SweetErica

Something that nobody else has touched upon, that really is eating at me, is that initial phone call, when the DON asked me to go and interview the resident, and the whole "depending on what she says, we might have to file a report." At that point, an allegation of abuse had already been reported by another staff member to the Administrator. If a resident/ patient cannot recall or is unable or unwilling to confirm abuse... it seems, at this facility at least, they don't deem it necessary to report/investigate.

Thanks, ladies. The 'mandatory reporter' aspect concerns me as well. If I understand how it all played out, I was perhaps the 5th person to be made aware of the alleged abuse ( a CNA was told by someone, possibly the resident, who told a medication aid, who called the Administrator, who told the DON, who then called and instructed me to go and interview the resident). Here in Texas, the administrator in nursing homes is the Abuse Coordinator, and they make the report to the state agency with all of the information. At no time on the night the incident was reported did the Administrator nor the DON speak to the resident nor the CNA being accused. They spoke only to myself, and briefly to the medication aid when she made the call to report what she had heard about. Honestly, in the 10 years I have been a nurse in LTC, Ive never even been tasked with telling a co-worker they are suspended-- that is done by management, even if over the phone. As 'staff nurses' we can't even issue 'write-ups' to aides, only bring our concerns to management and allow them to determine if there is a problem.

This is going to be a long post, so bear with me! I am hoping for a bit of advice, perhaps some direction, personal experience, opinions, and will accept my role with out too much pouting if I'm told I was in the wrong! I have been an LTC nurse (LVN) for 10 years, and a CNA for 11 prior to that. I had been at my most recent facility approx 5 months. Nearly a month ago now, I received a phone call from my DON at 930pm asking if I would go and "interview" as resident, and ask about her shower that day. He stated that depending on her answer, we may have to file a "self report" to the state for abuse. He did not tell me anything further, nor what kind of abuse I was to inquire about. The resident in question has dementia, but while making pleasantries, asking how she felt, did she get her shower, did anything happen during it... she tells me she was punched in her back. I return the call to my DON (on my cell phone) and notify him, he tells me to let the CNA know he is being suspended for an allegation of abuse pending investigation and have him clock out, and to complete a head-to-toe skin assessment, and that he and the Administrator will "take care of everything else". I ask if I need to write any kind of statement TWICE during this call, and he finally said "yes, you can do that". I immediately contacted the Administrator, as he is our Abuse Coordinator, and I had not spoken to him and wanted to be certain he was aware of the issue occurring, and left a message. He returned my call, assuring me he was aware (a CNA had heard of the incident and directly contacted him-- I was not aware of anything prior to the first call from the DON). I went to conduct the skin assessment shortly after 1015pm and texted him my findings (none). He texted back "Im sure the DON told you, but document, include her pain scale, call the physician and notify the family. I just did the state report." I responded that the DON had NOT told me any of this. I then refused to call the family and told him that I felt it was something either he or the DON should do considering the circumstances.. It was 1106pm and the situation was, in my honest opinion, something that the Administrator/ upper management should handle (for those who work night shifts in LTC, those late night phone calls are terrible to make, as families always answer with apprehension, fearing the worst. This situation, in my opinion, was delicate). The administrator did not reply back via text nor phone call, and I was under the impression that he was indeed contacting the family to notify, discuss, and answer any questions. The legalities of what I could tell them, what was being done, and how the investigation would proceed are not anything I am knowledgeable about. I have never contacted nor been asked to contact a family in regards to an employee deliberately and intentionally causing/ possibly causing harm, injury or pain to a resident -- that is something the Abuse Coordinator/ Administrator at facilitates I have worked always handled. I DID complete the skin assessment and document it, contacted the on-call physician, and documented a brief progress note (again, unsure as to what I could/ should state) and that she complained that both shoulders were "a little sore". I completed the remaining 7 hours of my 12 hr shift. I returned the next night and even saw/ spoke to the administrator, tho nothing was mentioned regarding the previous night's incident, and worked the entirety of that 12 hour shift. I did see in the charting that the DON had contacted the family that following morning, and they were upset and had concerns. I was off the following 3 days (Friday, Sat, Sun). On Monday, my next scheduled day to work, I received a call from the Administrator, with the DON in the room as well on speaker, and I was terminated for refusing to do as instructed. He specifically said "due to the sensitivity of the issue revolving around the incident". Yet didn't deem it sensitive enough to personally interview the resident, nor suspend the accused employee himself, and filed the report with state after only exchanging a few brief texts and very short phone conversations with me. I have applied for unemployment benefits, which are likely to be denied, as the company told them that I was told by both the DON (never) and Administrator to contact the family and I didn't. I have all texts and calls that came thru my phone recorded (legal in Texas), yet have not been asked to submit these. I also have not been contacted by any State agency regarding the abuse allegation, and I question if it was properly reported, or if it may have been 'adjusted' to reflect that the administrator conducted the interview and employee suspension. Former co-workers I have spoken to regarding the situation have relayed that they have never been tasked with notifying the family in these types of situations. I am curious if anyone else has. While I did in fact refuse to do as instructed, I don't feel I was insubordinate, as it was a situation in which I was not experienced or knowledgeable about regarding legalities and the process of investigation. Being that the administrator did not respond when I refused to make the call (even a "if you don't, you're fired" might have made me rethink things), I really would like some insight or experiences regarding this situation. What is the purpose of an Abuse Coordinator-- just to file the report itself?

