Hey y'all, just wanted to vent for a bit. A little bit about me, I'm a certified nursing assistant working in a hospital, 19 yrs old male with a body like a twig (88 pounds). I'm an international student and English is my 3rd language, so sorry if there's any mistake in spelling and grammar.
I had my very first patient fall on my shift. She's a confused old lady with dementia and alzheimer's and she is isolated for Covid, she is super sweet though and I like her.
I was in the middle of helping an eldery male patient ambulating and I heard a bed exit alarm. I didn't know who it was and this patient has one broken hip so I couldn't leave him unattended. One of the nurse called me and said it was one of my patient (the one who is about to fall in this story) so I had to put him on the chair momentarily and run all the way to the other side of the unit (opposite room from the building). Apparently the nurse who called me was standing outside the room all this time and I asked her why you didn't go in there as I was helping a different patient. She told me she didn't want to deal with Covid patient as she doesn't have her PPE on which l understand, but she is also the nurse who is assigned to this lady.
This lady is old but she is quick and she is already standing on the side of the bed, without a walker, by the time I got there. She had a hip surgery also so I don't have much time before she fell. I went in into a Covid room with just gloves and regular mask (not a N-95) because I don't want her to fall. I asked her where she wanted to go and she said she needs to go to the bathroom. Once again, she is confused and has dementia, so she didn't press the call button for help. I put a gait belt on her and gave her a walker, helping her going to the bathroom while holding her from the back. Both of us were able to go to the bathroom just fine. Even if she is weak she is able to walk slowly and she had physical therapy before and they gave the green light that she can go to the bathroom and no longer use a bedpan or bedside commode.
Once we are in the bathroom, she said she is finished, it's not even 2 minutes yet. I noticed there's a little bit of poop on her legs so I cleaned her up. I asked her to stand a bit so I can walk her butt. She stands up and said “I'm tired and can't do this anymore” she pushed her walker away and was about to fall while I was still half crouching. I quickly grabbed her by the belt and pull her, but she decided to do a free fall, not trying to balance or stand up or anything. Both of us fell, but she fell on top of me. She then decided to poop all over me and it was diarrhea. I managed to clean her up and put her back on the bed. I asked her if anything is hurting and she said she is okay and I soften the land. I'm still covered in her poop and she said sorry. I walked out and the nurse apparently watched everything and laughed at me.
I asked her if she can document the fall. This is what she said, “uh no, nu-uh, you're the one who is in the room when she fall, you're responsible for it.” I went to the charge nurse desk and told her what happened, along with the manager and the unit secretary in hoping that they can document the fall and notify the family of the incident. They all laughed at me and told me I have to do it by myself. I feel so upset, angry, and humiliated. I asked if I can go home and take a shower at least. The charge nurse proceeded to say “that will be considered as walking out from the job and you don't have to come back anymore. This field is hard, it's not for those who are mentally weak and physically weak.” I am so tempted to quit on spot without putting any notice at that moment.
To this day I'm still working at the same place, unfortunately in the healthcare, if you're fired or resigned disrespectfully, it will be the end of your career. I'm also on a 2 years contract with them in exchange for a nursing school. They will pay my school to become a nurse after 2 years and I have to work for them for another 2 years after graduating while still working as a CNA during school. Meaning I have to work for another 6 years at the same hospital. I lost my drive to become a nurse unfortunately, but I also can't leave because it is stated in the contract that if I leave before my 2 years is up, I have to pay for my 6 months of CNA school and certification, which is a huge amount of money that I don't have. I only get paid $14 an hour and the cost for the school I went to (one of the best school in my state) is close to 11K.
Why I mentioned about my gender? This happened in the past, same hospital, different charge nurse. A female patient I was giving a bath keeps touching my groin area and slapping my butt. I told her that is a sexual harassment and that is unacceptable. She proceeded to call 911 on me saying that she is neglected. I reported this to the charge nurse and the charge nurse told me, “there is no such a thing as male being sexually harassed. In fact every male enjoys their part being touched, so unless you're one of those gay people, man up.” Well… Everyone at the unit knows I'm also gay, so she did say that on purpose.
Tl;dr: Nurse didn't want to deal with Covid positive and confused patient who is about to fall, had to help the patient and the patient fall on me, she pooped all over me and everyone laughed. Became the laughing stock of the workplace for a year.