How to deal with anxiety when there is an "investigation" at work?

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

Examples of what I mean by investigations on floors...

There is a fall and they weren't wearing hip protectors ... missing signatures on narcotic counts sometimes police involved ... medications haven't been given ... a bruise or pressure ulcer that was not reported sooner and could have been prevented ... or just doing something unintentionally you meant no harm but stuff happens etc ... one time someone got a letter because the resident had cold food - the nurse did not microwave food.

I am still new to nursing and have not much experience in this kind of stuff, I do find the career rewarding and interesting, but I feel that the stuff I listed comes down to razor edge situations and its just very risky that its very discouraging to move on in this career. Like you are there to do good, and instead of management or anyone looking at it that way, they end up making a case against you somehow. The union really doesn't do anything either.

The staffing clerk mentioned to me why I don't work overtime as I did before, and obviously I didn't say why I just said its busy, but in reality its for those reasons I listed. The more you work, the more chances you put yourself up for errors/mistakes etc...

[TriciaJ, RN]

Your instructors put the fear of god in you about errors because they want you to be conscientious.  

Your facility conducts investigations because certain events increase the likelihood of sanctions and lawsuits.

You can protect yourself by being attentive to detail and understanding the rationale behind the policies.  You also need to have your own professional liability policy.

If you get the inkling that your facility is doing more than CYA, if they're constantly scouting for people to throw under the bus, or if the staffing is just too horrible to do a decent job, then start looking for the exits.

Otherwise, try not to sweat anything you don't have to.

[JKL33]

Have you been directly involved in any of the scenarios you describe?

[Davey Do]

The hatchet men have to find something wrong somewhere, and chastise the allegedly guilty parties, or their existence is unwarranted.

I have numerous examples, but please allow this to be a case in point: At the state hospital, an administrator was was investigating a situation, heard a story where I did not give a Tylenol to a Patient, and I was suspended 15 days for "Patient neglect/abuse".

It's a long story which isn't really very interesting, but suffice it to say that I contested the charges and received unemployment benefits from IDES. Then, 2 1/2 years later,  with the assistance of the INA, the charges were sponged from my record and I again received reimbursement, from the state, for what I should have been paid for those 15 days.

Much ado about nothing.

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

9 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

Your instructors put the fear of god in you about errors because they want you to be conscientious.  

Your facility conducts investigations because certain events increase the likelihood of sanctions and lawsuits.

You can protect yourself by being attentive to detail and understanding the rationale behind the policies.  You also need to have your own professional liability policy.

If you get the inkling that your facility is doing more than CYA, if they're constantly scouting for people to throw under the bus, or if the staffing is just too horrible to do a decent job, then start looking for the exits.

Otherwise, try not to sweat anything you don't have to.

Thanks will keep in mind.  

33 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

Have you been directly involved in any of the scenarios you describe?

I haven't but I know many staff who have

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

There's always an investigation going on somewhere. 

I worked at a state psych hospital with a forensic unit. On that unit, if the patients didn't like a nurse they would make a bogus abuse allegation against that nurse. Then the nurse would be floated to another unit while an investigation took place. Everyone knew it was almost always bogus, but they did their job of investigating anyway, which I can appreciate.

I cooperate fully with investigations and I don't sweat it or get defensive. If I made a mistake, I address it and change my habits or practice if need be. I am very open to education and I never get upset when the manager wants to educate me (or the whole unit) in response to a problem as long as the education is actually addressing the problem and not covering the problem.

If I was the nurse who gave the cold food, I would just report the truth. I didn't microwave the food because there were other priority tasks. I would fully expect my boss to let that go as a non issue. If they didn't, I would be looking for another job. No one should be educating you to do things that go against your nursing judgment.

Just see investigations as part of the job, and don't worry about them unless your employer starts throwing you under the bus and writing you up for nonsense. 

[JKL33]

28 minutes ago, DK123 said:

I haven't but I know many staff who have 

OK. I asked because sometimes what seems to be happening all around you has behind the scenes stuff you don't know about. And when we don't experience things directly or witness all the related events directly then we can't say we have the full story. We are hearing what happened second or third hand or just through the rumor/gossip mill. I haven't been in any significant trouble whatsoever during my now medium-length career, nor have I been successfully nitpicked by admin. I stand up for myself in a quietly forceful way when necessary (rare) and otherwise keep a very low profile. Part of my conclusion about this is that there are ways to carry oneself that help avoid difficulties.

