Posted: 6/28/2005 5:11:02 PM EDT
|
I just got home from the local Hosiptal after having a pissing match with the Nurse and Aids for falsifying my Father's chart. I got there at 5:15. I always look at his chart to see if anything is significantly different. I noticed that the Aid had signed off on turning him at 6:00. Curious. He is supposed to be turned every 2 hours. If they had done it early he should have been on his right side. He was on his back as was signed for at 4PM. NOBODY came into the room until 6:50, and that was to stock his nightstand with baby wipes. At 7:05 he was still on his back, but his chart said he was on his right side and had been since 6:00. Bullshit! At 6:50 I also noticed that he had been given a pill at 6:00. More bullshit. At 7:05 I caught the Nurse in the hallway and went off on her about all the falsification of his chart. Yesterday, I found the same thing with a bunch of his meds. It wasn't until I called for a respiratory thearapist to give him a breathing treatment that anybody even came into the room. I had the RRT witness the fact that things were signed off on in advance. She seemed genuinely disturbed. She also informed me that he was supposed to be getting 3 breathing treatments a day....and hadn't recieved ANY until she showed up. She was almost as pissed as I was. Does this shit constitute falsification of medical records? Seems to me that it should. Can any of you Medically trained folks shed any light on what can possibly be done about this? My Dad is in bad shape and I want him to be comfortable.....but these fuckers seem bent on hastening his demise! |
HIPAA won't do anything for you. They're not meeting the standard of care. We did this at a law firm I worked at in Little Rock. If you have power of attorney for your dad, have your attorney request a copy of his medical records in a very obvious way. It gets results very quickly. I hope this helps. R. |
|
Nobody deserves to be treated like this. I can tell you that I have seen this BS before and it pisses me off to no end. My suggestion is to keep a log and document everything. I wouldn't suggest this to sue for compensation down the road, but to make the staff do their jobs like they are supposed to. If they know family is watching they will tend to put forth a better effort.  Dammit I'm pissed! A lot of facilities put more emphasis on completing paperwork and looking pretty for joint commision, but forget about patient care . Lack of simple proper care contributes to higher costs of care as well. Fucktards.
|
I understand that you are concerned about your dad. How wouldn't be. But some advice. Looking through his chart is a criminal offense. Oh yes it is. Unless he has given you written permission to be able to do so. Go to the manager of the unit and tell him/her. What kind of unit is your dad on? |
HIPPA Laws do in fact guarntee care. Going to the rep is better than Lawyering up, no need to raise med insurance ... The Rep should square this away, if not threaten... Please avoid the Lawyers if you can. |
|
Consider yourself lucky you saw the chart at all.. my hospital uses an EMR (electronic medical records) system that's password protected and you'll never see, even your own records(!) If you have power of attorney, I'd get legal on their ass before they kill your dad. That's totally unacceptable behavior by the nursing staff.
