Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Hand Slap

Today, I got a phone call from the administrator of the nursing home, who was on speaker phone with the administrative assistant (or whatever her title is).  They called to tell me that last night Mother complained that one of the CNAs had slapped her hand off of the nurses' call button.  Mother has been crying and screaming out a lot the last few days, so I know the CNAs get frustrated.  She must have been calling the nurses constantly, but that does not give this CNA the right to slap Mother or in any way be hateful to her.  This is my least favorite of all the CNAs.  She has been rude to Mother and other residents times that I have witnessed.  However, when she knows a family member is watching and listening, she gets sugary sweet.  Yuk, I hate that!  Anyway, I've never complained about her, and now I realize that I should have.  Mother has told me before that she is hateful.  She's been working on the other hall recently, so she hasn't been Mother's CNA, but the night before last she was on Mother's hall.  Anyway, the head nurse on duty took Mother's complaint seriously and actually sent this CNA home for the rest of the shift.  The administrator and his assistant interviewed her this morning, and, of course, she denied any wrong doing.  But, there have been other complaints against her, and she has been suspended until at least the first of next week when a review of her overall employment record can be reviewed.  I did tell the Adm. today how I felt about this woman.  He did not seem at all surprised.  He told me that she may lose her job completely, not because of this one incident, but because of a compilation of all of the complaints that have been made against her over her time working there.  It is obvious to me that she hates her job.  She's always sighing and acting as if everything she has to do is such a BIG deal.  I think that being a CNA in a nursing home would be one of the hardest jobs there can be anywhere.  I have watched and witnessed, though, and have seen the love and compassion that most of them have for their residents.  Most of them are devoted to these folks.  I have talked with some of these ladies and I've learned that most of them try to treat their residents like they would want their own parents or grandparents to be treated. 
I hope that if this woman loses her job, that she can find something soon that suits her more!
I feel good that this issue is being dealt with rather than being ignored. 

4 comments:

  1. OMGoodness! I was horrified as I read this entry but also satisfied that your mother's complaint was heard and acted upon. When my mother was recently in a nursing home for a month she would tell us about her favorite CNA's and the ones she really disliked and why. I HATED that my mother was afraid of the nasty ones. I noticed that my mother got better care than the lovely lady in the next bed who was an only child and childless. I am sure it was because we were there every day and at odd hours and that poor lady only had a couple of visitors from her church per week. So sad. I am so glad you are on top of things even from a great distance and that you have a sister there to keep watch.

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  2. Oh how awful! I want to slap that CNA! No one should treat another person that way. I know how much it hurts you to see your mama helpless like this. That CNA should definitely be fired for treating her so badly.
    Hugs to you Julia. I will be praying for this situation.

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  3. Ugh! That's awful. Fussing at a patient is one thing (which shouldn't be done either), but to physically treat someone like they are a chile is totally ridiculous.
    I was so lucky when I was in the hospital for 12 days, and couldnt speak for 7 or those, that I had a wonderful staff. There was only one RN that gave me problems, and once my husband complained, she wasn't assigned to me anymore.
    I hope things get better for your mom.

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  4. Thank goodness the staff took the complaint seriously and that they are investigating! There's no doubt that it takes a very special person to be a CNA and either this gal is not the right type of person for the job or she is burned out...either way it's time for her to go!

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