can nursing assistants be held liable for ...

[panurse101]

I work in a ltc facility. Some days the facility ends up mandating a nursing assistant to work another shift. There are times when every nursing assistant refuses to stay. Can they be held liable for abandonment if they were to leave without permission or enough staff to cover the next shift? Or will the amount of nurses working be taken into account?

Also... what is the legalities of writing a name in the residents chart? The facility does not have a policy, but they tell you that you cannot write a name in a chart. I have not heard of this. Ex: Reported to DON, Jane Smith. or Reported to supervisor Jane Smith?

[JentheRN05, RN]

Well from what I can remember from school - which seems less and less every day - a NA can't be held liable for anything. That's because they hold a certification not a license. I could be wrong, but it seems thats what I remember. Sounds like your LTC needs to hire more CNA's.

[fiestynurse]

When a nurse on duty is mandated to remain on duty for an extra shift/period of time beyond his/her established work schedule and is unable to do so, it is not considered abandonment if the nurse leaves the facility after exercising prudent judgment, notifying the supervisor and appropriately reporting off to another nurse who accepts the report.

I wouldn't work for a facility that requires mandatory overtime. Did they discuss this with you upon hire? Do CNAs take turns staying or is it based on seniority? How often is it mandated? Are you disciplined or threatened with termination if you don't stay?

I have never heard of a policy and procedure that discourages the use of names in the documentation. Personally, I would want to cover my own butt and write the name of the person that I reported off to. If I need to refer to the chart at a later date because of a malpractice claim, I would not want to risk not remembering who I gave the information to.