Please No judgment. Will I lose my cert?

[Guest1213519]

Lots of cussing 

Well, what happened was that I've been working at this facility since May, which is not really long time and I actually really need the job because I'm very much financially struggling but it's a very very *** Medicaid and Medicare facility. One of my patients told me that he was punched in the face by another worker that works here. I was looking at his eye with the light off, changing him, and it did look like he had a black eye and I'm an EMT, and I immediately thought that it was raccoon eyes, which is when somebody gets punched in the face. I went and told the nurse and she was a complete *** about it and very dismissive, which is how a lot of these nurses are in these nursing homes towards CNAs treat them like absolute dog ***. Even though I typically have about 30 patients and do all the patient care. It's a terrible facility. She told me that there was nothing she could do about it and I said thank you for your compassion as I walked away to go, take care of another patient when I came back over past her cart she asked me what the patient said to me, and I told her that he had said that somebody had punched him in the eye, and that it was a CNA on Night Shift and that she had red hair and she told me she was gonna go tell the charge nurse. Well, then I'm finishing up. I go back in the patient's room that said that he got hurt and both my nurse and the charge nurse barge into the room and tell me to step out and I got offended. I was like I'm an EMT, and I was trying to explain to them that I had looked at the eye with the light off and I look different because when I flip the light on it look like he really did not have a breeze, and he had just been rubbing his eye, but it definitely looked like there was some slight bruising there that had healed so I think probably what he did was remember something that happened to him. Abuse runs rampant in these facilities. Anyway, they weren't trying to hear what I had to say. She completely interrupted me and told me to step out of the room like I was some kind of uneducated dog and I was like oh OK and I yelled at her face and told her that I was an EMT and she said I don't care I'm a nurse get out and so I said I don't care that you're a ***ing nurse and I went and I sat in the break room to try to calm down and then the charge nurse came in and was like what did the patient say to you and I said oh so now you want to treat me like I have some at education or like I'm educated, and then he started yelling at me and I said *** this I quit I flipped the *** out I grab my ***. He started telling me that he was gonna have my license, and I was abandoning my patients and then they got the administrator on the phone and the administrator wanted to talk to me and I told her that I wasn't gonna talk to her and I flipped everybody off and told them *** that if I quit, I threw all of my *** in my sandwich, my phone in the water bottle. I had all over the floor in the hallway in front of me which was super embarrassing. Then they told me that the charge nurse had threaten to call the police if I had not talk to her so I briefly talk to her and told her if she would like to have a civil conversation with me here's my phone number and you can call me and she said is at the end of your shift and I said no and she said basically along the lines of why you can't just abandon your patience and I said I'm well within my right side. If you try to basically threaten my license, I'm gonna basically Talbot state because she basically told me that she was going to. She was going to report me to the state for trying to leave early off my shift and I told her which they can charge it would leaving early it's called patient abandonment but what I told her was that if she does that but I'm just gonna tell them the ridiculous amount of abuse that I've seen in the facility over the past several months and I've actually worked on and off at that facility for two years. She told me she was calling the police and the other guy said he's gonna have my license and I said *** you all and I clocked out and left.

 

[rayray09, CNA, EMT-B]

I don't think you will lose your EMT license. You are not practicing as an EMT. Sounds like you are in a nursing facility. Those patients are the nurses' responsibility. However, I could have played this game differently. Next time, keep your cool. You could have reported all of them, including the management and facility, about their misconduct and patient negligence to the board of nursing without quitting. You should have started to put everything in writing, documented all the events, especially the times that the nurses or supervisors dismissed you and the patients' concerns--then call the police and the board of nursing. Don't let ego distract you next time. Always put the patients' first--think of it this way, without you now, who is going to advocate for them?

[Guest1213519]

Sorry should have clarified I meant my CNA not currently working as a EMT because I'm the state of NC CNAs are currently making more than EMTs which is crazy

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

 See "Can You Lose Your CNA License for Job Abandonment? " It is a thread here. Good luck.

[MaxAttack, BSN, RN]

From my perspective, it sounds like a patient made an accusation of abuse that was unsubstantiated with the lights on. Regardless, as charge I would want to speak with you without the patient present to understand what was said. It could be their tone or how you interpreted it, but the action is reasonable if it were to speak with you privately. 

No one benefited from how this played out. Coming from someone who sometimes struggles with anger, can you look back and identify your role and responses and how you could have handled this differently?

If this is reported to the board, you should discuss it with an attorney. CNA implies that you are certified and bound to certain laws and regulations and patient abandonment is a real and serious thing. They would also be able to guide you regarding if this were to affect other licenses you hold.

[Akira Daihatsura]

rayray09 said:

I don't think you will lose your EMT license. You are not practicing as an EMT. Sounds like you are in a nursing facility. Those patients are the nurses' responsibility. However, I could have played this game differently. Next time, keep your cool. You could have reported all of them, including the management and facility, about their misconduct and patient negligence to the board of nursing without quitting. You should have started to put everything in writing, documented all the events, especially the times that the nurses or supervisors dismissed you and the patients' concerns--then call the police and the board of nursing. Don't let ego distract you next time. Always put the patients' first--think of it this way, without you now, who is going to advocate for them?

I like the above reply, very professional with a caring tone. I think this is the right place to vent your concern and get true and professional advice from the nurses who have been in the field too long and with lots of experience in the field and in life. Thank you Rayray.

[emtpbill, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

Since you are not the highest level provider you cannot be held liable for abandonment.  They said that to try to scare you.  Also, being an EMT (I was a medic for 25 years before becoming an RN) means absolutely nothing in the facility. 

  Your best avenue, IMHO, is to document everything. From your contact with the patient who made the complaint of abuse all the way through your interactions with the DON, charge nurse and floor nurses.  Im not sure about North Carolina but in Pennsylvania nursing home nurses ( and I do not mean to offend anyone as I think all RN's got into this business to help people) a lot  of nurse's working in a LTC facility have become jaded. And I probably would too if I had to look at the same people every day with the same annoying issues and complaints, especially if one knows it's unfounded. I give all the credit in the world to nurses who work in a memory impairment facility. I just do not have the patience to handle those types of patients.