Normally I'd agree with you, but this seems systemic and insidious. If they're fudging about breathing treatments, are they fudging (and perhaps pocketing) narcotics? |
I have a medical power of attorney and he has me listed on his HIPPA forms. I know that the chart shows he was given a pill because his Nurse signed the sheet to attest to the 'fact'. |
Call the hospital. Demand to speak with the RISK MANAGER. Be angry but polite when you speak to her (80+% chance it's a her). She'll do everything to make you and your father happy. She has the ear of the hospital administrator an it's her job to make sure the hospital doesn't get reported to JCAHO and HCFA. Make her your first call. Hell, have them page her tonight if you really want to get the nurses bitch slapped. Take my advice - 8+ years working as the Safety Officer in healthcare + 4 years as a safety consultant to healthcare. |
Go to the HIPPA rep like I said. |
You know about this much "0" about this subject, so please don't post here. |
|
I went through this in 2001 when my wife had a stroke after being attacked by a dog and breaking her hip. This, except multiply it by about a 100. The doctors know they won't be held accountable, so they don't give a damn. Since the doctors aren't held accountable, their oversight of the nurses is very lax which leads to more problems. About 2/3 of the amounts we were billed for were for things that weren't done, including a very expensive MRI. She had one, but they billed for two (aside: getting the results back from that took weeks and a call from a lawyer after they claimed to have lost the results but still wanted to bill for the procedure. After a nasty call from a lawyer, they suddently found the results). Not a single doctor took any action to help with her stroke. She couldn't even speak, and it was about three weeks before she could say simple words again. It took almost four months after she got out of the hospital before I could find a neurologist that would see her. In September it will be four years since this happened, and I'm still trying to get the bills straight. As any nurse will tell you, you never want to be alone in a hospital. You need someone there 24/7 to watch over the doctors and other medical personnel.z |
It's just the maintainence ward at a local community hospital in KY. |
Ok. First go to the CEO of the hospital and ask to make an appointment. Don't be angry at him, be straight and to the point. It will fall down the chain of command faster than you can blink. Make frequent checks on your dad, and be nice not mean. Being nasty doesn't get you anywhere. So you know: I am a R.N. of 9 years critical care and manager. My wife is an A.R.N.P of 20 years and an attorney. Just so you know the background of the person giving you this info. |
I appreciate the info and the advice....everybody...I reckon I'll try to get in to see the CEO in the morning. Sounds like the way to go. I have always been a big fan of going right to the top of the foodchain. Thanks again. Sua Sponte |
+1 It's sad that you have to pull their tail to get them to get moving and provide proper care. I know you're upset, you should be, but theres no reason to spend even more money in the care of your father with a lawyer or something if you don't have to. Hospitals have an administration set up to deal with things like this, hospital policy is certainly on your side and even though YOU shouldn't have to do anything, I would find an administrator, like a risk management person, thats job is to protect the hospital. Use that to your advantage. Use phrases like law suits, and improper care for an ailing man. Can you move to another wing of the hospital? Get a different nurses station? Move to another hospital? I wish you and your dad the best. Hope you can get this sorted out. |
huh? |
Very true. When my wife's sister was injured in an auto accident last April, my wife or another sister stayed with her the entire 10 days she was in the hospital. They kept an eye on the staff whenever they (the nurses, Dr, whoever) showed up. Also made sure that all the medicine was dispensed as prescribed, bed pan changed, etc. It's unfortunate that you have to do this, but it must be done. |
|
How do you get to look at your chart? This seems pretty basic. Can you get a court order for your lawyer to look at it? And we wonder why lawyers are having a good payday at the medical profession's expense (and ours)? A pretty good trick, pay through the nose for medical care and then be afraid to go to the hospital. Perfect. |
How about something as simple as asking?? 
|
|
It's your word against their word... Install a video camera in the room. The tape will prove what is going on. A big box of kleenex will hide one of the smaller ones inside it nicely. You can do this tonight. It might be the only way you can protect him. Perhaps you could ask the local news station for help on hidden cameras. This kind of thing makes careers for investigative reporters. |
|
I am truly sorry to hear about your father. First, all patients who are not able to substantially change their position frequently and supposed to be turned every 2 hours. Depending on the type of unit you are on, this is practically everyone. In practice, almost no one is ever actually repositioned every 2 hours. On the other hand, it will be documented that they were on the chart. Yes, this is falsification of records. No, you cannot prove it. The 0600 medication may have been given early, before you got there at 0515. Yes, on the Medication Administration record, it should have been noted the actual time instead of the scheduled time. In practice, unless the medication is very important this is frequently not done. Again, this is falsification of records and again no you can't prove it.
