I am a new nurse and I had a pt make a false accusation.

[newnurse34]

Ok so im a new nurse just finishing up in my 12 wks of orientation. Im in my final 3 days now. Anyways, the other night my preceptor and I were floated to another floor and given a psych patient along with 3 other patients. We were told in report that this patient had been problematic for 2 days and that they had to remove a roommate of hers due to her behavior and continued disruptive nonsense. The patient was originally fine and causing no issues for us on night shift. After a few hours she because angry and began threatening her new roommate. She wanted her removed she said. Clearly, we had to move one of them before this became a bigger problem so we moved the roommate and then blocked the room as private so that no other patient s wld be subjected to this bullying. As the evening went on things were ok and I went to lunch around 1:45 and returned at 2:30. Upon my return, I was going to hang some NS on a pt that was my new admission, but I cld hear this patients iv pump beeping so I figured I might as well stop in and see whats going on with her pump before walking away. Well this turned out to be a huge mistake! ! The pump was flashing low battery so I explained I was just gonna plug it in for her. She argued and wanted it plugged in across the room and I explained I cldnt do that because its a fall hazard. She said" oh yes u can..now leave it where I said and get out!!!" I said "ok, im just gonna get my preceptor so she can explain again why we cant have cords like that in here" I walked out and told the charge nurse what happened and she just shook her head and said " this patient...ugh" I continued on to hang my saline on my other patient and the next thing I know the charge nurse tells me " we need to talk about the patient in room $#@ " I said "oookk"?? As I exit the room I am told the patient doesnt want u back in there and she said u grabbed her a and almost ripped her iv out!! I was furious at this accusation! I cldnt believe this nonsense!! So the charge nurse called the supervisor and she came and got both sides of the story and then I had to write my statement for my "file" soooo im confused here. My question is why wldnt they have confronted the pt that this was unacceptable behavior and that she has been causing issues since she got here and that this will not be tolerated? I was always taught that with psych pts "never baby them" they need to be held accountable right? I haven't even been able to sleep over this..I did not work for 7 years in school and owe 70,000 in loans for a pt to lie about me like this :-( im so discouraged and scared to even be a nurse now. Plz help me understand

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Hi!

Closed poll as not applicable to thread.

[psychnursie]

If they knew that pt was accusatory she should have been a two person approach

[caliotter3]

I could probably pay a month's rent if I had $10 for every time some client complained about me just because they wanted to show everybody who is boss, or wanted someone of their own ethnicity, or just wanted to make up false accusations as amusement. Now if I had $1000.50 for every time my employer backed me up with this tripe, I would not be able to sniff at the rent. Complaints come with the territory. How you let them roll off your back will indicate how serene your life will be as long as you work as a nurse.

[Beautiful_Soul]

Wow your supervisor completely switched gears on you, she sounds like one of those nurses who talks crap about certain patients she can't stand, but kisses their butt in their face. Sounds like she was kissing butt so she wouldn't be accused of anything. Don't worry about the investigation especially since you know you didn't do anything wrong. They investigate everything in nursing homes and hospitals even falls sometimes. Always remind yourself of this....This Too Shall Pass!

[ICURN3020]

You've received some great advice. When I have a patient like the one you describe or one who is inappropriate or makes me feel really uncomfortable I try to always have someone else in the room with me as a witness. It's protection against patient accusations of doing something/not doing something. Not always possible I know, but my co-workers are understanding about it and always help if they can.

[janeybirdRN]

