Nursing situation

[lyshae]

I only have 2 nights nurses. Â*One works every Tuesday night and every other Saturday and the other one works Sunday, Monday, Wednesday-Friday nights and every other Saturday. Â*Last week my primary day nurse and the nurse that works 1-2 nights a week went on vacation. Â*That left me with a couple of open day shifts and a couple night shifts. Â*The nurse that works alot of nights at my home volunteered to pick up all the open shifts...which I really appreciated. Â*This particular nurse is very close to my family, especially since she is here so much. Â*Well to make a long story short...she picked up the open shifts last week. Â*She put in 8hrs on the Tues. night, 9 hours on the Weds. morning Â*and she worked 4/8 hrs. on the Saturday day shift. Of course she made a killing that week for the amount of hours she worked. Â*Well I knew that the Saturday shift was going to be time and a half for her so I found it strange that she didn't work the whole shift but then just thought that perhaps it was because she was exhausted. Â*Well I normally keep track of my hours and how many I use. Â*I don't see all of the nurses time slips so I can normally look at their nurses notes or the communication book to see what hours they worked. Â*I was especially interested to see what this nurse put down for the Saturday shift....well low and behold...looked in the communication book and didn't see any times, looked at her nurses notes and all she had written down was the start time...no end time. Â*I approached her and told her that I like to keep track of my hours but didn't see any times written down for Saturday. Â*She told me that she lost her time slip for last week so she gave her time to the agency verbally. Â*She left a message on their voicemail and remembers telling them that she worked all her normal shifts last week plus three additional shifts---Tues night, Thursday, and Saturday. Â*She said she didn't remember if she told them she only worked a half a shift on Saturday but when she gets her paycheck and if she got paid for the whole shift then she owes me 4 hours. Â*I don't know how to feel about this. Â*I kinda feel like she stole time from me and had I not have said anything I would have never known. Â*What would you do?

Sorry this is so long.

Lyshae

[twintotwin]

This is where it gets sticky...
because what she did was very sneaky, I would lose trust with this nurse. I don't forget things like that so if I kept that nurse I would begin to resent her. I would always be watching her.

I had a nurse do this to me in the beginning. I liked her personality and felt she was clinically a very good nurse. But she had some personal issues that she didn't keep a secret (husband into drugs). I don't like knowing too much about a nurse's personal life b/c you can't help but judge them on it since they're taking care of your child. So she began asking me to leave early...first 15 minutes, then 30....
So I started to secretly hate her. I couldn't look her in the eye. I knew she was trying to manipulate me by making me feel bad for her, then asking me to leave early. Plus she was robbing us of time. I made sure I didn't sign her timesheets-ever.
Needless to say I wound up getting rid of her and felt better.
Though I had a massive gap in my nursing hours. Which brings me to.....

If you say anything to this nurse or report this to the agency, there is a good chance you can lose her. So be prepared. If you can ignore it and not feel resentful, then do so.

It's amazing how someone can say or do ONE thing that changes your opinion of them forever!

[Whitney]

Sounds like she has been w/ your family for a long time. Only you know if she has ever been deceitful in the past. If you have been previously suspicious of her, I would have a difficult time trusting her again. If this is truly the first time she has ever made a "mistake", then I would let it slide. In her defense, she did work 3 extra shifts and may really been exhausted (I know I am reaching here). If this is the first time she has ever done this, I'd let it go and just make sure she does the extra 4 hours. You might want to emphasize how important it is all the time is properly documented (if you need to). Personally, if we had a nurse covering extra shifts, working over the holidays, or just really helping us out, we'd let them go early as a "thank you"... Obviously, it would not be 4 hours early. Kerry is right about losing trust. Once its gone, its gone. We only "fired" one of our long-term nurses. Of course, we would let some nurses go that only worked one or two nights for whatever reason. Our one long-term nurse lied to me and Steve pointblank and I could never trust her again. She had been caring for Alex since he came home and it was hard to let her go, but we knew we had no choice. We gave her a two week notice and she found another job. Either way, good luck with your decision. Think about it for a few days and see how you feel about it then...

