Patient fell and died a few days later, was it my fault?

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Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
If he tried to get out of bed on his own later and you were not there...well, then you are no way responsible.

That's entirely not true. If the doctor had seen it necessary to write an order for them to not get out of bed, and you don't have proper precautions to make sure they don't get OOB (or at least an alarm to alert staff when they are getting up) then you will be responsible.

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Don't understand why you would post this on a public website in view of the possibility of a lawsuit.
OP seems to be scared and is admittedly very depressed. I think the OP is just looking for support and a place to share what happened anonymously. It's hard to know where to turn when feeling this way. I think most of us have been through this situation at least once and needed to know we were not alone.

I have been so utterly depressed since then and I cannot stop crying. I can't sleep at night because I feel like I am responsible. I am not sure what happened to the patient since he left our floor but everyone at work knows the patient fell in my care. I can't stop thinking of her family and I just don't know what to do. Management has not talked to me about this and I feel as if I am going to get into so much trouble. I've completely lost confidence in nursing all together.

Wish I could send the OP a big hug! Nursing is so darn hard as it is.

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Specializes in Telemetry, OB, NICU.

I believe this fall could have been prevented. That's my only opinion and comment on this topic.

And I want to add this. Someone claimed it was the OP's fault and stated reasons. Why did everyone attack this person? The OP herself is asking if that was her fault. So, she is not expecting everyone to hug her here. Some will say yes, some will say no. These are just opinions. No need to beat someone who has the opposite opinion. Be respectful.

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heelo tokyotea30..i am sorry this happened to you..i came across with patient who are so hard headed even if everything has been explained. no one is to blame. but the doctor should have ordered for a repeat CT scan after 24 hours to rule out the possibility of bleeding. of course the first CT result will be negative... and the patient died not in your unit, so who knows what happened in there. just keep on praying that the team involve in the care and the significant others will not have a narrow mind and blame it all to you. take care always..

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op, i'm sorry this has been such a harrowing experience for you.

there is a strong chance that this will be investigated.

if you don't have nsg insurance yet, get it now...it's $100/yr.

once you calm down, you really need to assess for yourself, if you were responsible for any part of it.

could you in any way, have prevented this outcome?

it's only through our self-assessments, can we truly nurture ourselves by gaining insight/perspective, and grow from it accordingly.

again, please get nsg ins today.

or if you have coverage, call them up and seek input from them.

prayers for a favorable outcome.:hug:

leslie

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No web site is anonymous when opposing sides in litigation look for information. The first thing a good attorney does is to tell their client not to talk about the case, anywhere. Enough has been posted about discussing negative events on AN so that no one should claim naivete in the matter.

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What is this with "order's"? Do doctors over there really "order" nurses to do something? Is there no team work, don't nurses have any autonomy? Wow that's unreal!

Um, activity orders are part of the basic admission orders. And how would you think that docs DON'T write orders that nurses are legally obligated to follow (unless there's a question of safety). RNs are not totally independent practitioners (not including NPs- and they must have an MD supervisor).

I'm guessing as a NP in the NICU, you don't write a lot of ambulation orders :D

Serious question: Did you think that nurses just go to work and do what they want with the patients? :) Some units have protocols, but the doc still writes the order for that protocol. Nurses don't just do it w/o the order.

I'm kinda feeling 'unreal' that someone thinks nurses are completely autonomous :) No offense- just mind boggling :)

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Specializes in LTC.
How is a nurse NOT responsible for a patient falling even if you were not physically in the room. The nurse is 100% responsible while the patient is under the nurse's care. There are measures that can be taken to

Prevent falls. Bed alarms are probably number 1!

There will always be measures to take to prevent falls, but unless the nurse was completely negligent or tripping the patient herself it really isn't the nurse's fault.

Wander over to the LTC forums and you'll frequently hear the term "right to fall". You can put just about every safety measure in places, but patients can and will still fall. As I said earlier I probably would have done the same thing as the OP. Getting the patient up to the bathroom created a much safer environment rather than telling him to wait for a BSC.

OP I'm sending love, hugs, and strength your way.

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If the patient refused the urinal and refused to wait till a bedside commode was in places then there is not a whole lot that can be done. You can't FORCE patients to do anything, if they want to go against the orders then all we can do is discourage them, offer alternatives, and provide safety.

Nurses regardless of Male/female shouldn't be expected to lift patients full weight. Having a male CNA is preferred by patients because ambulation is difficult and they don't want to deal with it BUT that doesn't make it the most beneficial route.

WKredz, what would you have done? Left the patient alone so you could get a bedside commode? And don't say "got another staff member to get me a bedside commode..." because everyone knows that on a busy medsurg floor that there are no extra staff to help you!

I've never had a patient request a male CNA or nurse to help ambulate/move....on a RARE occasion, I've had a male patient ask for a male to help them pee (use urinal) because of the more intimate nature of the task. :)

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CORRECTION- edited

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Are you guys reading the OP correctly?? The patient did NOT get up by himself! She (THE OP) helped the patient to the bathroom because she KNEW he would of gotten up = IT WAS NOT THE PATIENT'S CHOICE TO WALK TO THE BATHROOM, HE EXPECTED A COMMODE *AS ORDERED*

The OP did not get a commode from another floor/central supply

The OP did not get a PCT or CNA after finally deciding to allow patient to WALK to the bathroom

The OP did not call for assistance when Pt had hard time to get on it initially

The OP did not call for assistance when the Pt fell to the floor hit his bottom

The OP did not prevent the fall

The cause of death is *DRUM ROLL* - brain hemorrhage, NOT DIC or Cardiac Arrest!

Patient was not willing to wait for the BSC; prevented a more serious fall....

You have NEVER had a patient insist on doing something against your instructions? Really?

It would have been better to go fetch a BSC, leave the room to find help, and come back and find the guy with his brains splattered on the floor in a pool of VERY thin blood due to a severe thrombocytopenia???

:uhoh3::uhoh3::eek:

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Specializes in Intermediate care.
How are you an NP at 22 w/ an MSN??? Are you like Doogie Howser,MD, and started college at age 16- and never practiced as an RN on the floor before pursuing the NP??? Just VERY curious :)

I think he has 22 years of experience, not 22 years old.

That would be pretty amazing. Considering i'm only 23 and have my BSN. Started when i was 18, so he would have had started at what, 12??

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