Wrong approach. Being rude to the people who take care of your father when you are not around is not the best idea. What you need to do is ask to speak to the Charge Nurse. You should appear to be a rational person who doesn't go off on people. Explain to her that your father is not being repositioned as he is supposed to be. Also explain that you think his 0600 medication was not given and you're concerned if any of his other mediations were not given. Next, stay the day, maybe 8 hours. Bring a newspaper and drink a cup of coffee. Be nice to the nurses and aids and see if they're coming in like they should be. If not, go to administartion and ask to speak to the CEO. You may not get the CEO, but you'll get some suit or another in administration. Explain that you have already gone through the charge nurse but that your concerns are still not being addressed. Keeping a log book in the room is not a bad idea, although I personally would not do it. Really, what is the point? TO make sure everyone knows you are watching? By going to the charge nurse, and then to administration, you will make this known and will not appear to be unreasonable. If you have a MPOA, you can legally look at the chart. Alternatively, if your father is alert enough to say you are allowed to look at it, they must also honor this. Keep in mind that that a nurse or secretary will be with you constantly while you review the chart to maintian the integrity of it. They really do have better things to do, yes, but it is a requirement. No big deal. Also, you can not make copies of anything in it. If you want copies, go to medical records and pay the standard fee for them (it's not much.) Sorry if this is long winded, but let me just say this ain't my first rodeo. |
|
While most of my frequent experiences with my grandparents hospital stays are pleasant(meaning staff and care, not the fact they need to be in a hospital in the first place). There was one time my grandmother(blind with alzheimer's), was ignored. In fact they left her unrestrained, without having the rails up on the bed one night. She woke up one night disoriented, and fell out of the bed. She had just both of her knees replaced the day before. This was bad enough, but on top of that, the IV tube broke when she fell and she lost a LOT of blood before someone came to her aid. The nurses didn't tell us any of this occured. The only way we found out was because we discovered a lot of blood on a blanket. The IV seemed to be having problems, and we asked for assistance. The IV specialist came in and discovered her IV catheter had moved. That was strange to her and she couldn't see and reason for it in the medical records. She also said that only the IV specialists were supposed to instert the IV catheters. Eventually after lawyer threats and talking to as many people as possible in the hospital we found out what happened. She got out of bed, which she should not have been able to do, and fell because of her condition due to her new knees. When she fell the IV tube broke, leaving it open and blood went all over everything. They cleaned it up, changed the blood stained seperator curtain, and sheets, but luckily somehow missed the blanket. They gave her a new IV, and blood transfusions were given(very risky, my grandmother had donated her own blood ahead of time to prevent having to use transfusions for the operations, but they gave her all of her donated blood back already and now an elderly woman with a weaker immune system had to have riskier blood). They acted like nothing never happened, when we came in the next day. Unfortunately we had to keep her in that hospital for another week or so until she recovered enough to be moved. But, we hired a private nurse that stayed with her 24/7 while she was there to make sure she got the required care. The hospital reimbursed us for the cost of the private nurse(outrageously expensive), and went to great efforts to show they were making sure nothing like that would happen again. But, it all really depends on the person who is caring for a patient at any given time. The day nurse might be the best ever, and the night nurse seem great, too. Until the families leave and patients are alone and can be ignored. |
This is a big NO NO.If his dad has a room mate, you`re violating his righs if you don`t have his permission. Also check your state statutes, you may be committing other criminal offenses by doing so. PC Sutton, Here`s some advice from another long time RN. Contact the Nurse Manager of the unit then the Consumer affairs rep or Corporate Compliance Officer at the hospital. You`ll probably get a hold of them faster than the CEO, depending on the size of the hospital. Contact your Doc. Depending on the medication, they may be able to draw serum levels to see if the med was given. We nailed a RN at my old ER in just that way. You can also contact your State Dept of Health (or whoever regulates hospitals in your state). You should also contact your state Board of Nursing. They regulate and can revoke the licenses of Nurses in your state. Nothing can give a bad practitioner religion faster than a call from the State Board. Sorry you`re in that situation. 
|
|
There is no problem with hidden cameras. They are used all the time in nursing homes to keep an eye on things. I bet you can't find one case anywhere anytime where a family member got charged with a privacy violation. These people need to get their ass kicked for the substandard care and falsifying of records. Video proof is the only way to catch them in the act. |