Whitney

[lyshae]

Kerry, Whitney,

Thanks for the reply. Â*I think besides the fact that I felt as if she was very sneaky in her effort, I am also worried about insurance fraud. Â*My insurance company does a review every three months in order to extend Brandin's nursing benefit (as a matter of fact they are doing one now). After I approached the nurse regarding her incomplete nurse's note I noticed she put down a 8am start time and 12pm end time. Â*Since she was probably paid for the whole 8 hours that would mean that her nurse's notes don't match what she was actually paid for. Â*God forbid the insurance company decides to do an audit. Â*What I be held responsible in anyway? Â*Am I jeopardizing my son's coverage because I knew about it and didn't report it. Â*I just don't want to be caught in the middle of any "mess". Â*I thought about calling the agency and requesting that my nurses be told that their time slips need to be signed by either mom or dad before they can get paid. Â*That way I can have a better handle on what time they are reporting. Â*Right now I don't have a clue because I don't see the time slips. Â*Also, I am very generous with all of my nurses. Â*I usually let them leave early, 1/2 hour here and there. Â*Especially on holidays or when I am home from work but it is one thing when I authorize it and another when they just assume it is okay to come in late or leave early and put in for the whole shift. Â*Since this is the first time (that I know of) I will try not to overreact and let it slide. Â*I just don't like to feel as if I am being used or taken advantage of.

Lyshae

[twintotwin]

Lyshae- It really is crappy to be stuck in this position. Part of me is thinking you might just feel better to tell the nurse you're being audited and you wanted to know if she claimed those 4 hours on her t/s.
Who signs the t/s?
And Whitney is right about all the hours she worked, she was probably tired. But nurses usually take these hours to help you and to make extra money. Why is it that she just gets the extra money and you don't get all the help?

[Lizzykewlness]

It sounds like it could very easily been a mistake on her part and putting the 8-12 hrs in the time sheet means she's verifying that she owes you those 4 hrs....or if it was holiday pay (or overtime) then she owes you more hrs. That might be the true test of whether or not she meant to cheat you or not; if she's willing to work the amount of hrs she was paid for. What is that like 6 hrs for time and a half 4 + (4 X 0.5) = 6 Does that make sense? ...hehe it's 3am here....

[T-bone]

Lyshae,
If she is a good nurse, then I would give her the benefit of the doubt. Why don't you tell her that this is bugging you? Tell her that you are worried about being audited and that you need to account for those 4 hours. Just say that you know that she was tired but if you get audtited it could turn into a really BIG deal. My experience is that in our minds we can make small situation into a really big one and there was no need. My guess is that maybe she doesn't understand your side of the situation.
I am always good to my nurses too, like letting them go early as well. Sometimes it can back fire on you. One nurse took advantage of it and really slacked off. She now only comes every once in a while. Abby really loves her and is attatched.
So be good to them, but they also need to realize that you are their employer.

Good luck,
Teresa
________
Iolite Vaporizer Use

[kimh]

I am not in this situation yet, but the advice about is probably good. I think you have to decide if you can do without this nurse ,if you think this was truely just and "overtired oversight" or that she was trying to get away with something. I know that my brain gets mushy when I am tired , but nursing needs to be properly documented if you are going to keep the hours you need. I am bad at confrontations, so I don't know whether I could just ask her about it, I would be afraid she would think I was accusing and not just inquiring. And then I could lose a good nurse because of a slight misunderstanding. But like the others stated above, if you have the slightest thought that you may not trust her now you should probably tell the agency to find someone else. Good Luck!

[Adam's Mommy]

If you are really concerned about being audited, you should just tell the nurse that you both need to speak with the scheduling and billing dept. at the Homecare company and get it straightened out.
When you start letting her "make up" hours that were previously paid for, that can come a sticky situation as well. If she is caring for your child while on these "make up" hours she will not be under the protection of the insurance of the nursing co., as she cannot report the make up hours. If something --God forbid--happened while she was there, legally you would have no leg to stand on and neither would she. Don't hide anything like that from the nursing co.

I don't like to think about legalities, as I would never imagine something bad happening, and we love our nurses, but it is reality in this crazy world we live in.

Just tell this nurse you really need to keep things by the book, and she shouldn't mind helping you get your books straight.

Good luck!

[twintotwin]

I almost got myself into this situation last night! I don't even want to talk about....but let us know how this all turns out.