Physical Therapy drops pt and doesn't tell RN??

[squatmunkie_RN]

I'm a new nurse, just graduated in May. I had a pt who was very big 400lbs. The only people who get her out of bed is PT. They were moved her from her Big Boy Bed which has an air mattress to the chair to eat lunch, around 1230 (ALL went ok). They come to move her back to the bed a few hrs later.

Now, around 1600 my pt tells me PT let her knee hit the ground when moving her back from the chair to the bed. She says that she slid off the chair and fell on her knee. Now her knee and ankle hurt. For some reason I didnt think this was HUGE deal at the time, the pt is in minor pain...theres no bruise or swelling. I give her a PRN Vicodin. I didn't mention it to the charge nurse...still not thinking its a huge deal. I'm kinda ****** PT didn't come tell me what happened though..

Now I am giving report to night shift. I tell them the story...and the night nurse was OMG did you tell the charge nurse? Then I had to fill out an incident report, call her Dr.....ugh.

Physical therapy should have told me what happened ASAP, right? They know what they did was wrong. I think people see me as a new nurse and try to "get one over" on me. I wasn't there when she fell. It wasn't my fault.

[marda]

You should have reported as soon as patient told you....I learned this the hard way too.....things have a way of getting blown out of proportion and being worse than they should be.....but we all live and learn....as I tell my orientee.....you will never make this mistake again......

[MassED, BSN, RN]

well an incident report was done. Bad for the Physical therapist to not tell you, but you did the report - most people do those much later, when they have time anyway, because the reporting process is SO long. At least it was done the same day - I'm sure the pt got an xray and found nothing wrong.... just a CYA thing.

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

It was your responsibility to do the incident report that's why PT told you about it. Not "mentioning" it was a big mistake as well. There should have been documentation in the chart along with the incident report along with reporting it to the charge/oncoming shift.

Whether in your facility it was PT's responsibility to do the IR or you; the fact of the matter is you should have after being told about it.

BTW; in any facility I've worked at IR's are done right at the time they happen and not put off to be done sometime during the day.

[TakeOne]

In many facilities, if the therapist allows the patient to touch the floor it's the therapist who has to fill out the report and account for what happened as well as outline how it can be prevented in the future. Then they have to tell the nurses, who chart what was reported, notify the MD and family then monitor for possible injuries.

[kat7ap]

In my facility ANY employee can fill out an incident report not just the nurses. If PT is the one that witnessed the fall, then they should have to fill out an IR. You might want to do one yourself as well, but I think it was PT's responsibility to have one done too. They should have notified you right away so you could assess the patient and inform the family and physician.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

It was your responsibility to do the incident report that's why PT told you about it. Not "mentioning" it was a big mistake as well. There should have been documentation in the chart along with the incident report along with reporting it to the charge/oncoming shift.

Whether in your facility it was PT's responsibility to do the IR or you; the fact of the matter is you should have after being told about it.

BTW; in any facility I've worked at IR's are done right at the time they happen and not put off to be done sometime during the day.

PT didn't tell her about the fall, the patient did.. She should have informed her charge nurse once she learned what happened..

[OCNRN63, RN]

I'm a new nurse, just graduated in May. I had a pt who was very big 400lbs. The only people who get her out of bed is PT. They were moved her from her Big Boy Bed which has an air mattress to the chair to eat lunch, around 1230 (ALL went ok). They come to move her back to the bed a few hrs later.

Now, around 1600 my pt tells me PT let her knee hit the ground when moving her back from the chair to the bed. She says that she slid off the chair and fell on her knee. Now her knee and ankle hurt. For some reason I didnt think this was HUGE deal at the time, the pt is in minor pain...theres no bruise or swelling. I give her a PRN Vicodin. I didn't mention it to the charge nurse...still not thinking its a huge deal. I'm kinda ****** PT didn't come tell me what happened though..

Now I am giving report to night shift. I tell them the story...and the night nurse was OMG did you tell the charge nurse? Then I had to fill out an incident report, call her Dr.....ugh.

Physical therapy should have told me what happened ASAP, right? They know what they did was wrong. I think people see me as a new nurse and try to "get one over" on me. I wasn't there when she fell. It wasn't my fault.

Yes and no.

The minute the pt told you she fell you should have followed up on it and called the doc. Falls are a HUGE deal now and Medicare is scrutinizing charges related to falls; in certain circumstances charges related to falls will not be covered. As Medicare goes, insurance companies are going. Any fall or reported fall needs to be documented ASAP in an event report.

So no, it's not your fault the pt fell, but you should have followed up immediately. And I would not have just medicated the pt with prn Vicodin without first having notified the physician. You had no way of knowing if the pt was actually injured in the fall or not; you could have masked sx of an injury for several hours.

Live and learn.

[squatmunkie_RN]

(this post has been changed and or remove since some folks here are easily offended).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[OCNRN63, RN]

I documented this pretty well in my nurses notes and of course the incident report. She and her family seem like the whiny sue happy sort of people...

This sounds like you're blaming the patient for your mistake of not filling out an incident report until you were told to do so during report.

[littlemammanurse, BSN, RN]

An incident report was filed so that was good, but just a heads up let the charge nurse know for sure!Mistakes happen and now you have learned from it!

[littlemammanurse, BSN, RN]

An incident report was filed so that was good, but just a heads up let the charge nurse know for sure!Mistakes happen and now you have learned from it!Keep your chin up!