Fired from job

Nurses General Nursing

Published

:( I must not know how to get started on this thing. I want to get some advice about a problem I am having as an LVN. I worked for hospice for only 6 weeks. One nite they sent me to a lady whose husband was having pain. This was at 2300. The minute I got there the wife screamed at me for calling her mam. I tried very hard to remember not to do that. And she constandly screamed at her husband to stay in bed because she had to get some sleep. She couldn't talk without screaming. She told me hospice had done nothing for her and she didnt' know what medicienes he had. She had only been with the program a week. I showed her where he could have 7.5/500 vicodin, 1mg. ativan, 0.5 xanax, and 10mg. Ambien. I explained he could have all of them at once. Maybe that would make him more comfortable and he would stay in bed. She kept screaming at her husband to stay in bed. He was sitting almost completely vertical and his feet were nearly to the floor. I suggested lowering his head and raising his feet making it harder for him to crawl out of bed. She started screaming at me that she would never to that so I put him right back the way he was which was only an inch difference anyway. I used a straw with my finger over one end to hold water in it while trying to get the pt. to take his medicine. The wife screamed at me not to touch his nose. I didn't think I touched his nose. Anyway after all of that she was real nice and told me to be careful going home. When I went to work the next day they fired me saying the wife called that morning saying I tortured her husband and held his nose and when he told me to stop I refused. The man never said a word the entire time I was there. I was devestated. I cried so hard I couln't find my car in the parking lot. Now they are sending me letters saying there will be a peer review and maybe report me to the board. The man died the following Weds. Not a mark on him anywhere. By the way they are not saying I had anything to do with his death. they brought up the fact that I gave him all of those medicines at once and he had no trouble taking them. That was true. And he was allowed to have the meds all at once. They were ordered that way. He hadn't had any in over four hours. And the wife stated he was in pain. He never said anything. Please someone tell me do I have a lot to worry about. If this goes to the board I will get an attorney. I am not going to the peer review though. They only want to gawk at me and stare. If they were having it somewhere else I would go but they know what they are doing by forcing me to have to face everyone and be humilated for something I didn't even do.:uhoh21:
Specializes in MICU.

Maybe I missed this in the posts, but did any of the supervisors do an investigation? I would think that if a charge of abuse or 'torture' was made by a family member, someone from the facility would go to the home and invesigate. This to me makes no sense if this was not done.

I did home care several years ago as a CNA. I had worked with this one couple for about 4 months. When the weather started turning warm, she asked me to clean out her basement and garage, beacuse she would like to have a garage sale and wanted me to get everything ready. I politely told her that I was there to care for her husband and not to clean the basement, garage or organize a garage sale. The next day, she called and filed a complaint with my agency stating she felt I had 'mental' problems and requested I did not return. Fortunately, my agency just shuggled it off, especially since I was not the first one she had made the same complaint about.

Get a lawyer, go to the peer review, and defend yourself!!

Best of luck to you. Keep us posted!!

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Specializes in nursing homes, home health..
Maybe I missed this in the posts, but did any of the supervisors do an investigation? I would think that if a charge of abuse or 'torture' was made by a family member, someone from the facility would go to the home and invesigate. This to me makes no sense if this was not done.

I did home care several years ago as a CNA. I had worked with this one couple for about 4 months. When the weather started turning warm, she asked me to clean out her basement and garage, beacuse she would like to have a garage sale and wanted me to get everything ready. I politely told her that I was there to care for her husband and not to clean the basement, garage or organize a garage sale. The next day, she called and filed a complaint with my agency stating she felt I had 'mental' problems and requested I did not return. Fortunately, my agency just shuggled it off, especially since I was not the first one she had made the same complaint about.

Get a lawyer, go to the peer review, and defend yourself!!

Best of luck to you. Keep us posted!!

As i said before they have my statement. Nothing i say is going to make any difference.I will just go on pretending I know nothing about any peer review. I just don't think my not going is going to make any difference. I will get a lawyer if I have to go to the board.
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Specializes in Everything but L&D and OR.

Going to the review can make a difference. It shows that you care about what is being said about your professionalism and your career. You also will be there to hear ANYTHING that is said about the situation and about you. To hear the info first hand and to be able to "read" the attitudes about those that are making the decisions that will affect your whole career are very important.

I hate to be in confrontational situations of any kind, but if this was me, I would have to be there or I think i would be physicaly ill just over the stress of worrying about it all!!

I strongly encourage you (as with most I see on this post) to go!

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Specializes in ICU.

Like a previous poster said, I think it would be silly not to go. By not going you come across as not caring what happens, and they may view it as passivly admiting defeat which could lead to more investigations occuring. I think you are doing a diservice to yourself by not attenting.

