Elopement, told by DON not to document

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I work at an ALF and was told by DON not to document that one of our dementia tenants snuck out the front door. Tenant was wearing a wanderguard, however it did not make the facility alarms go off. Elopement policy states to document the incident completely, however this policy is for the nursing home attached to the Assisted Living Faciltiy. Are Assited Living policies different, since it is more independent? I do not know what to do. I feel the situation should be documented, as this person is not allowed outside the facility alone, and this is not the first escape. I also fear that sometime the tenant may get out and not be found. There will be nothing to support the fact that she has escaped many times if it goes undocumented. However, there is a risk of upseting the DON, and a loss of a job I love if I do not follow DON orders. I would like to talk to her superior about the situation, but all nurses were told we were not allowed to take issues to the superior??? What should we do??

just read these links about Atrium and Martha Bell ($8 million fraud)

and Galati

and the staff who lied about what happened

but any staff who agreed to lie, even though ordered to do so by her, are responsible for their own lies

Check out these links about a similar situation:

http://kdka.com/local/local_story_043102637.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/localnew...rium1023p1.asp

Do a search on Atrium Nursing Home Pittsburgh and you'll get all kinds of reenforcement of the advice you're getting here. The nurse who did what the DON told her also got sentenced to jail time and probably will never have an active nursing license again.

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Thank you all so much for your information. I feel a meeting with the DON and her superior is very important for the safety of the tenants and protection of the staff. I appreciate all input.

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You might want to consult an attorney before you arrange that meeting.

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just to realize the sense of questioning and personal honesty & integrity

that we have to cultivate in ourselves

when confronting various people in positions of supervision:

why did Kathleen Galati (supervising nurse at Atrium) lie?:

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/16860787.htm

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I would follow the advice of the nurses here and document this ASAP. I would do this before even having a meeting with the DON and her superior. I would protect yourself and do the report first and have a meeting with your DON's superior second.

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Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.

ILUVNURSING -a quick and easy way to figure out if or not to document:

This patient (you said) is wearing a wanderguard (I assume that means it is supposed to sound an alarm if the patient leaves the facility?) that means they weren't supposed to wander off. IF they have to wear the device, and they left, then it must be documented -regardless of what management says -its YOUR butt that will be in front of a board of inquiry, if one is convened, after all -and I always say that I protect MY behind best of all. :D

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Specializes in Emergency.

you document what you see/do period.

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Specializes in LTC, med-surg, critial care.

Document the facts and if the DON wants to complain well, you have your butt covered.

My DON tried to get me to not write an incident report on a resident to resident contact. She kept trying to get me to say that the resident didn't mean to hit the other one. Um I was there, she meant to hit her and I'm doing the report. :uhoh21:

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Have the DON put that request in writing !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Have the DON put that request in writing !!!!!!!!!!!!!

:lol2:

Everyone summed it up. Document it even if you have to go back and do a late entry. Sounds like the wanderguard system or braclet isn't working? Now thats and even bigger problem. We have do do daily checks on all of our LTC resident braclets.

That Atrium story has been in the local news tons. There were tons of other problems in that facility....medicare fraud, staffing problems etc. :uhoh3:

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Specializes in Government.

I work with ALFs throughout my state and see a common trend....families wanting loved ones to stay in a less than safe environment long after their condition warranted a trip to a more supervised setting. I talk to thousands of families and "convenient amnesia" is rampant. The resident needs the caregiver to document the reality because sadly, often others around the resident don't want to see what's happening.

I know how hard it is to get caught in that kind of political quagmire. Best wishes to you.

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So, I thought I would give you all an update on this situation. A meeting was held with the DON and her superior. They stated that as it is an assisted living facility, and the tenant was not hurt, nor did she leave the immediate grounds of the facility, that no incident report needs filed. However, it does need to be documented in full as a late entry in the chart. The family has been notified and currently are trying to find placement for this tenant elsewhere.

I have done many tests on the alarms to figure out how the tenant got out without it going off. I have found out that there is something wrong with the sensor on the door, it does not always go off. THis has been brought to the DON's attention and her superior, maintainance for our facility, and head maintainance. They will be trying to solve the problem today, and I am incredibly relieved to find out that there is indeed a problem with the door sensor.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ADVICE!! I am so glad that this website is available. It gives nurses an amazing chance to comunicate with other nurses.

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