am I going to be in trouble?

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i'm so scared right now. a state surveyor just called me at home to investigate a fall of a resident. i wasnt assigned to this patient but i heard her cry and went into her room and found her sitting on the floor. when i assessed her, did rom she didnt complain of pain but when she was assisted back to wheelchair thats when she started to complain of pain. at that time because i wasnt her nurse i notified a nurse who is in charge of her. now the state surveyor wanted to know what happened and asked me questions. eventually she was sent to the hospital for fracture and came back. is my license going to be on the line because i sat her back to wheelchair? am i suppose to be honest to the state surveryor or should i have try to cover my ass? this is the first time this has happened to me so i'm so scared.

It could have been a lawyer on the phone for all you know.

That was my first thought upon reading the post.

Talk to your DON NOW!

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Also, if anyone ever calls again regarding this incident refer them to your manager.

Say nothing. IMO, I consider it bad business and even a bit unethical for a lawyer to pretend to be a surveyor to get info out of you. In fact, it might be illegal is she was a lawyer.

Did you get a name? Cross check that name with ABA members to see if she is in fact a lawyer.

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i had a state surveyer send me a registered letter once, it did not even state what they were going to talk to me about just a appt date and and office address

scared me to death, i raked my brains trying to think of anything i had done..found out later that it was something that happen to a patient about two years before and they wanted to know something about the nurses on duty that night, their work habits, etc [i wasn't on duty at the time of the fall but i worked with both nurses frequently

later i was thinking if they had called on a nurse with an axe to grind these people could have been in trouble

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Specializes in Skilled nursing@ LTC.

I have heard of surveyors calling nurses at home. But the calls were made with the facility's knowledge, and the nusre in question only worked weekends.

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Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.

Ok first off, calm down. Second, talk to your DON to see if the state was notified and by whom. THirdly document everything that was said between you and the alleged state official as much as you remember, for your records if for nothing else. Lastly, be upfront with your DON that someone claiming to be from the state has contacted you and asked for information on this incident. Tell them specifically what was said and asked, date, time, everything that should be on your documented report from above.

Yes, state can call you at home about certain incidents. I worked at a nursing home for about three weeks after I graduated that had had a "spotty" reputation with nurses. I didn't even make it out of my orientation period before I saw what others had meant. I quit immmediately, but during my orientation there was a time when the pharamaceutical representative and the nurse orienting me did a narc waste of discontinued or old drugs. Since I was orienting with her, she asked me to help so I would know how to waste correctly. There was a book that had the name, Rx number, tracking number, prescription, and patient name of every narc and controlled substance in the facility that we had to record when meds came in and when they were wasted. So I went in, wasted a couple of meds, documented with the rep and other nurse, and then I went to finish some chart documentation while the other nurse stayed to waste.

Well, lo and behold, for a month after I quit, this place kept calling me saying their book was missing and they needed it back immediately. This happened at least once a day. I kept telling them I didn't have it and that so and so was with me when I was helping waste. That nurse denied it and the drug rep said he could only remember me because I was new. I had had my license about two months when I get a call from the state regarding that book and I about freaked. I thought, great, here I've worked so hard to get my license and because I quit this place and someone is lying now I'm going to lose it. The state official identified herself and asked me all kinds of questions about the date, time, color of the book, details of when I left there and why. At one point I just started sobbing thinking I was about to be indicted or something and she stops and asks, "do you think we're investigating you?". When I sobbed out yes, she apologized profusely and restated that state was investigating the facility, not me. Then she set up an appt with me to interview me at the state board's office and upon arriving there, I found out the facility was being investigated for a myriad of things and the narc book missing was just one of the things listed. The facility was in big trouble about that book and the DON and my orienting nurse had decided to hang it on me. Well, the state took my statement and others from other employees and guess what? THree months into investigation the orienting nurse "happened to miraculously find" the book in her nursing bag. OOOPs! From what I've heard from other employees that I knew before I worked there and still keep in contact, they lost their medicare certification, half the nursing staff was fired, the DON was disciplined on her license, and the palce couldn't take any new patients.

So take heart. If state contacted you, they may not be investigating you, just the incident or the facility. Just document, CYA as much as possible, and be truthful. You can't get into trouble that way.

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Take a deep breath - it sounds to me like you did everything right. As for the state calling you at home, make sure your DON knows about the call, date, time and who you think you spoke with. Get on your computer and type up everything you can remember about the phone call and the incident so that you have something you can refer that was written while your memory is still fairly fresh.

