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 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 agree. They could not have fired you for telling the truth, but now your posterior is in the fire for a lie they won't back you up for. So much for trying to be a "good" employee.
I worry about nurses who cave in when this kind of thing happens. You are a person who is basically unmonitored through an 8 or 12 hour span, responsible for the well-being of helpless people; entrusted with dangerous drugs and equipment. You are expected to make good choices, and easy outs are simply not an option. Please learn from this and move on to a better situation.
You can resign or your license will be tagged for a lie? That sounds like bull to me. You were put in a bad position by a bad employer, and the employer is trying to cover their butt at your expence. I suggest you contact the Board and clarify all this from their point of vue. Your employer told you to lie in the first place, then you were stuck trying to maintain the lie they initiated. You might also want to contact a lawyer, scratch that, contact a lawyer. You're not the bad guy in all this, you're a victim, and don't let your employer give you a bad reference. They owe you big time!
Its not bull, state bully's nurses, example, if you tell them the truth, "i am usually late with med passese, med passes for 80+(nursing home,ltc) patients cannot be done in the allorted hour etc, then the nurse gets the tag, the facility is either required to fire you or get fined for "your" mistakes. Which do you think the facility will choose?
They told you to lie in the first place, and then when you get caught they threaten you?? I would resign simply because of the BS. And then I would go to the surveyer and tell them how your employer forced you to lie.
I was recently put in a similar situation. Not as bad as yours though. And no, I did not lie to the state. Believe me, if they ask you a question, they usually know the answer already! Or they will find it out! They have every right to look it up! The state is not our enemy, they are our friend and they are there to make sure our employers are not lying! In my case, she asked me, I told the truth. Then she asked my boss and he threw me under the bus. She caught HIM in the lie, not me! Honesty is always the best policy.
I wouldn't want to keep that job anyway - if they expect you to lie for them, they will lie about you.
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
Yes, if you are not able to get your med pass done on time because you have too many patients, the FACILITY, not the nurse, can be issued a federal (and sometimes a state) citation as well. It is the responsibility of the facility to assure that there are sufficient numbers of staff to provide for minimum standards of care in a nursing home and the federal standards are the minimum standards required. Unfortunately, facilities can and do terminate nurses who are not able to keep up with the work load and get their meds out on time. Throwing the baby out with the bath water. And that is too bad. It hurts morale and is bad for patient care.
Employers these days are not loyal to their employees. It's CYA all around. Always remember to do the right thing even when it means butting up against folks who want you to do wrong.
Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.
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 .
If you are old enough to be a nurse then you are an adult and will make adult decisions which are often difficult--that's why adults have to make them. No one can force an adult to do anything unless there is a gun or other weapon to his head. It may be unpleasant to stand up to a manager and then be on her hit-list later (all you had to do is say, "no, i'm not going to lie, the surveyor is here, for heaven's sake"), but obviously you didn't want to disobey your employer, so like a child you did as you were told, lied to a surveyer, got you nothing but trouble-a forced resignation or fired. Sorry, you got what you deserved.
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steelydanfan
784 Posts
I agree. They could not have fired you for telling the truth, but now your posterior is in the fire for a lie they won't back you up for. So much for trying to be a "good" employee.
I worry about nurses who cave in when this kind of thing happens. You are a person who is basically unmonitored through an 8 or 12 hour span, responsible for the well-being of helpless people; entrusted with dangerous drugs and equipment. You are expected to make good choices, and easy outs are simply not an option. Please learn from this and move on to a better situation.