Confused, hurt and honestly ashamed

[Just Julie]

Hi.. so, I have been working as a travel nurse for the past 5 months. I truly love it. But.... Yesterday I got a call from the facility supervisor who stated that multiple people had made some accusations about me. They told her that I wanted to end my contract. False. I love the place I am and was hoping to extend. The mysterious "they" also told her that I hated day shift. False. (But I do miss nights and when someone said something about working nights, I said that I was looking forward to getting back to nighs eventually). "They" also told her that I was not going to work that hard. What I actually said was that I was glad that the work that day was not as hard as the previous day when I worked as a CNA. I have a great deal of respect for the nurse aides out there. I am continually impressed by all they do. It's a hard and thankless job.  Fast forward to the magical day when all these things were said about me. (I didn't know if at the time.) It was a busy day with a heavy patient load. I was passing out 5-6 pm meds and one of the aides stopped me and asked me to look at someone's skin. I did. The pt had a little redness on her leg. I checked for warmth, checked for pain, checked circulation. Nothing seemed amiss. I believed that it was just a positioning issue, repositioned her and got called to a fall. Great.  I was slightly frustrated and said "I guess I'm not going to be out on time tonight." So, after getting the fall situated, I finished giving out evening meds, then went to the desk to do my charting on the fall.  The oncoming nurse was an hour late, I gave her report and counted narcotics. I told her about the fall, the red leg and the antibiotics being used. I thought I had finished everything.  Wrong. Fast forward to today and the fact that I am ashamed and truly horrified about the thing I forgot. I forgot to write a note about the red leg.  "Someone" swears that I said it was cellulitis. False. But because I forgot to write the note, and was not permitted to enter a late note, I have been accused of neglect. It was an error, not deliberately withholding anything. But... Yesterday the Dr. did diagnose cellulitis. So now, I don't know what to do. Don't know what to think or say. I'm heartbroken and beyond depressed right now. Just want to curl up in a corner and die. I never intended to not write the note. I didn't intend to have a delay in care. For now, I'm going to rest and pray and try not to cry too much. 

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

So let me get this straight: you had a busy shift, including a patient fall, and your relief was an hour late. You forgot to chart a skin assessment, and the facility won't let you add a late note. And somehow this all your fault, and questionably led to a delay in care? 

This just doesn't sound right to me. Did your CNA staff chart about the redness? Did your relief assess the redness? Did she notify a provider? I personally don't think this all falls on you. Yes, you missed charting, but there were others who were aware. I think neglect means that an unfavorable outcome occurred as a result, and there is no proof that a provider would have diagnosed redness based on your assessment. 

As to the other gossip, and that is exactly what that is, I would let it go. Perhaps your supervisor thought it important to check with you, but I disagree with the method. It probably goes without saying that you won't renew this contract. 

[Just Julie]

Thank you for the reply NJ22. No CNA did not chart it. Next nurse was definitely aware. I'm expecting to lose my contract and position in the company I work for. Praying that I don't have to go in front of the BON. I think I would be fine if they just fired me and left it alone but I am also worried that they will not do that.  I am writing down the full series of events so that if push comes to shove I at least will have my own documentation of the whole mess.