Like others said- use the buddy system. We frequently take two people in for patients that have had issues with staff to make sure things like this don't happen. And they don't have to be 'psych' patients. People lie and hopefully you will be on a good team that supports each other and doesn't mind going with you.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Ok so im a new nurse just finishing up in my 12 wks of orientation. Im in my final 3 days now. Anyways, the other night my preceptor and I were floated to another floor and given a psych patient along with 3 other patients. We were told in report that this patient had been problematic for 2 days and that they had to remove a roommate of hers due to her behavior and continued disruptive nonsense. The patient was originally fine and causing no issues for us on night shift. After a few hours she because angry and began threatening her new roommate. She wanted her removed she said. Clearly, we had to move one of them before this became a bigger problem so we moved the roommate and then blocked the room as private so that no other patient s wld be subjected to this bullying. As the evening went on things were ok and I went to lunch around 1:45 and returned at 2:30. Upon my return, I was going to hang some NS on a pt that was my new admission, but I cld hear this patients iv pump beeping so I figured I might as well stop in and see whats going on with her pump before walking away. Well this turned out to be a huge mistake! ! The pump was flashing low battery so I explained I was just gonna plug it in for her. She argued and wanted it plugged in across the room and I explained I cldnt do that because its a fall hazard. She said" oh yes u can..now leave it where I said and get out!!!" I said "ok, im just gonna get my preceptor so she can explain again why we cant have cords like that in here" I walked out and told the charge nurse what happened and she just shook her head and said " this patient...ugh" I continued on to hang my saline on my other patient and the next thing I know the charge nurse tells me " we need to talk about the patient in room $#@ " I said "oookk"?? As I exit the room I am told the patient doesnt want u back in there and she said u grabbed her a and almost ripped her iv out!! I was furious at this accusation! I cldnt believe this nonsense!! So the charge nurse called the supervisor and she came and got both sides of the story and then I had to write my statement for my "file" soooo im confused here. My question is why wldnt they have confronted the pt that this was unacceptable behavior and that she has been causing issues since she got here and that this will not be tolerated? I was always taught that with psych pts "never baby them" they need to be held accountable right? I haven't even been able to sleep over this..I did not work for 7 years in school and owe 70,000 in loans for a pt to lie about me like this :-( im so discouraged and scared to even be a nurse now. Plz help me understand

I agree. The CN should have backed you up and not taken the patient at their word. As a CN I would have gone to the patient and talked to them and then gone in the room with you for future contact with the patient. I would have never gone as far as this CN did.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

It happens. You should also keep in mind that the facility usually comes down on the side of the patient to their face even if they tell you something different in private. That is the nature of business first, customer service based nursing. Welcome to the jungle baby.

[explorereb96, ADN, BSN]

Well, its not like this patient had any kind of credibility. If I were charge. There would be certain steps that would have been taken. First, I would have gotten your statement. This does not mean that this is a hit against you. The next morning the attending would have to be called. The psychiatrist, social worker, the patient herself (all who are part of the team) would come up with a behavior plan and the patient would sign it. First and foremost, the patient will understand that not one employee will step into her room without someone else present unless it is a dire emergency. Any care given would be done with a witness. This happens all the time with psych patients within an institution. I would not fret. And this too shall pass and you will survive and still love nursing. Keep on trucking.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

Well, it sounds like you learned something - you learned that patient complaints are always taken seriously, even if the patient is a troublemaker! I had a situation like that this past weekend. I called my team leader in to talk to the patient and listen to her concerns for several reasons - 1. sometimes having a second person say the same things finally helps the patient believe you are telling the truth, 2. the patient feels like he/she is really being heard when you do get someone else and explain that the other person is your boss, 3. your supervisor can assess the way you are interacting with the patient, as opposed to the way the patient says you are acting, and 4. the supervisor can really assess the depth of the manipulation on the part of the patient. After my team leader left, I documented the heck out of the situation, including direct quotes from the patient and the full name and title of every single person I called, which in this case was the team leader and the physician, and exactly how they responded to what I said.

Look at the bright side - since you had this patient when you were floated, you probably won't have her again because she likely won't end up on your unit! That's a cause for celebration right there.

[B52, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN]

A similar thing happened to me when I was a student. During report, I was told to encourage the patient to ambulate, so when she asked for the bed pan I suggested she let me walk her to the restroom, and she did. But as soon as I left the room, the patient's daughter went to the nurses' station and told them I was rude and they didn't want me back in the room because I "made" her mother walk to the bathroom. The charge nurse told me how problematic that patient had been and she just advised me to stay away from that room. I told my "Devil Wears Prada" instructor, and her response: "Don't even worry about it. That walk to the restroom probably did her some good."

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

If this patient continues to up the ante, it is a behavioral pattern that doesn't bode well in an acute care setting. In response, a plan needs to be utilized to get this patient functioning and discharged, but moreso, how this patient will conduct herself going forward by setting clear boundries that the patient follows, and nursing sticks to. If this patient can not conduct herself accordingly, perhaps social work needs to come up with a plan to help her function in the real world outside of the facility.

Do not, under any circumstances, go into the room again alone.

Also, now that you are aware that you will float to many units, I would get malpractice insurance. Just as an extra layer of protection for you.

Best wishes.