panic attacks after patient incident

[lasperanza]

I've been having nonstop panic attacks for three days after an incident with a patient at work. I was helping a patient transfer to the scale to be weighed, when all of a sudden his knees buckled. He was holding onto the railing attached to the scale, and I had a safety belt on him and was holding onto it, but i wasn't able to keep him upright; all i could do was slow him down as he went toward the floor. i called for help and we got him back up and I took him in the WC to be checked out by the RN. (I filled out an incident report and told my supervisor right after it happened). initially he said it was fine, that he felt fine, said he wasn't having pain- but then the next day i came in and was told he had sustained a hip fracture and would have to be taken back to the hospital.

I'm terrified of losing my job-or worse. (And then I feel even worse because my first thought should be empathy for the patient! And I do, but to be honest the fear I feel right now is so overwhelming I can't think straight or think of anything else.) Has anyone else here had something similar happen?

[Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN]

you did nothing wrong, you took the required precautions it was unpreventable. If they fired every nurse who had a patient fall there would be very few nurses.

[JKL33]

Agree. You did nothing wrong and you really shouldn't comport yourself as if you did - that's just asking for someone to use you as a scapegoat. Most hip fractures in the elderly are from simple falls, not huge traumas. Also know that the elderly can have spontaneous hip fractures - that's admittedly rare and more often women, but my point is that it doesn't take some outrageous incident where someone did something "wrong" in order for elderly to have a problem.

Please feel better about this.

[Sour Lemon]

I've been having nonstop panic attacks for three days after an incident with a patient at work. I was helping a patient transfer to the scale to be weighed, when all of a sudden his knees buckled. He was holding onto the railing attached to the scale, and I had a safety belt on him and was holding onto it, but i wasn't able to keep him upright; all i could do was slow him down as he went toward the floor. i called for help and we got him back up and I took him in the WC to be checked out by the RN. (I filled out an incident report and told my supervisor right after it happened). initially he said it was fine, that he felt fine, said he wasn't having pain- but then the next day i came in and was told he had sustained a hip fracture and would have to be taken back to the hospital.

I'm terrified of losing my job-or worse. (And then I feel even worse because my first thought should be empathy for the patient! And I do, but to be honest the fear I feel right now is so overwhelming I can't think straight or think of anything else.) Has anyone else here had something similar happen?

I've had "assisted falls" happen more times than I can count. I haven't had a patient get harmed, but that's only because I've been lucky so far. I don't have super-human strength and you probably don't either. Gravity is a force that's not so simple to overcome.

[heron, ASN, RN]

If your patient was an elder with brittle bones, it's possible that a spontaneous fracture caused the fall rather than the other way around, especially since you used a gait belt and lowered him to the floor. I had a resident who managed to break her hip just sitting up on the side of the bed.

[crazin01]

Sounds like you did everything correct in such an instance, to ensure the fall was controlled.

I don't see how you're in danger of termination or a write-up, unless the policy/procedure states something way out in left field. I imagine it would help when you officially hear you did nothing wrong, but have you been back to work? just wondering if you're functioning ok at work if you're having panic attacks since...

[lasperanza]

Thank you guys so much for taking time to offer me reassurance and support. to be honest I am still scared, but it is helpful to re-read your posts when I start panicking.