State Calls Floor Nurse at Home?

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

My facility recently had State in the building over a self-reportable incident. The nurse that was on duty at the time of the incident happened to be at home the day they came in. She said that "they" tried calling her several times but she didn't answer. I feel that it's not a good thing that State calls you at home. I haven't heard of such a thing until now. What are the implications? Have you had State call you at home? Outcome?

[caliotter3]

This makes no sense. I could see the DON calling the employee at home, but not the State rep.

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

This makes no sense. I could see the DON calling the employee at home, but not the State rep.

I couldn't agree more and that's why I was asking. Perhaps my coworker was sensationalizing the situation, but that's what she said. I'm certain to hear more about it as the "Blue Birds" are always on the line at work.

[motherof3sons]

I have had them call me at home.....thankfully the DON gave me a heads up. I was charge RN when two things happened within 5 minutes of each other--a fall and a resident to resident altercation and they called me at home to get all the details(where was I when resident fell, where was CNA staff when resident fell ect)

The state also called all the CNA's that were on that night to get their input.

[verene, MSN]

I haven't been called at home. (After inspection the state called our facility and asked to speak to one of the evening CNAs to clarify something and it ended up being me that talked to them. It freaked me out at first but they were just clarifying what follow up had been done on a resident, it wasn't a big deal.) However I know that my supervisor has had to take calls at home from them, typically just clarification of an event or documentation or how an incident was handled at managerial levels, however my supervisor always gives the state inspectors her cell number in case they need to reach her as she bounces around between a couple of facilities and sometimes does administrative work from home. In the cases where they've called her it hasn't been a big deal, they just want to finish their paperwork accurately and close out the file.

[amoLucia]

I too have taken a phone call from the State (who was in the facility on an investigation) while I was home on a short term medical leave. An incident occurred and they were asking info. I subsequently came in to talk to them in person about the incident that had occurred some time earlier.

Don't recall how it turned out.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

how do you know to whom you are actually speaking? there is no way i would do this.

[amoLucia]

This was a couple of years ago and the phone call was in the presence of my DON. DOH surveyors have to present their ID when they show up at a facility. I got dressed and went in to work - there were several surveyors there and I interviewed with them.

[bethann27]

I've been called at home also...they wanted details of an issue. And Yes, it was strange to me.

[elkpark]

I've been a surveyor and have done it -- rarely. Typically, if we really needed to talk to someone who wasn't at work that day, we would ask the nurse manager or DON to contact the individual for us and ask that they call us back. However, there were a few occasions when we were investigating serious complaints and really did not want the NM or DON to have a chance to confer with the staff person and coach her/him on what to say before we interviewed the person. (You know how, on TV crime dramas, the police always put the suspects in separate rooms so they can't get their stories straight before the cops talk to them? Same thing.)

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

The DPH in Massachusetts frequently calls people at home. When they come out to do an investigation, we make every effort to find all the staff members they need to speak to. I make several attempts-they make several attempts. If it is important for them to speak to the staff they will call at home. I also given the DPH number to staff so they could return a call and I've had the surveyor call the facility the day after they left in case a staff member was on duty on that day but not the day the surveyor was in the building. It's not at all uncommon.

[bluegeegoo2, LPN]

Thank you all for your replies. I learned something new today! (And for the record, it has me listed as a RN on this page. I am in fact, not a RN. Just wanted to clarify that as I can not seem to make it go away.)