I am a new grad RN working at a nursing home for 4 months. I just went through my first state surveyor. I was off the fist day of the survey, so the second day i went to work only to hear that the state was in the building. so at 8:45AM the DON came and told me that the surveyor entered the building and that they will definately be coming to follow me. I became nervous which she noticed. She told me to just take deep breath, relax and continue to do what i usually do and that I will be fine...Five minutes later she came back and full me off the floor and replace me with our NP. i didn't feel comfortable with her decision to do this and express it to her. she said its find not to worry about it. i also ask her what to tell them if they ask me why i am there watching the NP pass med. She told me to say that i am on orientation. but the whole situation didn't feel right but i played along. The NP was not in our work uniform and for some reason she did not look like a floor nurse...Anyways the surveyor came to us and ask the NP how come she is passing med and who am I standing next to her. The surveyor also know the NP from previous med pass at another facility. The NP told the surveyor that i am on orientation. when she said that, the surveyor look at me and back at her with a suspicious face and moved on to another nurse. She didn't want to see the NP pass med as she knew the NP was experience in med pass. So throughout the day the surveyor continue to look at me for an opportunity to question me...so that chance finally came when i was doing accu check. during that time she ask me how long have i been on orientation and not knowing what to say i respond and said 1 month. When the NP notice that the surveyor was with me she came to my rescue so i told what happen and to inform he DON of what I told the surveyor about my employment. The reason i told her one month was because if i had said 4 months, she would wonder then why am i still on orientation. So i lied. i felt the only reason i lied was because the NP and DON started the misconception.
So i went to work the 3rd day and everything was ok. There were no surveyor in my face. Then i was off friday and today i went to work only to be told that the surveyor ask for my record and caught me in a lie. So the ADON gave me two options...she said that i can resign or two, my license can be tag for the lie i told the surveyor. So not knowing any better i chose to to resign. so what do u guys think? Can the state check human resources files? Should i have resign? Can my license be tag by the state or the facility? If my license is tag, how can I fix that? I just check its not tag yet.
I am so sorry to hear this happened to you. It happens to a certain number of nurses whenever state comes around. It is expected that a person will do whatever is necessary to convince the surveyors that things are going according to the rules, whether that is the case or not. You can not be faulted for getting tripped up. I would get an attorney and follow their advice about how to deal with this. Do not beat yourself up over your response. Many people would have stood there with their mouth hanging open. Good luck finding your next job. I hope you can recover from this incident quickly and are able to take something positive away from it.
This is why long term care is so horrible at times. Its not the workload though its hard but how management will turn on you in a minute. I agree with other posters get a lawyer go after unemployment and write letters. They set you up and sweetie I have been done the same way. Look out for yourself.
I have a daughter who thinks I change jobs as a nurse because I have a problem and cant stick to anything its just when you end up as a nurse in facilities that do things like some of my prior employers and yours you change jobs to survive . The problem is you dont know the facility is like that until you take the job and work there sometime. Some of the most nice looking facilties ran by huge healthcare corporations have the worst management and treat their staff the worst. Good luck and dont look behind you there are good places to work a person just has to look...
First off, the state can tag you whether you resign or not. The nursing facility has no power to make "deals". That place is as shady as it comes. The NP is no better. In fact, I have never heard of anything as shady as this. New grads pass meds in front of the state every day. New grads usually do a better job, as they haven't picked up bad habits and follow med passing to the letter. Why your DON would pull you, is sooo beyond me. Why a NP would follow a kooky scheme, I can't wrap my mind around. Then the ADON gets involved and tells you a convoluted story. I thought I heard and seen everything, but this takes the cake.
If this is really a true story, call the state and tell them the truth. Your facility deserves to be reported and you need to take your own lumps. Don't start lying to anyone about anything. No one can make you lie. I think you lied too easily here. There is no way on God's green earth, I would just spew a lie like that. Especially to a state surveyor. Especially about something you can check so easily. Not to the body, that holds your career in their hands. I could be wrong, but this just sounds too out there for me. Take it from me, a women of a certain age, it is not worth lying. Lying becomes addictive and is hard to break, once started. Yes we all lie at times, but that is not what i am talking about. I am talking about compulsive lying. It is not worth it, all you really have is your word, and you don't want to lose that. Good luck. Peace!
