said everything I did is fine and she would've done the same if she was in my situation. I also found out that one of the family member of the same patient did talk to the nurse leader how they liked the care I've given them during their stay so I was rewarded with free meal coupon at work. It's amazing how little things you do as CNA make very good impression to some people. Thank you all for sharing your insights.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

So glad it turned out OK for you! :)

+ Add a Comment