Falsely accused of Verbal abuse

[hcook.cccmc]

Hello.. My name is Haley and I am currently employed at a LTC facility as a CNA 1.. I have came to post this story to try and seek some advice to help myslef during this hard time.. As you can tell by the title I was falsely accused of verbal abuse by one of the residents at the facility.. Let me start off by saying that two weeks prior to this resident reporting me, that he sexually harrased me and my hall nurse was a witness and wrote a report.. This man made two sexual remarks to me this night and one of the remarks was a lot more vulgar than the other.. Anyways, let's move on to him reporting me.. I was working a 16 hour shift, 2nd & 3rd shift and as soon as I got to work and got report from the previous shift I started my round as usual.. The two men in this room are very frequent light ringers and I have always tried to answer their light as quickly as possible to avoid conflict because these two men are very rude to all of the staff, and are always making innapropriate remarks to the staff.. I went into the room to answer the call light at about 3:10 pm on a Sunday and the man who had sexually harassed me asked as soon as I walked into the room why I had reported him, this was the first time in two weeks I had been put on the hall where he resides.. I politely told him that I wasn't going to discuss the situation and that we both needed to let it go.. There wasn't anymore problems until about 2:30 am on Monday morning.. I was helping another aide on a different hall because she was new and getting very overwhelmed but I was still close enough to my hall to be able to hear if anyone pressed their call light.. As I heard a call bell ring I finished care for a resident on the other hall and was walking toward my hall, as I approached the hall I heard a vicious scream "get the f**k in here" from this mans room.. I walked into the room to see what was going on and this man went on and on cursing me and insulting me, and I tried to calm him down which did not work.. He told me that I was the worst CNA he'd ever met and that if I couldn't handle the job that I shouldn't have it.. I tried to professionally respond to what he was saying but the only thing that came out of my mouth were these words " if I'm such a terrible CNA why have you been dry the entire 16 hours I have been here?" Now I am aware that he fuels off of people who will respond to him and I probably should not have said anything but I only wanted to make a point to him to try and calm him down.. I finished his care and also for the roommate as well before I left the room just because I knew they shouldn't need anything else for a while.. He rang the call light as I gave his roommate care and I asked him what he needed and why he rang the call light because I was in the room, this man then said that he was going to ring his call bell all night to make sure I was on my feet the rest of the time I was there.. I turned off the light without saying a word and walked out of the room to meet the charge nurse who had came to check on me after she heard him yelling.. I then reported the incident to my hall nurse and made arrangements with another CNA to take care of that mans room.. Later that Monday morning after I had gotten home I was awaken by a call from the Social worker of the facility he informed me that the man had reported me and the man said I called him a "son of a b**CH".. I gave the social worker all the details I could as I was trying to wake up and realize he had went through with his threats to report me.. I did not take the threats very seriously when I was at work because this man says the same thing to almost all of the staff.. I was informed later in the day by the social worker that the roommate was also going along with the residents story of what I was falsely accused of calling him.. I guess I am just here for some answers and advice on what to do.. I have not yet been terminated but I am suspended as of right now.. The face to face meeting with the DON and the social worked a couple days after this incident was just very upsetting because they were basically calling me a liar and saying my story didn't add up to the other nurse story and they thought I had coached that nurse on what to say because her and I are good friends, but if I had coached her on what to say I believe our stories would've matched up.. Anyway, I am just in a rut and so upset about all of this.. I've worked as a CNA for about 2 years now but only recently in the past 5 months have I gotten state certified.. I have never had any criminal charges or abuse investigations, ect in my life.. This man has falsely accused me of verbal abuse and has slandered my name.. I'm only here looking for honest opinions and advice.. I have terrible anxiety and these last few days have been pure hell to say the least.. I hope I can find some advice on what to do if the state actually believes this false mess.. God bless you, and I hope you have a wonderful day..

[TexasRosiee90]

I am not yet a nurse but am up early and read your story. I'm so sorry this is happening to you! Prayers for you and hopefully one of the wonderful nurses on this site can give you a little advice!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Sounds like you have attempted to make a paper trail with this individual;

Did you also let the house supervisor on duty at the time what was happening?

I also want to know if you have malpractice insurance; if you do, you can contact them and get someone on your side before you meet, if you don't, I suggest you contact someone legally to help you fight any wrongdoing against you, I know per AN's TOS, we can't provide any legal advice.

I think you may have an uphill battle; however, be even and concise with your statements; make sure you are clear about what happened; and if possible you need to not go into this alone.

Best wishes.

[Atl-Murse]

The facility has a duty to protect you from sexual, physical and mental abuse and they failed. Luckily for you there is paper trail and other people to support your claim. I would consider a lawsuit against the company for sexual assault and hostile work place . GL

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I think it was wrong for them to suspend you. They should not have reassigned you this patient. Once you made the complaint of sexual harassment, you should never have been his CNA again.

I think this will all work out for you in the end. In the meantime, I suggest you start looking for another job, because your facility has mishandled this very badly, they have failed you and they are not trustworthy.

If there is a way to make a formal complaint against the facility, I think you should.

You are in my prayers. Try to stay calm and practice patience. You will get through this.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

I am so sorry you are going through this. I think it was wrong for them to suspend you.

Unfortunately, in the case of alleged abuse, in most states (possibly federal?) it's a requirement to suspend pending investigation. It's a horrible situation to say the least. Its all about interpretation as well. If the resident claims that you upset him (regardless of how big of a jerk he is), most facilities regard that as abuse. And believe me, most of these jerks know how to play the system and word comments for best effect. Contact a legal specialist who can help you with options. Good luck, my heart goes out to you!