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Justam Asked February 2018

RN overseeing not sharing care plan. Any advice?

I am a CNA at a home with an RN overseeing care. She does not follow or share the care plan. The patient is an 89 yo Parkinsons/dementia female. Her husband is 90 and physically with it but has mentally checked out of wife's care and handed over to RN. RN removes medications and replaces with tons of supplements 4xs a day. The patient is in continuous pain but RN is reluctant to give prescribed meds. It's awful to watch. RN tries to make patient walk which is definitely not in care plan. She has husband manipulated and makes $30 an hour and schedules herself 200 hours a month. Am I crazy?

JoAnn29 Feb 2018
If you r part of an agency bring it to ur supervisors attention in writing. Like said, an RN follows Dr. orders. Also, your patient is in her own home and as such cannot be made to do anything she doesn't want to. This would be abuse.

Shane1124 Feb 2018
Have you asked the RN to share the care plan with you? You can do this under the guise that it is your job description to be a part of the CP in your scope of practice and you want clarity on your duties.
200 hours a month is not unreasonable if she works weekends as overtime 2x/month.

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rocketjcat Feb 2018
Cwillie, I interpreted "CNA at a home" as at a nursing home. But pehaps not.

cwillie Feb 2018
Rocketjcat, I believe the family in question are not in a facility but are living in the community so the opportunity for abuse is much greater.

rocketjcat Feb 2018
Another thought, in Moms NH the CNAs are responsible for walking the resident if called for on the plan. Seems like it would be a reasonable question if you ask the PT department for "guidance" on walking the resident. They will tell you the straight scoop on whether she is supposed to be walked or not, since they are the ones responsible for that portion of the care plan.

cwillie Feb 2018
RNs are not infallible, this whole situation sounds very off to me. Yes, report and keep reporting until someone reviews what is happening, it is a sad fact that often often something goes wrong people will confess that they knew something was wrong but didn't act or weren't believed.

rocketjcat Feb 2018
I commend you for caring for your resident! I’m sure facilities differ, but in Moms NH her CNAs have no idea what medications she’s on, since they doesn’t pass meds, the LPNs do. They watch for changes of behaviors, vitals etc and document those. So there may be med changes that you aren’t aware of however. RNs cannot remove or add medications without doctor approval. In Moms facility her Nurse Practitioner is the one I would go to if I had questions on her care plan and the LPNs or RN couldn’t give me the answers. Since you're an employee, not a relative, it might be a touchy situation. When I feel I need to tippytoe around something (not often) I contact her social worker for advice. Maybe that would be an alternate path for you.

Countrymouse Feb 2018
Aren't you a mandated reporter?

Not sharing the care plan, tinkering with the px, being lavish with her time (is she actually doing the work?)... if you have concerns about these things, you must report them. You can report them to your employer, to her employer, or in confidence to APS. But there are questions to be answered and you really don't have a choice - tell *somebody*.

polarbear Feb 2018
You should definitely report this to her supervisor, or authority.
Someone with more information should chime in.

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