Will an Incident Report get me Fired?

[mndlng97]

I'm a new CNA. Today, I was passing trays. While I was passing trays to other people, one resident's tray fell on her body. I changed her linens, cleaned her up, and changed her clothes. The charge nurse saw that her arm got a 1st degree burn from hot tea spilling on it. She had me fill out an incident report. What I did wrong was that I put the tray on the resident's table and had it in front of her. I was supposed to wait until I was ready to feed her before I gave her her tray. But I didn't know this because I was new. Also, a few days ago, I gave her her tray and she fed herself, so I thought it was ok to give her her tray. The charge nurse told me not to worry because I'm new and didn't know. She told me that we learn from our mistakes. Do you think I'm in big trouble? Do you think I'll get fired? How long do you think it'll take a 1st degree burn to heal?

[Wellworth, BSN]

Hang in there. Sounds like you did everything right based on what you knew at the time but will make some adjustments from what you learned. Re: incident reporting. I have reviewed over 22,000 in my work in performance improvement and rarely have seen anyone fired for reporting a situation in good faith. You did not intentionally burn the patient. Once you saw what happened you immediately reported it and got help. That shows good judgment on your part. An uncomplicated first degree burn should take about 5-7 days to heal.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

The burn must be reported to the Department of Public Health. You might be asked questions if they come out to the facility after the report is sent in. I've seen residents spill hot liquid on themselves when a CNA was sitting a foot away. Accidents happen. Just pay more attention to detail in the future.

[gardenpartyy]

I'm just shocked that the tea was so hot that it burned the resident. Most places I've worked, the food is luke warm at best.