I am a nursing assistant in a nursing home.
I recently manually transferred a patient from bed to wheelchair by hand (which I know is unsafe and illegal but that’s how we do it here) and I almost dropped her. The brakes on the wheelchair were broken. So when I attempted to place her in the chair, the chair kept moving.
If I would have been a little weaker or the patient a little heavier I might have dropped her, her hip might have broken etc.
I spoke to another woman about this. One brake on her husband’s wheelchair is broken. She said she made several complaints to the staff with no results.
I contacted the department of health and I asked that I remain anonymous.
My manager spoke to me today and said that he knows that I made this complaint. He explained to me that I must be loyal to the nursing home and never make a complaint to the health department but rather come to him and he will be happy to take care of it. He added that he had not heard any complaints from the woman I mentioned.
Does anyone have any opinion about this?
Who is the state regulatory agency for healthcare facilities in Israel?
You stated there is no policy & procedure manual there for your to reference when you are on the job. Were P/P reviewed with you in orientation?
I hope you stay there and fight for your patient’s rights as you are a wonderful asset to that NH.
At least where I worked you could just call them. No chain of command to do that, and get it taken care of.
Are these the site's wheel chairs or the residents privately owned wheel chair? That might make a difference as to who fixes them. Altho if their bed broke, I doubt the home would tell the resident's family to pay for that. If that is the case family should at least get the part or fix it. Good luck. Stay safe!
The manager sounds like a jerk. You know he doesn't have your back which would worry me.
Next write an email or note...copy it..stating that per your conversation on (date) regarding loyalty to the NH, you will bring any future issues to her directly...and do so...but continue to document and see if you catch wind of others who are like minded but perhaps too afraid to file complaints...especially those told not to file but to go to staff. Try to get personal #, email, or other contact info...perhaps under another excuse. ( A picnic, event, you got extra tickets to something...). They can be called as witnesses if you get fired or any retaliation.
So at work act cooperative. But cover your butt with documents and report their illegal attempt to dissuade you. Keep doing the right thing.
In many states there is a 6 month protection period. If you don't go on record with EEOC about their illegal attempt to dissuade you from filing reports, then you won't be protected if they find an excuse to let you go.
I learned this the hard way. I didn't have a way to contact my co-workers for witnesses to my defense. They waited 6 months and then "wrote me up" for minor or made up infractions.
You might also reach out to you Congressional Reps office for guidance and support. First make sure they don't have personal relationship with the owners. They can be a great advocate, and provide protection from retaliation.
document there names / time and whats unsafe and who u reported it to as well as time patient info and etc..
i used to work at a hospital and reason i tell you this is cause when thing will get real bad you need to know that you took this job to help people not be on the facility side and allow violations and patients that have trust in these places to get hurt and one day find yourself being blamed by the same creep who told you to go to him 1st.
Obviously this guy or lady doesn't care and believe me knows most chairs are broken and limited lifts on the floors that actually work. if that patient fell and hit his or her head, you would of took the blame and i seen aides get charged with felony in new york due to this and there supervisors (come to me 1st) left them to hang. The place can not retaliate or approach you saying i know its you that mDe the claim. if they do that again or fire you, you can sue them. You are protected by law but i would look for another place to work at while you are there now and just be careful as equipment they give you to use to help patients u i would personally exam 1st make sure there safe and working. That guy might set you up now, if he knows it was you i assume you told him it was he will single you out and document every day with names and hours. i went through some thing like this my 1st job and i sued and was protected by law. back then my old boss at a urology clinic made a settlement i accepted over 65k. he also had to pay for my lawyer and promoted me in the clinic that i left 5 months later and moved on to better place and people and docs that actually care for there patients.
dont let this guy give you bad habits and once u do its all over for that career u in and ur putting patients u chose to care for at risk. go speak with admin, find out who the owner is of this place, let them know what happened and what he said and how u feel like now ur job is at risk and u feel not safe nore do ur patients, and remind them patients that live there do not complain as of fear of retaliation and for there safety.
please always use a lift and never move anyone by yourself. thats why its always required to have two or more people move someone out of bed and into a wheelchair that you should always check its working properly before you place them in. good luck
Residents at nursing homes should not be in danger. Employees should not be put in a compromising position either. What a shame...