Your employer was in the wrong, and they essentially forced you to lie. Im not one for contacting lawyers unless truly needed, but this sounds fishy and you should think about it. They forced you into a bad position and you were scared and didnt know what to do. This just screams wrong, wrong, wrong.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Your employer was in the wrong, and they essentially forced you to lie. Im not one for contacting lawyers unless truly needed, but this sounds fishy and you should think about it. They forced you into a bad position and you were scared and didnt know what to do. This just screams wrong, wrong, wrong.
I disagree. The minute her employer asked her to lie, she should have drawn a line in the sand and refused. If that meant losing her job then and there, so be it. It would have been far better than the current state of affairs she is now in.
Personal integrity is absolutely essential in this career. It does not bode well if you start off your career by lying. Next time, be honest right away, no matter how painful it may be for you .
I worked in a LTC facility. Not as a nurse but in the front office. I saw A LOT of shady stuff in that place. I think it goes on everywhere, where I worked it was TERRIBLE. If things happened the way you stated I would absolutely contact someone about what happened. This facility should not get away with it and your job and license was jeapardized. I don't know how this affects your license but I would not trust the facility that put you in this situation that they will protect your license, not that I think they even have the power to do this.
You should probably contact the board of nursing because the facility could just go ahead and report you anyway and you need to tell your side. It's always better to be the first to report instead of being the one on the defensive. Good luck. Sorry you were put in this horrible situation.
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
As a surveyor, I can tell you that any time you lie to a surveyor, they have other ways of checking data. When the surveyor noted the change of staff at the med pass, this gave her a clue that something was amiss. You must know that we are lied to all the time on surveys and complaint investigations. I personally would never have resigned from this position because according to your post (and that is all the information I have available to me) this would not be grounds for termination unless the facility found something in your file that indicated that you had lied to them during the application process. You cannot lie on an employment application and any false information given there is grounds for termination. You are past your 90 day probationary period and the facility therefore cannot terminate you without reason. Most are required to go through due process unless something major has happened to a patient (abuse, neglect).
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
In addition, if someone makes a complaint against you with the BNE, you will know it because they will investigate and this starts with your getting a letter from them. Your license cannot be "tagged" (what ever that means). The facility set you up for failure and it is a shame. What you should do before you do anything is get a report of that survey to see exactly what the facility was sited on. The surveyors don't site people for lying. The survey results are a matter of public record and are actually posted in each nursing home (or should be or they will get sited for not having it). Each facility is required to keep a folder posted for everyone to review with the last 15 months of survey/ complaint investigation results in them. Please go to the CMS (Center for Medicare Services) web site and you can search for the results there. It may take a while to get them posted on the site. If not, call the 1-800 number and discuss your situation and they may be able to assist you in getting those results.
And for those of you out there who are on med pass when the surveyor is there, we know you get nervous. Take your time, be accurate and remember to be sanitary in your procedures to deliver meds. We will stop you from time to time to check different information. It does not mean something is wrong. It is all part of the data gathering process.
Our first priority is making sure that residents are safe and being cared for. And I am sure that is what all of you want as well.
Do not just accept this and not make waves.. This could affect the rest of your career. Fight back,, do everything other posters suggested especially contacting surveyors and BON..Even if you do not wan to go back.. you still need to fight this.
Diane, you have high personal conduct standards, but I don't trust just anybody in this role :)
Also, if in an "at will" state, you can be let go for any or no reason, happens all the time. I'm sure her boss didn't like the bit of scrutiny and that was enough as nurses are a dime for two dozen these days.
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
I am so sorry to hear this happened to you. It happens to a certain number of nurses whenever state comes around. It is expected that a person will do whatever is necessary to convince the surveyors that things are going according to the rules, whether that is the case or not. You can not be faulted for getting tripped up. I would get an attorney and follow their advice about how to deal with this. Do not beat yourself up over your response. Many people would have stood there with their mouth hanging open. Good luck finding your next job. I hope you can recover from this incident quickly and are able to take something positive away from it.