As far as lying to the state - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to cover your butt. It is too easy to screw yourself up in trying to cover up a lie or a mistake. In your best interest, the best interest of your patient and your license - always tell the truth. If you make a mistake, cop to it and create a plan that you can show to your boss or whoever, what you are going to do to prevent yourself from making that mistake again. It will show that you are honest if you don't try to hide it from the beginning. If they can believe you are telling them the truth from the beginning, they are less likely to work so hard at trying to trip you up later.

Last, but not least, keep a record for yourself of all unusual incidents at work with as much detail as possible. You need to document these things while they are still fresh in your mind with as much detail as possible and keep it in your personal files. That way if there are ever questions, you can refer back to your own notes. Just don't put patient names on your notes, just MR #'s and maybe DOB.

Good luck and keep us informed.

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Specializes in LTC.
i have heard of surveyors calling nurses at home.

so have i. there was an incident at the first ltc facility i worked at, which turned out to be an abuse case. the surveyors called the 3-11 staff ( who were on when the incident occurred) at home and made arrangements to talk with each one .they did call from the facility in question. i was really nervous, but it turned out to be not bad at all ( i wasn't a suspect; just a witness, but i was the charge nurse at the time). i was really disappointed in the outcome,though. the culprit was fired and her name placed on a list making her ineligible to work in healthcare again. she beat an 84 yo woman ! if she had done the same thing to someone on the street she would be in jail. still doesn't sit right with me.

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guys, what should i do? i'm so stupid, stupid stupid!!!! :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: i told that surveyor what had happened, i told her that i heard her cry, went into her room, assessed her, put her back to w/c and notified the nurse. i told her absolutely everything when a lady who i was talking to might be a lawyer!!!! and i just notified a charge nurse but i didnt chart that i notfied her!!!! that nurse did write an incident report and wrote in nurses note describing the incident. but i'm so stupid of me not to chart that!!! i just checked my license in the state website for any formal complaints but there are none now but they can file complaint after investigation right? and if the lady i was talking to was a lawyer then they are going to sue me???? if they do decide to sue me i wonder when its going to happen. and i wonder if there is going to be a discipline with my license? ahhhh :crying2: :bluecry1: :( :bluecry1:

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I don't know, I don't think I would have given any info over the phone. I woud have cited HIPAA and said that if she needed to talk to me she could arrange a time to meet me at my place f employent and I would call my manager/DON immediately. I don't know though, if they were a lawyer and you did say something that sounded incriminating, I'm not sure that would hold up anyway. I mean, maybe it would be hard to prove how they got that information. It would be really helpful if you had caller ID or some way to see what the number was where that person called from. It doesn't seem like you did anything wrong, but I can understand why you would be scared and confused right now. Did you talk to your manager about this? Because you should. You need to know what is going on, and so does s/he. Hang in there, and keep us posted!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

I am from Canada so it is likely a bit different here. Just wondering if you have and if you do, does it cover lic. board complaints. If you are worried, maybe you could get 30 minutes of free time with a lawyer. It doesn't sound to me like you were negligent in any way, you did go and check on the patient and reported the fall to the other nurse. Hope this all works out for you.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
guys, what should i do? i'm so stupid, stupid stupid!!!! :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: i told that surveyor what had happened, i told her that i heard her cry, went into her room, assessed her, put her back to w/c and notified the nurse. i told her absolutely everything when a lady who i was talking to might be a lawyer!!!! and i just notified a charge nurse but i didnt chart that i notfied her!!!! that nurse did write an incident report and wrote in nurses note describing the incident. but i'm so stupid of me not to chart that!!! i just checked my license in the state website for any formal complaints but there are none now but they can file complaint after investigation right? and if the lady i was talking to was a lawyer then they are going to sue me???? if they do decide to sue me i wonder when its going to happen. and i wonder if there is going to be a discipline with my license? ahhhh :crying2: :bluecry1: :( :bluecry1:

i am sorry to hear that you are going through this and that you told them everything on the phone. next time, whether you are under investigation or not, always chart who you reported to and their response!!!! that will save you and also, if the person you reported to was negligent in reporting or doing the right thing, at least it shows that you actually did. the only way that the license will show that there is a charge against you is if you were found guilty, not that you are currently under investigation. it was a good suggestion to inquire if you have to speak to an attorney. it may be nothing because you didn't push the patient, but you have to be careful. there are no friends in nursing.

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what does your employer say? the first thing I'd want to know is if the hospital was aware that this person would call; why would your place of employment divulge your personal records?

lesson learned with the charting, and perhaps you still can do a "late entry"; as for your license, that's tricky; you assessed, did ROM and pt. denied pain until she was in WC; where was the Fx--coccyx? not nearly enough info. to determine if you were at fault or negligent or anything, but please, don't post any further details; I'd suggest you contact a lawyer--between the release of private info, and the scenario of the events that transpired, I say better safe than sorry

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