looking for advice:Recently had a patient to brake a bone from a fall

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looking for advice:Recently had a patient to brake a bone from a fall. This happen to a co worker and she went through all procedures for falls. It just makes her fill uneasy. Will she be terminated or will she lose license. Never has any one to brake a bone from a fall. Anyone with some advice on this situation.

thanks for any advice. I just trying to lift her up on this situation. thanks:)

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I have had patient falls with fractures. I'm still licensed.

:)

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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.
i have had patient falls with fractures. i'm still licensed.

:)

me too!

op, a nurse cannot be with 1 patient at all times. we have many patients, so a fall is inevitable especially with these dementia/alzheimer's patients.

they will investigate the incident and find out how the patient fell. unless the nurse purposely pushed the patient and got a fracture, she won't lose the license over this. i don't know about job termination because an employer can fire you for anything and they don't need a reason.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

It's not the fall that allows the nurse to lose her license, it's the negligence in the actions prior to the fall occurring. This is why strict adherence to policy and procedure as well as documentation of your actions is of the utmost importance.

That being said, even very good nurses, and following procedure to the T does not mean you can't....or won't ....be sued or have your license challenged.......that is why carrying is of the utmost importance.

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Specializes in LTC, HH, and Case Mangement.

I work on an assisted living unit. We had this resident who had a PA on (she was always trying to get up unassisted) and I was working around the desk and she got up out of her wheelchair and fell hard onto the floor. I tried to catch her, but of course you cannot be fast enough. Upon assessing her my RCTs and I noticed how badly swollen her wrists were and she was in a good amount of pain. I just knew she had broken her wrists, but we send her out and sure enough she had fractured both wrists. She did pass away later on, not from what happened to her, but her husband had just passed away, so I am sure it was for that reason. But I never got into any type of trouble. I still am a practicing LPN. I documented what happened, of course notified the family, filled out an incident report, gave report to the hospital, and the emts. I have worked on this unit for a year and half and have had my license for almost 2.5 years. believe me I protect it with my life. :heartbeat Sorry for the long post, just trying to show as long as do everything you know and are tranined to do, you should be fine :)

Heather

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Specializes in LTC.

Sometimes people fall. Sometimes when they fall they get hurt.

Just make sure to document everything properly and make sure that all your safety measures are in place.

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It happens.

What will happen is that with any incident where the resident is transfered to the hospital (and other reasons) we need to report it to the state.

They will investigate a few things or need more info on this. Starting with were they at risk for falls? (did they have a previous fall, were fall assessments done quarterly, with admit and with any sig change?)

If you knew they were at risk..what interventions were put into place? Was there a care plan?

After the fall...what did you do? Was policy and procedure followed? Was proper first aid administered?

If you didn't document any of this or if it wasn't put into place knowing this person had a fall....yeah, there could be a problem.

A LTC nurse cannot be everywhere at all times and some accidents are not preventable. It happens.

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

Also...get a copy of that Xray. It saved me with a surveyor one time when the Xray went on and on about the severity of the osteoporosis. Proved that bone was gonna break if the wind blew too strong.

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Also...get a copy of that Xray. It saved me with a surveyor one time when the Xray went on and on about the severity of the osteoporosis. Proved that bone was gonna break if the wind blew too strong.

We once had someone stand up. The minute she bore weight her tibia cracked.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS.
We once had someone stand up. The minute she bore weight her tibia cracked.

That happened to my dad once!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Use nursing process. Assess. What's the person's fall risk. Plan. What can you do to mitigate that risk? Evaluate..is the plan working? We know old people fall. What we try to prevent is injury from a fall.

If you've accurately assessed the risk and have a plan in place, you won't lose your license.

If you pushed the person onto the floor and they broke their bones, you would most assuredly and deservedly lose your license.

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