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wow, I agree with the response that you should get a lawyer sooner rather than later. Everyone is so concerned about law suits these days. Agencies, hospitals and nursing homes are so afraid they are going to be on the evening news, or one of those lawyers that say, "if you or a family member feel you have been abused by a hospice ,give me a call at 1800suealot. or 1800makemerich You could be entitled to compensation !" Be calm and professional during the peer review meeting. be sure to show up and show that you have nothing to hide.(be sure you talk to an lawyer first though)

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Specializes in Everything but L&D and OR.

ditto!!!:yeahthat:

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Specializes in nursing homes, home health..
wow, I agree with the response that you should get a lawyer sooner rather than later. Everyone is so concerned about law suits these days. Agencies, hospitals and nursing homes are so afraid they are going to be on the evening news, or one of those lawyers that say, "if you or a family member feel you have been abused by a hospice ,give me a call at 1800suealot. or 1800makemerich You could be entitled to compensation !" Be calm and professional during the peer review meeting. be sure to show up and show that you have nothing to hide.(be sure you talk to an lawyer first though)
I really just cannot go to the peer review. I am 300 miles away. Been taking care of my sister who has breast cancer. Had they told me when I got fired I could have made arrangements. I have been here for the last 6 weeks. Didn't know about the review until 2 weeks after I was gone. They have my statement. That will just have to do because there is no way I can make it back in time. If what the wife says makes the difference it would anyway. She changed her story twice in 18 hours. This will make a difference to the board. And since I was unable to get a lawyer I will just have to see what happens. The board will see dispositions of pt. family's that were happy with me. If it comes to that. That will make a difference. I will pray for the best if It comes to that.
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Specializes in Everything but L&D and OR.

well, I will hope for the best for you.

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Specializes in nursing homes, home health..
Very good advice! In addition I would not send anything via fax but send it via "Certified Mail" and ensure you have copies of everything. Keep the return delivery confirmations. If you already have retained an attorney then let them deal with it from the start. If the employer contacts you, refer them to your attorney and dont say anything to them without your attorney's advice/presence. Take it from someone who has had to deal with the fall out from false claims to BON's as they dont look out for you but for the public safety as thier first concern. They (BON's) dont give a rat's bottom how you come out of it if it does go to boards. If complaints are made they are ultimately obligated to act on that complaint regardless of it's validity. Either way it ends up costing you the aggravation and the $ to prove your innocence over the implied guilt. Unlike the legal system it's not innocent until proven guilty.
i have looked and there are no lawyers that handle this. So nothing I can do about that. Just keep trying. A male nurse I work with went to the board just 5months ago. His was a little more serious than mine. Even tho the pt. complained the board stated there needed to be some prove at least and there wasn't any. Also they made a big deal about the agency waiting to report it. He was real lucky. No lawyer and the Board threw it out. I will make it back in time if I have to go to Austin. ANd just hope for the best. Nothing else I can do.
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Specializes in nursing homes, home health..
Maybe I missed this in the posts, but did any of the supervisors do an investigation? I would think that if a charge of abuse or 'torture' was made by a family member, someone from the facility would go to the home and invesigate. This to me makes no sense if this was not done.

I did home care several years ago as a CNA. I had worked with this one couple for about 4 months. When the weather started turning warm, she asked me to clean out her basement and garage, beacuse she would like to have a garage sale and wanted me to get everything ready. I politely told her that I was there to care for her husband and not to clean the basement, garage or organize a garage sale. The next day, she called and filed a complaint with my agency stating she felt I had 'mental' problems and requested I did not return. Fortunately, my agency just shuggled it off, especially since I was not the first one she had made the same complaint about.

Get a lawyer, go to the peer review, and defend yourself!!

Best of luck to you. Keep us posted!!

I sure wish I could. And if they had told me when they fired me there would be no problem. But I am 300 miles away and a family member needs me to stay with her a little longer. There are no lawyers that handle this sort of thing. At least I haven't found any. So after I have done the best I can there is nothing more I can do. The wife has changed her story two times already. If I go to the board they will know this also.
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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

I was reading the posts and something really hit me -- the thing about them needing a LVN on staff, needed or not, so they could bill Medicare / Medicaid. If that's what was going on, isn't that Medicare fraud? If that's what they were doing, charging Medicare / Medicaid a fortune for services not rendered, the goverment would eat them alive. There was a lab several years ago that had a run in with them about fraudulent billing, and they were fined literally hundreds of millions of dollars. Whether or not you go to the peer review, whether or not you retain an attorney, I'd absolutely report them to Medicare (assuming I understand the situation correctly).

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Specializes in Case Management.

You may not know this, but hospice in many areas doesn't have a good reputation...they are seen as how to get medications and other things without having to make a hospital visit. This is because it is very, very difficult for them to keep quality, experienced staff, so they have to rely on alot of new grads, or others that can't work other types of nursing jobs for whatever reason.

I was not aware of this. I thought that the most compassionate and caring nurses must be in hospice due to the nature of the assignments. :stone

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