Freaking out! possible patient safety issue

[SnowbirdinFL]

I am so scared to talk about this, for some reason. I try to tell myself that I am a good CNA and a good person but this is being tested right now.

This last evening, I was walking down the hallway when I heard someone scream my name. Turns out it was another CNA (I will call her "Betty") using a sit-to-stand lift by herself (a HUGE no-no that goes against company policy and could possibly cause a NA to lose their certification). This resident was in the air and about to fall to the floor.

"Betty" kept saying "you should have put your feet on the platform" to this resident. I told her to quit saying this to the resident because I found what she was saying to be very offensive (she was making this situation the residents' fault). Given the situation, we had to gently lower this resident to the floor because she would have otherwise have fallen and this was after an attempt to do a two-person transfer with her.

I am the only one that saw this part of this story happen.

My concern involves the fact that this CNA knows what will happen to her if she is caught using a lift without a second person and I highly doubt she told the truth about what happened. Since I know what happened, I am wondering if I should inquire as to the contents of the incident report that was filed (resident had skin tears). Depending on what was told (if not the truth), I am wondering if I should come forward with what happened. I am pretty sure that my name will be on said incident report and I don't want my employer to not trust me (not to mention the safety of the residents).

At the same time, what I could tell will most likely cost "Betty" her job and her certification. Also, since it would be obvious that I told what happened (since I was the only other person there), I am afraid I could possibly be subjected to a hostile work enviroment. I am really resenting "Betty" for putting me in this situation. I plan to possibly tell the weekend supervisor about what happened 12 hours from now so ANY responses would be appreciated.

P.S.- I am not asking for legal advice. This is more of a "what would you do in my shoes" kind of question

[semester1kid]

Part of what I would think depends on 'Betty's' attitude. How well do you think she would react if you took her aside and ask her if she knows she could get fired and lose her license if she continues this practice? Another way of handling it without specifically reporting her would be to let the appropriate party know that you have reason to believe Betty is cutting corners regarding pt safety - but also let them know that since the one incident past without any real consequence, you don't want to report the person per se'. That way, they'll start keeping an eye on her while taking the onus off of you...and if she (proverbially) hangs herself, it's not really on your shoulders.

[SnowbirdinFL]

"Betty" has supposedly been a CNA for over 20 yrs (altogether, not just at our facility) so I'm pretty sure so knows better. Not to mention that during orientation, we are told by our risk manager that this practice could not only cost us our jobs but also our certification.

Overnight, I realized that since my name will most likely been on this incident report I will most likely be questioned about risk management about it and I will have to tell what I saw.

"Betty" is also very defensive and has a horrific work ethic so it will be a waste of my time to talk to her privately about what happened last night. I know this from a earlier situation with her.

[Sally Lou]

I am wondering if I should come forward with what happened. I am pretty sure that my name will be on said incident report and I don't want my employer to not trust me (not to mention the safety of the residents).

Bolded: And if they find out later that you knew something and didn't tell them? HUGE reason not to trust you. Telling them this info IS reason to trust you. If you don't say anything and this CNA does this again, what happens if someone is seriously injured or killed? I wouldn't be able to live knowing i could have prevented it.

In my old job (residential school) we were able to do incident reports w/o putting our name.

[LaterAlligator]

Since you said your name was on the incident report & you'll be questioned about it, I would, at that time, state exactly what happened ("I came down the hall and saw Betty with Resident X in the sit-to-stand. The resident was unstable so I helped her lower him to the floor." If they follow up with "Isn't Resident X a 2-person assist?" just keep it short and say yes, as far as you know. If they ask why Betty was doing it alone then, I'd just say you don't know and she'd be the one to ask about that.

Then later if Betty confronts you about "turning her in" you can just say "all I did was answer the usual questions after the incident report. I figured you had already filed it & talked to them, so they already knew what'd happened, right?" then if she's mad and says no I didn't tell them I was doing it alone, you can just act surprised and say oh sorry I thought you'd already told them that.

If she's been there for 20 years, let management handle her. If she's aggressive with you, just play dumb as much as you can and eventually she'll move on or maybe she'll get fired anyway. Good luck!

[SnowbirdinFL]

I ended up telling the night supervisor what happened last night. I told her that I was not trying to get "Betty" in trouble but I didn't want to be guilty of hiding information. I told her that this resident was gently lowered to the floor as opposed to falling and night supervisor said that most likely an incident report was not filed. I told her next that said resident had skin tears that appeared fresh.

Anyway, I'm glad that I at least said something to a supervisor. I may still be questioned about it but at least I can say that I am/was straightforward.

I also spoke to this resident today and told her that if a CNA wanted to use a stand-up lift on her that she tells them NO. Some may say that telling her this may be out of line but I don't want this lady to get hurt because of someone elses' laziness/stupidity.

[daimere]

In my LTC if we don't report abuse/resident safety issues before we leave work the day it happened or immediately, we can get wrote up when we finally do tell someone about it.