Hurt at work....is this the hospitals fault?

[silverrainbows]

Hi....Im new to this site and have a question I'm hoping you guys can help with. I'm a LPN working in a Palliative Care unit in a general hospital. I work full time 12 hour shifts. I got report before shift and was told about a new patient that we had gotten the day before. He is in his 50's and lives in a nursing home. He has brain damage and is total care. He is not a palliative care patient but we had the only bed for him. I was told that the nursing home would not take him back because he was too aggressive ( this being the real reason he was admitted). The doctors were trying to decide what to do with him ...ie...transfer him to a psych hospital. I was alone on my end of the unit as my co-worker was gone to lunch. I was feeding this patient. He was co-operative until all of a sudden he reached out and grabbed my arm and pulled so hard I fell over. I went to ER and was put in a sling and neckbrace and given torodol and valium and told to follow up with my family doc. Now its been over a week ( waiting for an appt), pain pills are gone and I'm still in brace and sling. I'm typing this with my left hand as thr right one is not usable ( of course I'm a righty). I have headaches,muscle spasms and a lot of trouble sleeping and even doing ADL's. I just heard that this patient eventually freaked out and it took 5 people to transfer him out.....is this the hospital's fault for putting an obviously dangerous pt in a non secure area therefore putting me in danger? Any opinions appreciated

[NrsheartTS]

I am sorry that this has happened to you and i hope you feel better soon.

[suzanne4, RN]

We are not able to give legal advice here, but be aware that the patient was admitted to an acute bed and your unit happened to have one available. Does not appear that he was admitted to psych and there were no beds. They may have decided to transfer him after the fact, but not initially. Things like this do happen.

You should have filled out an incident report on this assault, and the care for it should be covered under the hospital's insurance since it was an accident at work involving a patient.

Any more advice than this and we are unable to give it here per the TOS of this forum.

[silverrainbows]

Thanks for the advice. I did fill out all of the proper papers. I have been filling these out for years with no follow up. This pt was not admitted to psych initially as our psych unit is an ambulatory one and this pt was not. They just put him there to hold him until they could transfer him to another facility because the nursing home refused to take him back.He had no acute diagnosis.

[suzanne4, RN]

It is not an acute diagnosis but an acute care admission, and that is what it is when the patient is admitted to any regular type bed in a hospital-setting. Things like this do happen.

Whether or not the patient was going to go to a psych unit, is not the issue at this time. There are patients like this on most units, the fact is that you were injured while on the job and then need to proceed accordingly. Not any different if you were working on an ortho floor, or surgical floor, or even tele unit.

[I love my cat!]

So sorry this happened.

This is a work related injury.

I'm glad you filled out all of the necessary paperwork at Employee Health. It is also worth keeping a diary of how you feel (issues you may have not felt at the time of injury). Sometimes soft tissue injury shows up days later and can weeks-month-years to recover from.

Your employer should cover your medical costs and you may even be eligible for Temp. Disability until you are fully recovered. Your paperwork will also be extremely helpful if your position needs to be modified in any way to accommodate you (without undue hardship to the Employer).

Do not quit your job. If they fire you because of this, you need to hire an attorney that specializes in workplace injuries.

Good Luck!! Take care. :redbeathe

[CHATSDALE]

nursing is a hazardous duty job

i hope that you don't have a permanent damage from this

talk with the hospital

if you are not satisfied consult with attorney

[OC_An Khe]

You should be talking to your HR department and/or employee health as this should fall under Worker's Compensation coverage. I would google workers compensation for your state and find out what your responsibilities and rights are.

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

you should be talking to your hr department and/or employee health as this should fall under worker's compensation coverage. i would google workers compensation for your state and find out what your responsibilities and rights are.

good idea--but no matter what us state you are in, this is clearly an injury that falls under worker's comp. in addition, i'd talk to employee health if you have one.

there is also the issue of osha recordability on the osha 200 log that you might want to look up and/or seek legal advise on.

no comment on your situation, but i have observed employers manipulate tx to keep an injury from being "recordable".

[NurseCard, ADN]

Sorry that this happened to you. I really don't have much to add to what has already been said.

Things like this happen on acute units.

It's a work related injury and should be covered under your worker's comp.

[BrokenRNheart]

Be prepared for scrutiny.

Every one that I have worked with that went for injuries was treated like a liar and the manager and hospital was trying to find their fault or a lie in the story.

I hope this doesn't happen to you. Being alone in that room, I wouldn't be surprised if they put the blame on you. I would be surprised if they took care of you and acknowledge that you were endangered and injured.

Good luck.

Document everything well now so you don't have any memory lapse.