Reportables

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Mar 13, 2013

We don't have a $ amount cut off and thankfully thefts are very rare!

LTCRN4LIFE · Mar 13, 2013

Unfortunately, report them all. I once had a CNA who was stealing money from her co workers and though the police were called and involved and the staff were sure she was doing it we couldnt catch her. I knew a DON who went through similar circumstances and gathered his staff. On a tray he put a bunch of empty med cups and said the local police were going to do fingerprint checks. If you have nothing to hide then I am sure you wont mind being easily cleared. Because so many checks need to be done they have asked us to have each of you grab a cup off this tray and I will take a permanent marker and write your name on the bottom. We will then put it in a plastic bag and send it for fingerprint checks. The staff didnt want to be suspect and wanted to clear themselves so they all eagerly grabbed a cup.......except the person he suspected.....she was extrememly hesitant and had alot of questions. He then took her aside and she gave a confession.

agingnurse · Mar 14, 2013

Unfortunately report them all. I once had a CNA who was stealing money from her co workers and though the police were called and involved and the staff were sure she was doing it we couldnt catch her. I knew a DON who went through similar circumstances and gathered his staff. On a tray he put a bunch of empty med cups and said the local police were going to do fingerprint checks. If you have nothing to hide then I am sure you wont mind being easily cleared. Because so many checks need to be done they have asked us to have each of you grab a cup off this tray and I will take a permanent marker and write your name on the bottom. We will then put it in a plastic bag and send it for fingerprint checks. The staff didnt want to be suspect and wanted to clear themselves so they all eagerly grabbed a cup.......except the person he suspected.....she was extrememly hesitant and had alot of questions. He then took her aside and she gave a confession.[/quote']
I love this idea, may have to steal it!! Pardon the pun! Yes, we have no dollar amt either for reporting to our HD but our local police force rarely will come for really small amts, they just take the report and give us a case number. But, I will say if the resident isn't sure what happened or if she misplace it we do sometimes just fill out a missing item report first, look everywhere, call family to be sure they actually had money or they didn't remove it etc.
Sometime all this reporting makes us feel more like attorneys/ police Investigators instead of nurses!! So time consuming!!!
Good luck!!

LTCRN4LIFE · Mar 14, 2013

Yes he also had a good one for documentation not getting done. When payday arrived he took their checks in his office and when they went to the business office to get their check if it wasnt there they were told to see him.

He said to them. "Tell me why I should pay you." They said because I did the work. He said "Proove it"

He said that talk improved his documentation immensely.

I looked up this facility and he is a 5 star.

agingnurse · Mar 15, 2013

Dear LTCRN4LIFE,

Thanks for the antidotes!! All ideas are helpful, after 35 years I think I e seen and heard it all, but people still amaze me!! Thanks for your contribution to LTC, good nurses in our field are so important!!

blugreeneyez · Apr 2, 2013

I have a question or 4 for the LTC DON's first I want to say I respect the hours you put in and the work that most of you do, but if you had hired a nurse to work 2nd shift would you require that they do all the orientation on 1st shift or do you agree he or she should have some orientation on 2nd shift? The next question you are implementing a new med admin system and the nurse you just hired does not have a password to orient his or herself to this system and makes two mistakes and doesn't know how to correct them in the charting bc of no training can you throw this up as a reason for them to be terminated. A pill count is done at the end of shift 1 hydrocodone 5/500 is off but the nurse shows the crushed pill to the on coming nurse and makes it a point to waste it the nurse agrees to take a drug screen and it shows positive for THC but the nurse immediately went to her physicians office within 30 minutes and took a drug screen he or she paid for out of her own pocket and the drug screen is negative and you still fire her? Yet another question this nurse had a history of PTSD from a severe domestic violence relationship and the anxiety attacks can happen for any reason this nurse went into the med room out of sight of others to calm themselves and another nurse happened to walk in and reported it to you. Would you in turn tell the nurse that they had lost the respect of their co workers and that is why they were fired? The drug screen was wrong, its not the RNs fault that she was not properly trained on a new med admin system b4 you placed them on the floor alone, and how could say that he or she lost the respect of their co workers bc she had an anxiety attack? How do you honestly say it is only the nurses fault his or her employment was a failure? Do you not see any flaws in the system?

