Falsely Accused of Verbal Abuse

[steph.lpn]

i don't know what i should do. i was just falsely accused of verbally abusing a resident. i am a cna and work 3rd shift at a nursing home. the resident who accused me actually verbally abused me all the time. she would tell me almost every night she would call me names and say that she was going to report me. she would brag about other cna's that she had fired before. i would report this every night to my supervisor and they told me that they would chart her behavior. i was just called into the don's office the other day and was told that i was fired and accused of verbally abusing a resident and that she sent of the allegation to the nurse aid registry. this don has only been there for 3 days. she didn't even bother investigating. the resident has a history of making reports. what do i do now? does anyone have any advice?

[yousoldtheworld]

Wow, I can't believe she didn't at least investigate it. Could you perhaps talk to the facility's administrator/executive director? I honestly don't know what to tell you to do beyond that.

We recently had an aide at our facility get fired for verbal abuse overheard by staff members (our residents mostly cannot talk, mrdd kids/young adults), but even then, she was suspended first and it was investigated. We have a union at our facility that can help in situations like that, but I know most nursing facilities are not unionized.

I wish I could help you out more, but all I can really say is good luck and I hope it resolves okay.

[Ytellu]

If you get nowhere with the facility administrator then I'd contact a good employment attorney. They have a minimum obligation to at least investigate and hopefully nurses prior did document the residents behavor with you. Make yourself a log of when and what the resident said to you if you remember. They are playing with your future here. Do all you can to avoid it being sent to the registry. Good luck.

[interceptinglight, CNA]

That's good advice from Ytellu, there are employment attorneys available that deal with issues like this. We have a resident at our LTC, on more than one occasion she's made accusations that some of the aides sexually assaulted her while doing peri-care. This is usually during the times that she refuses to let anyone change her. She's a real jeckle-and-hyde type of person. Sometimes she very sweet and nice, other times she's verbally and physically abusive to the aides. Her family doesn't like to visit because of how badly she treats everyone. There are also aides who will not toilet or change her Attends because of her always threatening to report rape.

[hope4now]

Talk to several attorneys (I recommend contacting Chartwell Associates...they are a large firm, with many specialties). Tell the attorneys *exactly* what you have written here. Especially the part about the DoN having only been at the facility for 3 days. See if any of them are willing to work on a pro-bono basis...meaning they collect payment only if you win the lawsuit.

I know someone who works as a union organizer for cnas. he might be able to provide some advice. email me here if you would like me to put you in touch with him: [email protected].