Bee_home care

I had not thought of this as witness tampering. HHMMM

So a little more stuff I met with my former boss's supervisor (I will call him Bill) , my new supervisor and HR rep today. Several other nurses and I believe that "Bill" was involved in the coverup of forged documents several months ago and that he is retaliating against me because he feels he can intimidate me. "Bill" said that he had received a complaint from DPH that I had violated HIPAA by sending them patient records which had patient identifying information on them. I replied that I had removed all identifying patient information and asked to see the complaint, as "Bill" was holding several papers in his hands and looking at them occasionally. He replied "Oh, these? (referring to the papers in his hands) These don't have anything to do with this." It sure seemed like they were related to the matter. I think he probably planned it to appear that way. When I asked to see the complaint, he really started to squirm. I asked how he received the complaint and he said that he got a phone call, but did not have anything in writing. He also said that DPH only received a complaint about my former boss from me and I informed him that this was not the case and that at least 4 other nurses also filed complaints and that 3 of the 4 had received letters from DPH confirming receipt of the complaints and that the reason that the woman from DPH/BON contacted me was that I was the one because I had provided the most information. So, that said, my attorney and I believe that this is retaliation for reporting my former boss to DPH and that "Bill" is trying to make me react foolishly and have a reason to terminate me. He did not get any sort of reaction from me. I was calm, cool and collected. It was a pleasure to see him squirm when I didn't react. The meeting lasted less than 15 minutes and nothing was mentioned re disciplinary action. When I got back in my car, I couldn't keep from laughing at how much of an jerk "Bill" is. As one of you said earlier and I love it "He is really an ignorant cluck!!!!" much less scared

Thanks everyone I am reassured that I did not break HIPAA regs. My attorney believes this is a retaliatory action by my employer as some of you mentioned and says that I am protected under Whistleblower law. Other nurses who I work with also sent medical records as part of their complaints, so there is hopefully strength in numbers also. As a home care nurse, we ALWAYS have medical records out of the office, as most of us have home offices. any more thoughts? less scared nurse (but still scared)

I am being accused by my employer that I violated HIPAA. I filed a complaint with Dept of Public Health/Board of Nursing against my previous boss, who has been terminated, as she was most likely (which is why the complaint was filed) forging nurses signatures and altering patient records. As part of the complaint form provided by DPH, it states to send "attach copies of documents such as: witness statements, medical records, copies of prescriptions, photographs etc that support your statements." I faxed medical records--- nursing notes and medication lists. I blacked out ALL pt identifying information and actually wrote that I had blacked these items out to protect patient confidentiality. Did I violate HIPAA? I feel as though this is retaliation for reporting. I also know that other nurses whom I work with filed complaints and faxed in medical records also. help scared nurse

I found my "signature" forged on a document and many more of other nurses "signatures." Someone please respond so I know that at least someone has read this.

HELP I have become aware and have copies of documents that my boss, the director of our division, has forged. She has signed another nurses name to 2 documents (med list and nursing assessment) and altered a nursing assessment already signed by another nurse. I have not yet found any documents of "mine" that she has altered but plan on looking for those as this is really scary. There are other nurses that I work with who also have documents that she has altered or forged. The boss has very distinctive handwriting so there is NO WAY to not know it is her handwriting. My colleagues and I have also been asked to commit fraudulant acts by her and have refused to do this. This woman was "fired" 3 months ago for reasons other than above (harassment, bullying....) and we were told that she would be staying as our boss until her replacement was found. Needless to say, she is still our boss and we (many of the nurses) are enraged. I have spoken to an attorney and he has advised us (group of nurses) to meet with the CEO ASAP and present her with the forged/fraudulant documents and ask for our bosses immediate termination and if this is not done within 1 week then we (nurses) will report the agency for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. We are all afraid of losing our jobs and the harm it would have on our patients. any advice would be greatly appreciated

That is illegal do not do it!!!

HELP I have become aware and have copies of documents that my boss, the director of our division, has forged. She has signed another nurses name to 2 documents (med list and nursing assessment) and altered a nursing assessment already signed by another nurse. I have not yet found any documents of "mine" that she has altered but plan on looking for those as this is really scary. There are other nurses that I work with who also have documents that she has altered or forged. The boss has very distinctive handwriting so there is NO WAY to not know it is her handwriting. My colleagues and I have also been asked to commit fraudulant acts by her and have refused to do this. This woman was "fired" 3 months ago for reasons other than above (harassment, bullying....) and we were told that she would be staying as our boss until her replacement was found. Needless to say, she is still our boss and we (many of the nurses) are enraged. I have spoken to an attorney and he has advised us (group of nurses) to meet with the CEO ASAP and present her with the forged/fraudulant documents and ask for our bosses immediate termination and if this is not done within 1 week then we (nurses) will report the agency for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. We are all afraid of losing our jobs and the harm it would have on our patients. any advice would be greatly appreciated bee

Jules, He has been worked up medically and this is definitely his schizophrenia. Poor guy is just tortured. Bee

I wonder how many of you have had patients with tactile hallucinations. I have been in psych nursing for several years and have only seen 1 case, which I now have as a patient. I am a psych home care nurse. Any advice on how to help me talk to him about the hallucinations (bugs jumping on his skin) would be much appreciated. He is currently in respite and I am already working closely with his psychiatrist. My area of need is "What the heck do I say when he says he has bugs jumping on him and he really doesn't?"

I would suggest psych nursing experience first, before even applying to psych NP schools. I would highly recommend this because you will find out if you really like psych nursing before spending lots of time and money on a degree you don't want to use. I am a psych home care nurse and love it and don't want to be an NP because I don't want the responsibilities of prescribing.

I would suggest doing inpatient psych nursing and then maybe outpatient psychiatric clinic type nursing or psych home care. Getting a sense of psych nursing is important and you may decide it is not for you then you haven't wasted a lot of time and money for a degree you don't want to use. I am a psych home care nurse and love it but don't want the responsibilities of being a prescriber.

I work for a nonprofit home care agency that is considering going from paying an hourly rate for RN Case Managers to per visit pay. I don't exactly know what this means. I make less than $25/hour at this time. I get reimbursed for mileage. The per diem visit rate is $17/visit which I know is AWFUL!!! I am responsible for admissions, recerts, OASIS and all other case management responsibilities. If you can tell me more about this and give me advice on what questions to ask if the agency decides to go this direction, it would be much appreciated.

I also agree with burlshoe114 I had 2 years med surg experience right out of school and learned more than the 4 years of nursing school in the first 6 months. I work full time as a home care nurse and would NEVER recommend a new grad doing home care. If I were the person making hiring decisions, I would also not hire a new grad for home care. There is just too much to know and no one to ask because you are ALONE on visits and the s--- does hit the fan occasionally and a home care nurse has to be able to draw on experience and a new grad does not have the experience to draw on. Hope this is not too harsh but is reality

burlshoe114 I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING and know how it feels too and it is SOOOO frustrating I work for an agency that does similar stuff. I hate having to admit or discharge a pt that is NOT SAFE TO BE AT HOME!!! My understanding is that it is required that pt be safe to receive home care and not be admitted if they are not safe at home. As kateRN said DOCUMENT DOCUMENT DOCUMENT One thing that we do when having to d/c a pt in these circumstances is give them info regarding other home health agencies