SuzieVN · Apr 2, 2013

Unfortunately, report them all. I once had a CNA who was stealing money from her co workers and though the police were called and involved and the staff were sure she was doing it we couldnt catch her. I knew a DON who went through similar circumstances and gathered his staff. On a tray he put a bunch of empty med cups and said the local police were going to do fingerprint checks. If you have nothing to hide then I am sure you wont mind being easily cleared. Because so many checks need to be done they have asked us to have each of you grab a cup off this tray and I will take a permanent marker and write your name on the bottom. We will then put it in a plastic bag and send it for fingerprint checks. The staff didnt want to be suspect and wanted to clear themselves so they all eagerly grabbed a cup.......except the person he suspected.....she was extrememly hesitant and had alot of questions. He then took her aside and she gave a confession.

So wrong, so unprofessional and un-technical, childish, even, on so many levels. Yikes.

SuzieVN · Apr 2, 2013

I have a question or 4 for the LTC DON's first I want to say I respect the hours you put in and the work that most of you do, but if you had hired a nurse to work 2nd shift would you require that they do all the orientation on 1st shift or do you agree he or she should have some orientation on 2nd shift? The next question you are implementing a new med admin system and the nurse you just hired does not have a password to orient his or herself to this system and makes two mistakes and doesn't know how to correct them in the charting bc of no training can you throw this up as a reason for them to be terminated. A pill count is done at the end of shift 1 hydrocodone 5/500 is off but the nurse shows the crushed pill to the on coming nurse and makes it a point to waste it the nurse agrees to take a drug screen and it shows positive for THC but the nurse immediately went to her physicians office within 30 minutes and took a drug screen he or she paid for out of her own pocket and the drug screen is negative and you still fire her? Yet another question this nurse had a history of PTSD from a severe domestic violence relationship and the anxiety attacks can happen for any reason this nurse went into the med room out of sight of others to calm themselves and another nurse happened to walk in and reported it to you. Would you in turn tell the nurse that they had lost the respect of their co workers and that is why they were fired? The drug screen was wrong, its not the RNs fault that she was not properly trained on a new med admin system b4 you placed them on the floor alone, and how could say that he or she lost the respect of their co workers bc she had an anxiety attack? How do you honestly say it is only the nurses fault his or her employment was a failure? Do you not see any flaws in the system?

THC screen is positive, but that's OK, since the med in question was hydrocodone? You're in California, eh?

BrandonLPN, LPN · Apr 3, 2013

Yes he also had a good one for documentation not getting done. When payday arrived he took their checks in his office and when they went to the business office to get their check if it wasnt there they were told to see him.
He said to them. "Tell me why I should pay you." They said because I did the work. He said "Proove it"
He said that talk improved his documentation immensely.
I looked up this facility and he is a 5 star.

Ok, I liked the fingerprint on the med cup idea, but a manager telling me I need to "prove it" in order to receive my paycheck for time already worked might just end up with a black eye.

sharpeimom · Apr 3, 2013

Just a quick observation...

With regard to reporting theft by dollar amounts, what is a struggle for some families, other families don't even notice. When my father in law was in assisted living, he took along his Kindle, his laptop, and his beloved shortwave radio. He was a retired engineer, had been widowed for several years and his electronic "stuff" kept him vital and alive.

His roomie, on the other hand, had a big, warm, loving family who were broke. After we discovered how they were struggling as a family to provide their Dad with Kleenex, denture cleaner and paste, the ordinary stuff of everyday life, we began bringing in extras and made sure the staff knew why. Santa brought him a Kindle and his very own laptop for Christmas. For that sweet lovely man, ANY theft would have had consequences.

SuzieVN · Apr 3, 2013

Requiring that residents keep 'all' valuables in the office safe, despite that accounting hassle- would prevent a lot of wasted time from patients that 'lose' money, or 'flush' it by accident, etc...not to mention the careers that are ruined by false claims of theft. . .