We are just moving to this system as well-- but we've never even gotten time and a half for holidays-- just a 'bank' of holiday hours we can use at a later date (to make up for a call-in, etc). There are so many HUGE changes-- and yes-- feels like we are getting the shaft. In our first meeting they told us that we really wouldn't be affected greatly and none of our benefits would change. Since then, its all been downhill, it seems. Lots of employees are talking of leaving, and moral is in the absolute gutter. Its been months since you posted-- how did things go at your place of employement? Our Time Management portion goes live tonight...

Yep-- sure did! Thanks!

I just took my HESI exit this morning (and passed w/ flying colors!), and the program director will be sending off the affidavits to the BON this week. My program director and the instructors have not been clear on an issue, first stating one thing, and then another, so I am posing the question here for anyone in the know, as even the BON website doesn't exactly give a clear-cut explaination that I can understand....lol In order to recieve your GVN permit, do you need to have ALREADY paid Pearson-Vue to take the NCLEX? OR.... so long as your application to test has been completed and the $139 fee is paid, the jurisprudence exam is done (and passed), the FBI background check, photo and fingerprints are complete, can you recieve it? Nobody in our class has managed to get an answer on this from the director, and most of us have not yet registered with Pearson-Vue as we were originally told we'd have permits and would be able to work (and at least get that first paycheck, so we could pony up that $200 to Pearson). I realize we will not recieve an ATT until Pearson is paid for, but anyone know about the permits? Thanks for any info you can give explaining this to me.

LTC facilities are where the money is... Take into consideration that all the 'baby boomers' are reaching retirement age. More LTC homes are likely to be popping up over the next 10 to 15 years as well.

I will be starting LVN school on August 25th... I just went and picked up my uniforms today! Already bought all but 4 of my textbooks as well as my stethoscope and all the extras to go with it. And am anxiously waiting for Walmart to stock it's school supply aisle so I can buy fun pens, notebooks, etc...lol. I go to a local community college in Waco, TX. I'm about 2 months shy of hitting 34, married with a 14 year old son whom I home school (he's ADHD amongst other things), and work full time doing private duty CNA care for an elderly (94!) gentleman. I have no clue how I'm going to juggle it all, but I'm determined! Best of luck to everyone here!!!!

I have a suggestion to anyone still needing to get their vaccinations. If you do not have health insurance (such as myself) or it doesn't cover your vaccinations, see if you have a county health department in your area that has a "vaccination clinic" in it. I lost the record of my childhood immunizations due to a fire 2 years ago, and had only a record of my Hep B vaccines that I was able to obtain from a previous job (thank goodness they still had those in my old employee file!) My TB test was only $18 and I think I paid another 5 or so for my MMR and Tetorifice, and they just filled in the date I had chickenpox as a child, thus not needing the varicella vaccine. Much cheaper than if I had scheduled a doctor's appointment and paid for these!

I have a suggestion to anyone still needing to get their vaccinations. If you do not have health insurance (such as myself) or it doesn't cover your vaccinations, see if you have a county health department in your area that has a "vaccination clinic" in it. I lost the record of my childhood immunizations due to a fire 2 years ago, and had only a record of my Hep B vaccines that I was able to obtain from a previous job (thank goodness they still had those in my old employee file!) My TB test was only $18 and I think I paid another 5 or so for my MMR and Tetorifice, and they just filled in the date I had chickenpox as a child, thus not needing the varicella vaccine. Much cheaper than if I had scheduled a doctor's appointment and paid for these! So

I got my acceptance letter today! Whoo-hoo! We were told it would be 30-45 days after the May 9th deadline, but what'd ya know-- it came today! I've got orientation on June 11th, but classes don't begin until mid-August. I'm super excited-- both myself and a friend I made in one of the pre-req classes both made it! Yea us!!!! :anpom::anpom::anpom::anpom:

I only upped my overall composite by 1 point on my second testing. Fortunately-- my school takes the highest composite on each of the main 3 subjects-- Reading Comp, Math, and Written Expression, if you turn in the results from each time you take the test. My reading comp went up by nearly 10 points, and the others went down a few. Overall-- I upped my overall composite by only 2 points, but it gave me a small boost on the points system my school uses to determine acceptance.

WHOO-HOO!!!!!!! SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!! :anpom::ancong!::anpom:

I'm glad to hear it went so well! Did they give you any kind of time frame as to WHEN you'd hear from them? How long does mail service take from them to your house?? LOL

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!! And please, do let us know how it went!