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I'm not sure what's common in the nursing industry, but the story doesn't add up as protection from a lawsuit. Firing the three of you makes you more likely to testify against the charge nurse. Furthermore, the firing of "the worthless n.a.'s that caused his fall" won't change the outcome of the lawsuit. They're still liable for what happened to that man. Everything you shared just don't make sense.
If they admit fault and settle the law suit, it makes sense to fire.
Your state and Medicare, aka ''CMS'' certify that nursing home. Google state's nursing home ombudsman or complaint hotline for CMS/Medicare and report what happened. This should launch an investigation into the occurrence.
And yes, they are covering their ass with this nurse for fear of just such an investigation which could cost them their certification and shut them down.
And all 3 of you should go together to an attorney and report it. You got enough numbers for a class action law suit against them. Find an attorney who knows the health care system and medical malpractice.
Meanwhile all 3 of you keep mum about reporting this and seeing an attorney.
Your state and Medicare, aka ''CMS'' certify that nursing home. Google state's nursing home ombudsman or complaint hotline for CMS/Medicare and report what happened. This should launch an investigation into the occurrence.
And yes, they are covering their ass with this nurse for fear of just such an investigation which could cost them their certification and shut them down.
And all 3 of you should go together to an attorney and report it. You got enough numbers for a class action law suit against them. Find an attorney who knows the health care system and medical malpractice.
Meanwhile all 3 of you keep mum about reporting this and seeing an attorney.
The state is notified of every fall. They are not in danger of losing anything or being shut down because a resident fell, residents fall every single day.
The situation the OP describes doesn't surprise me at all. The for profit long term care industry is extremely shady and I think they prefer the high turn over rates - it helps them "cover up" incidents. I was fired from a nursing home (as an RN) they made stuff up about me and there was no proof. They fought my unemployment claim and I won.
Nursing homes are relatively easy places to gain employment and pay more than minimum wage for relatively low skilled work (for CNAs, housekeepers, ect). But they are chaotic, stressful and the work is quite physically intense. Some of those old people are outright dangerous (to the staff and other residents) but it if anything happens to them, the direct support workers are accused of abuse.
When a resident falls, it will take the nurse over 1 hour to complete the paperwork, call the Dr. and family, ect so it is understandable why she just put him back to bed if she didn't think he was injured, although it is a "no no."
Moral of the story: If you choose to work in a nursing home do not consider it long term employment and always be looking for a better job.
I've been working in nursing homes for 18 years and have not seen that happen. People fall all the time, no one gets fired for it unless there is some obvious negligence.
It doesn't sound like the fall is the event in question - it was the decision to violate protocol and put the man back in bed instead of taking him to ER.
First, the state would not "shut them down" for this isolated incident. They might receive a citation and fine for an immediate jeopardy; however, they would be given the chance to correct the issue. Of course, the family can sue. I have never heard of a protocol providing to just automatically leave someone in the floor and call 911. The nurse needed to perform an assessment, and based on those findings, the resident might be placed back in bed or sent for emergency care. To cover an incident by just placing someone back in bed without assessing the severity of their injury is not a "no-no". It is outright negligence that can result in the loss of your nursing license. There will be a facility incident report and investigation. For this incident, a detailed, comprehensive investigation will be conducted because this fall resulted in a serious injury (or death?--not too clear in your post). It will also be a reportable event in most states. Additionally, the facility is required to implement an immediate plan to assure this does not re-occur (an abatement).
If the nurse completed and documented an assessment, it may show she had no reason to feel the situation was an emergency. It doesn't sound plausible, but sometimes, the severity of an injury is not apparent (especially in the elderly). This situation, as described, sounds like she should have made the ER transfer. It is hard to determine without more information. What is troubling is she is held to the standard of the nurse practice act. This states she should respond how a reasonable and prudent nurse would respond in the same situation. Since other nurses encouraged her to transfer the resident, she may very well be negligent. There would be no benefit for the facility to protect the nurse. In fact, her alleged negligence, if proven, would most certainly require her termination. Not taking action makes the facility more liable--especially in a case of extreme negligence.
It sounds like you and your co-workers failed to respond to some fall intervention, like an alarm, or failed to have a care planned intervention in place. It is also possible she gave you a directive to prevent the fall and you failed or refused to follow it. Most of the time, no one is terminated for fall unless there is some willful negligence involved, so your account seems to leave out a few facts. It is still unclear if the resident suffered a fracture or died from this fall. Although, it is possible both transpired. For example, the internal trauma from the fall may have created an embolism that was dislodged (from movement) resulting in death.
Nursing homes are not horrible places full of abusive workers. It is like any industry--some are great; some are good; some are average; and some are horrible. I am a nurse and a nursing home administrator. I have had long term employment in the field, but I perform due diligence researching an organization prior to accepting a position. I also deeply care about my residents, staff members, and the quality of care my facility provides.
Last edited by dsb62574; 01-22-2015 at 12:54 AM..
Reason: Typos
Wow what a mess. Would be perfect news story. The three of you together with your attorney giving your side of the story on the evening news would surely cause heads to roll.
The situation the OP describes doesn't surprise me at all. The for profit long term care industry is extremely shady and I think they prefer the high turn over rates - it helps them "cover up" incidents. I was fired from a nursing home (as an RN) they made stuff up about me and there was no proof. They fought my unemployment claim and I won.
Nursing homes are relatively easy places to gain employment and pay more than minimum wage for relatively low skilled work (for CNAs, housekeepers, ect). But they are chaotic, stressful and the work is quite physically intense. Some of those old people are outright dangerous (to the staff and other residents) but it if anything happens to them, the direct support workers are accused of abuse.
When a resident falls, it will take the nurse over 1 hour to complete the paperwork, call the Dr. and family, ect so it is understandable why she just put him back to bed if she didn't think he was injured, although it is a "no no."
Moral of the story: If you choose to work in a nursing home do not consider it long term employment and always be looking for a better job.
I worked in nursing homes for several years as a CNA. The problems I always had were how immature and conniving the other CNA's were. It was like a drama factory. Some of them were worse than others.
I was in the nursing program until I was so turned off by the work in the nursing homes I quit.
That being said, I loved the residents, I enjoyed my work (to an extent), and I liked upper management and how most things were ran. Maybe it's because I worked at nicer nursing homes? Not sure..
It is - I wonder why it had that posting from admin encouraging a response - stating "if you respond it will be bumped to the top of the thread." They must figure it is an interesting topic?
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