My Negligence Caused a Fall

Blackcat99 · Feb 23, 2011

You don't need to quit your job. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. No one is perfect. I forget to do things too. However, I no longer condemn myself like I did when I was younger. This is the way I see it. I go to work and I always try to do my very best. And that's all I can do. Yes, I am sometimes forgetful. Yes, I sometimes make mistakes too.

Welcome to the human race!!!!!! :yeah: Hang in there. You are going to be OK.

allnurses Guide · Feb 23, 2011

I know it's upsetting, but don't continue to beat yourself up. I had a similar thing happen years ago - I had a 14 year old girl manage to slip out of her soft restraints while sitting in the wheelchair (no alarms then). She had slipped down almost to the floor and I felt so awful. A good thing - you will always have a heightened awareness of this which makes it very likely you won't ever do it again. ((hugs))

yousoldtheworld · Feb 23, 2011

You know what? I have been an aide for 5 years now, and I have forgotten to attach those tab alarms before. I once didn't even know a resident was supposed to HAVE a chair alarm (they kept it in his bedside table when he was in bed, and I'd never cared for him before - he ended up trying to get up, and he fell.

Just recently, I forgot to turn on a door entry alarm on one of my residents. She walks fine, but we have to be alerted when she exits her room because she wanders, she tries to drink water when she is NPO, and once, she got to the nurse's cart and ate some pills that were sitting on top. She also sometimes claws at and pulls the hair of other residents.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, I was toileting her and one of our seizure lights went off. We don't have call lights (it's a facility for the severely developmentally disabled, we have only one resident who uses a call light, so when an alarm goes off, we know it's an emergency light.) I walked her back to bed, ran out of the room and didn't even think about the alarm, I was so focused on the emergency light. She ended up wandering all the way down to the other end of the facility and trying to drink out of a toilet (luckily we caught her in time).

My point is, we're human. It's normal to feel horrible and beat yourself up about these things, lord knows I did and do...but don't quit your job over it. The fact is, we're mere mortals doing a very stressful job, and as much as you'd like to never forget anything, sometimes it happens.

The good news is, the lady is fine. And you will never forget to attach a tab alarm again. :)

interceptinglight, CNA · Feb 23, 2011

You all are so nice. Yes I know I need to stop kicking myself in the butt. If this lady's chair sensor had been working properly this may not have happened. And yes they quickly rounded up a brand new sensor pad, luckily the State inspectors weren't around to see this. I'll get over this, but I'm going to be super paranoid about making sure alarms are applied whenever necessary.

interceptinglight, CNA · Feb 23, 2011

You know what? I have been an aide for 5 years now, and I have forgotten to attach those tab alarms before. I once didn't even know a resident was supposed to HAVE a chair alarm (they kept it in his bedside table when he was in bed, and I'd never cared for him before - he ended up trying to get up, and he fell.
Just recently, I forgot to turn on a door entry alarm on one of my residents. She walks fine, but we have to be alerted when she exits her room because she wanders, she tries to drink water when she is NPO, and once, she got to the nurse's cart and ate some pills that were sitting on top. She also sometimes claws at and pulls the hair of other residents.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I was toileting her and one of our seizure lights went off. We don't have call lights (it's a facility for the severely developmentally disabled, we have only one resident who uses a call light, so when an alarm goes off, we know it's an emergency light.) I walked her back to bed, ran out of the room and didn't even think about the alarm, I was so focused on the emergency light. She ended up wandering all the way down to the other end of the facility and trying to drink out of a toilet (luckily we caught her in time).
My point is, we're human. It's normal to feel horrible and beat yourself up about these things, lord knows I did and do...but don't quit your job over it. The fact is, we're mere mortals doing a very stressful job, and as much as you'd like to never forget anything, sometimes it happens.
The good news is, the lady is fine. And you will never forget to attach a tab alarm again. :)

That's hilarious about that drinking out of a toilet thingie. Maybe I shouldn't laugh, but it sounds so comical. :lol2:

JDZ344 · Feb 23, 2011

Everybody makes mistakes. I bet you will be super careful about checking now, which is a GOOD thing!

JDZ344 · Feb 23, 2011

You all are so nice. Yes I know I need to stop kicking myself in the butt. If this lady's chair sensor had been working properly this may not have happened. And yes they quickly rounded up a brand new sensor pad, luckily the State inspectors weren't around to see this. I'll get over this, but I'm going to be super paranoid about making sure alarms are applied whenever necessary.

And that is a good thing :)

jb2u, ASN, RN · Feb 23, 2011

Just take it as a lesson learned. It seems, if you quit, this place and it's residents would be missing one very caring CNA!!!

Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 24, 2011

You're learning from your mistake and that is the best thing you can take from the situation. We all know how hard this job is and stuff like this happens. Be thankful that she wasn't hurt worse and just make sure the alarms are on next time. That's all you can do.

You seem like a good CNA and those residents would be missing out on a lot if you quit. At the end of the day, it's about them. Do the best you can do and that's all anybody can expect.

interceptinglight, CNA · Feb 24, 2011

The nurse who responded to the fall and noted that the chair sensor wasn't working had to write me up for this, I signed the report today. It was almost touching to see, she felt so bad about having to do it, she knows I'm good at my job and regretted having to make out the report. I thought that was nice, and I reassured her that yeah, I was expecting to have to sign a report, it's OK. She also urged me not to quit over this. I feel so much better somehow, life goes on and it's business as usual on my job. The lady who fell has been going downhill even more in the past few days. She won't eat unless she's hand-fed and seems to be in a state of apathy. I sometimes wonder how long she's going to be around.

Thanks for all of your nice and encouraging words !