False Accusation Worry

[Plagueis]

I'm a pre-nursing student, and a CNA, but one thing that I and many of my workers worry about in our job is being falsely accused of abuse by residents. My coworkers and employers tell me that any accusation of physical or verbal abuse is enough to fire someone, nurses and aides alike, even before an investigation is made. The assumption seems to be "guilty until proven innocent." However, I have seen residents get angry and yell over "minor" things, such as a tray of food being placed in front of them, so this is why I'm worried. For instance, I have seen nurses do benign things, such as putting on a bandaid, or washing a face, and the resident screams: "You hurt me!" or "Stop that!" If those comments were overheard, could the nurses be accused of abuse? Also, what can nurses and aides do to ensure that we are not falsely accused of abuse?

[Jo Dirt]

I've never heard of a place that would fire you as easily as that. If every person who was yelled at by a resident was fired there would be some empty nursing homes.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

I agree, just remember to treat people the way you would want to be treated, or would want your relative treated. Attempt to tell the resident what you are needing to do BEFORE you do it to reduce their fear.

[GrnHonu99, RN]

Hi!

I am in nursing school and we discussed this topic just the other day....we recently did some clinicals in an LTCF (for my CNA class which is required in my nursing program) and my instructor gave us a piece of advice, maybe it can be of some use to you: when working in a LTCF know your patients! if you know there are patients who are easily scared or if you have any doubts take a co worker in the room with you, that way you have a witness...i mean i know you wont always know but if you know a pt is combative or has made accusations before take someone in with you...

[NancyJo]

We also take a coworker in with us when working with certain pt.'s. It's also important to always document behaviors before accusations can be made. We recently had an elderly terminal pt. whose husband the day before had made accusations that the nurses had not been in the room as often as they should have been, had taken too long to respond to call lights and was just very unhappy with the care he felt his wife was recieving. She was assigned to me the next day, so I decided to keep a log of the time we cared for her. I kept track of when the light rang to us and just how long it took me to get there. I and the cna who was working with me documented on a paper every encounter we had throughout the day and at the end of the day I did a lengthy nurses note, documenting all, including times. I also documented that he had actually opened the door of another pt.'s room while I was giving a bath to tell me his wife needed a box of tissues. This type of behavior went on all day. Anyway the next day he was complaining again so I presented the info to my unit manager who spoke with the spouse and presented him with the log of what had went on. He pretty much backed off and then admitted that his wife was all he had left and he was having difficulty dealing with losing her. How sad. Fortunately though we had the documentation to avoid a big mess. I know it's not always possible to do this and I'll be honest I had to stay overtime to complete it and this was the most detailed and longest amount of charting I have done in 19 years but it ended up being worth it. Just remember to document anything you may need to back you up later on down the line. CYA.:)