calling state/ ombudsmen on a place you work for...

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There a lot of problems where I work, the worst lately being the heater. The heater has not worked for the past couple of days and it gets to 68º and its around 42º outside. There solution is 3 small heaters in rotation placed in rooms for 30min at a time, that's not even long enough to heat the room up! I feel so bad for the pts and think state should be called....anyone ever called state on a place they were currently working for? What happened? Any repercussions?

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Is there a plan to get this problem fixed? I know sometimes it can take a few days to get parts.. Anytime you report things "anonymously" or not they can figure out who it was and can fire you. Of course not for turning them in, but they will find other BS reasons.

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Is there a plan to get this problem fixed? I know sometimes it can take a few days to get parts.. Anytime you report things "anonymously" or not they can figure out who it was and can fire you. Of course not for turning them in but they will find other BS reasons.[/quote']

Thanks for ur opinion

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The omsbudsman's job is to protect the patients. Your duty is to the same. I am curious if family members have noticed that the place is cold, and seen the heaters rotating. They may have beaten you to it. I would think that heaters would also cause a safety issue, as if a patient falls or bangs into one, it can cause quite a burn. Have the patients complained? I would most definetely put this in the hands of the omsbudsman, and let them take it from there. HOWEVER, if you are noticing that the temprature is dropping lower than 65 or so, that the residents are really cold, that they are showing signs of hypothermia (and it does happen) I would call the state in a moment. You do not have to give a name. But this is a huge issue that needs to be rectified.

If there was an immediate plan in place, then the heater would be fixed by now. This is usually an urgent issue that takes priority in the winter.

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

in texas we have to self report in summer when ac goes out.......and outside temp is greater than 94 ......

and inside temp gets greater than 78 degrees

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