Sometimes it is appropriate to just limit yourself to worrying about what affects you directly, especially when you really can't verify the alleged wrongs others seem to be experiencing.

There were some times where I did directly witness wrong-headed attitudes and accusations against peers whom I knew to be top-notch nurses. Since the poor treatment was coming from our direct uplines, I started making my exit plans almost that very day. I don't leave myself hanging out there to be messed with (personal preference).

That's my summary: Do a good job, keep a low profile, be "quietly forceful" when necessary, don't worry about others' problems, make exit plans if the balance seems to tip towards legit unfairness.

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

30 minutes ago, FolksBtrippin said:

There's always an investigation going on somewhere. 

I worked at a state psych hospital with a forensic unit. On that unit, if the patients didn't like a nurse they would make a bogus abuse allegation against that nurse. Then the nurse would be floated to another unit while an investigation took place. Everyone knew it was almost always bogus, but they did their job of investigating anyway, which I can appreciate.

I cooperate fully with investigations and I don't sweat it or get defensive. If I made a mistake, I address it and change my habits or practice if need be. I am very open to education and I never get upset when the manager wants to educate me (or the whole unit) in response to a problem as long as the education is actually addressing the problem and not covering the problem.

If I was the nurse who gave the cold food, I would just report the truth. I didn't microwave the food because there were other priority tasks. I would fully expect my boss to let that go as a non issue. If they didn't, I would be looking for another job. No one should be educating you to do things that go against your nursing judgment.

Just see investigations as part of the job, and don't worry about them unless your employer starts throwing you under the bus and writing you up for nonsense. 

thank you so much

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

2 hours ago, JKL33 said:

OK. I asked because sometimes what seems to be happening all around you has behind the scenes stuff you don't know about. And when we don't experience things directly or witness all the related events directly then we can't say we have the full story. We are hearing what happened second or third hand or just through the rumor/gossip mill. I haven't been in any significant trouble whatsoever during my now medium-length career, nor have I been successfully nitpicked by admin. I stand up for myself in a quietly forceful way when necessary (rare) and otherwise keep a very low profile. Part of my conclusion about this is that there are ways to carry oneself that help avoid difficulties.

Sometimes it is appropriate to just limit yourself to worrying about what affects you directly, especially when you really can't verify the alleged wrongs others seem to be experiencing.

There were some times where I did directly witness wrong-headed attitudes and accusations against peers whom I knew to be top-notch nurses. Since the poor treatment was coming from our direct uplines, I started making my exit plans almost that very day. I don't leave myself hanging out there to be messed with (personal preference).

That's my summary: Do a good job, keep a low profile, be "quietly forceful" when necessary, don't worry about others' problems, make exit plans if the balance seems to tip towards legit unfairness.

word of the wise! Will keep in mind. I feel as if I am always worried, probably isn't good for my mental health.

[Daisy4RN]

3 hours ago, DK123 said:

word of the wise! Will keep in mind. I feel as if I am always worried, probably isn't good for my mental health.

No it is not good for your mental or physical health!

You have received very good advice so far. It sounds like you work in LTC/SNF and also you said you are fairly new. So I would just add (from a brief experience in SNF) that the work is never done r/t the ratios and , people complain and call the state for investigation constantly and so yes they will probably be there very often. Once a complaint is made it is mandatory for the state (at least mine) to do an investigation. I would quickly learn those issues that will most definitely get you into trouble the most (narc counts!) and those that most likely won't be a big issue (not warming up food). Prioritizing is key here for medical reasons, pt safety etc. If the issues are not affecting you directly don't worry about it. That wasted energy could lead to make a mistake. Focus on your patients and work etc.

Good luck!!

[summertx]

On 7/10/2021 at 11:30 PM, DK123 said:

The more you work, the more chances you put yourself up for errors/mistakes etc...

This is why I happily stay home. Keeping my license (and so called 'waiting' for something better) is more important to me than working. Or working a lot of hours I should say. 

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

On 7/11/2021 at 1:16 AM, TriciaJ said:

...  You also need to have your own professional liability policy..

Bears repeating. Spending $100 or so  on a policy to help protect you will give you a lot of piece of mind.