I have a family member who works as a home health aid (CNA level). She often brags about the tips she receives-some of which are substantial cash amounts. Most recently, she bragged about accepting a $500 cash tip from a pt requiring 24hr care (I believe this pt has dementia, but I'm not sure).
My question is this: is this illegal? Even if it's not, I would definitely feel uncomfortable as I know that many of these types of patients do have some form of dementia. It seems unethical to me to accept tips like this....what are your thoughts? I have heard that gifts are common, but usually they are not monetary...
The family member has also frequently mentioned that the patients' families have no idea these tips are being given...
Just want to reiterate again: I don't know if this particular patient has dementia, nor do I know if the tip was given without the knowledge of the patient family. Furthermore, for all I know the amount may not have been $500 in reality - the person in question is known to exaggerate for attention.
Again, I agree with all of you in regards to the fact that accepting monetary tips is unethical. There are so many "unknowns" in this situation that, given the personal relationships involved, I just wanted to give this situation a lot of thought before potentially jeopardizing the relationships and livelihoods of the people involved (the person in question is married and has a young child; both husband and child have serious chronic illnesses and therefore require her income).
The bragging, the families not knowing, and working under her CNA license means she's working for an agency...it all stinks.
Our agency doesn't allow cash gifts. I accept fresh eggs and tomatoes out of the garden, but cash is either returned or deposited in our patient fund whichever the fully oriented giver prefers.
She could lose everything (her certification) if she is accepting these gifts against a company policy. I've been poor enough to need that 500 bucks worse than I needed to be an upstanding citizen, so I have nothing to say about her personal issues which look rough.
I'm afraid something like this will endanger her ability to support her family AT ALL. As her friend, hopefully she'll listen to you and do some research on her own behalf.
Otherwise, I'd pretend I knew nothing about it. Like you said, she exaggerates.
Again I understand and agree with the assertions on this thread that it is unethical. I just wasn't sure if it was illegal - I'm not sure if she works through an agency or if she is specifically working under her CNA certification. And given the personal relationships involved, I just wanted other opinions on the situation before I did anything.
Thank you all for taking the time to share your opinions on the matter.
I can imagine this would be a hard situation to deal with because you have a personal relationship with this person. It's hard for me to imagine anyone accepting such a gift without hesitation, but sometimes people just don't use their heads. And as another poster mentioned, maybe she feels desperate. As a friend, your first step could be speaking directly to your friend and discussing the severity of the situation; discuss the serious repercussions and the unethical nature of the situation. Honesty, it's probably not too late for her to report the gift to her employer. If she does this herself, I really don't think she'll get in trouble and the situation can be rectified without her losing her job or losing respect with her employer. Hopefully she'll think more before accepting gifts like this in the future.
When I worked in an ALF, with some residents who had mild dementia, we were not allowed to accept gifts. It was for our own protection; residents with dementia often accused staff of theft, and we had to investigate every time. In my current job staff can't handle any money for clients.
Your family member is setting herself up for theft and exploitation charges. All it would take is one concerned family member looking at Mom or Dad' checking account, then calling the agency or the police. In my state, theft is the most common reason for LNAs to lose their license (and it is a license in my state).
GabesMommy2014
44 Posts
Just want to reiterate again: I don't know if this particular patient has dementia, nor do I know if the tip was given without the knowledge of the patient family. Furthermore, for all I know the amount may not have been $500 in reality - the person in question is known to exaggerate for attention.
Again, I agree with all of you in regards to the fact that accepting monetary tips is unethical. There are so many "unknowns" in this situation that, given the personal relationships involved, I just wanted to give this situation a lot of thought before potentially jeopardizing the relationships and livelihoods of the people involved (the person in question is married and has a young child; both husband and child have serious chronic illnesses and therefore require her income).