I graduated in May 2010. I've been working at an assisted living facility on overnights since the beginning of November.
One night, I had a lady fall. She whacked her back pretty good and also hurt herself when trying to catch herself. Called the MD on call and had to wait for a call back. Called her daughter/DPOA in the meantime. The daughter was super upset I hadn't treated her for pain. She was demanding I give her tramadol TWO tabs. Her order was Tramadol one tab. She argued me on this. I told her we should wait on pain meds in case her mother is sent to the ER. Long story short, I ended up giving her Tramadol one tab. Received an email from DON today stating that I should not have done so.
Apparently- this was the wrong decision. I didn't expect the doctor to want her sent to the ER. She asked me if I thought she should be sent and I said I didn't think it was necessary- but she still ordered her to be sent.
Meanwhile, my aide had gone up. Patient requested a heating pad for her back where she hit. The aide got it. I didn't know until I went back up and removed it. But had to chart that she received it. So I also got an email from DON saying always apply ice first, not heat.
My question- can the DPOA get me for "not treating" her mother if I hadn't given the pain med?
...None of this was ever brought to my attention until today. This fall happened about 3 weeks ago. But my DON was auditing the chart today and read my notes from that day. And that leads me here...
