how to deal with false allegations as an STNA?

Published May 20, 2016

5 Posts

I have been an stna for around 5 years. Mostly have worked in nursing homes. I was called by HR at a nursing home and asked to come into the office and write a statement about allegations of abuse. I wasn't able to go to the office so I had a meeting over the phone in which it was tape recorded which I did not have an issue with. Basically the allegations were that a resident said I threw the covers off of her when went to her room to wake her up, another was that a put a liner in a pull up of a resident when she told me not to. None of that had happened but I feel the facility takes the residents words even though it was hearsay. I was told by other employees that three other aides who had to work in the unit I was assigned quit and it was mostly because the residents said things about them that were untrue and the aides saw this and did not want to risk the trouble ii am in now.And the other was that there was a resident that I toileted early in the morning. I put her clothes on for the day which she agreed to because she said she was cold. I layed back down. She was also an alarm. She later became agitated and said she wanted her nightgown back on. I told the nurse this and she confirmed that she can be confused so did the other aide confirmed this as well. The nurse went in and talked to the resident because she was upset. The nurse told me not to worry about it but for next time not to get her dressed before a certain time later in the morning. I had never worked down that hall so I did not know the behaviors. The resident started trying to get out of bed by herself and she was an alarm. So I took her out to the living room to be safer so she could be watched. I notified the nurse of this as well. The nurse also said it was common for the resident to be like this when she did not have her pain pill. After the nurse gave her a pain pill the resident was calmer and I layed her back down in bed. I do not understand how any of that was abuse. But I felt as though I was being treated like a criminal with no one to back me up since it was third shift and I was mostly working on my own. A few weeks later I am contacted by someone at the department of health to have a meeting with them, one person regarding abuse that happened at this facility. I am unsure if I should get a lawyer now. Any advice from other STNA's or nurses who used to be stna's?