My patient came up with some nasty bruises?!


Question: My patient came up with some nasty bruises.?
I work for a home health agency as a CNA (Nursing Assistant). I visit this Alzheimer's patiente every day Mon-Fri for 3 hours a day. She does a lot of things by herself requiring little assistance and supervision. We get along very very well. She lives with her son who is disabled in a wheelchair. Her daughter lives a few houses down on the same street and comes everyday to help out with her care. I noticed that her daughter sometimes loses her patience with her mom, raising her voice, hurrying her mom to do what she's doing (she takes longer than all of us, obviously because of her condition). So I left Friday afternoon and my patience was doing great. I was off for the weekend, then came back Monday morning and spotted this HUGE purple bruise on her left hand. She also had other smaller bruises on her arms. I asked her how she got those, and she could not remember. I asked the son and the daughter, they both said the same thing: we don't have a clue. Then when I got home I called my agency and mentioned that to them. They told me I had to go there and file a incident report. I did. Now, I can't say somebody did it or not, since I did not witness any physical aggression between them. But that was on the weekend, I wasn't there. I wonder what my agency is going to do, are they going to call Dept of Children and Families to do an investigation.? I was shocked when I saw that big bruise, it surely was recent. What are signs I need to watch for that she might be abused.? Thanks for reading.Health Question & Answer


Answers:
Adult protective service will be the agency that investigates the matter, assuming the agency you work for turns the information over. It does take some time for all the players to move into place so be a bit patient.

Having said that to protect yourself, you need to keep a daily journal, who visits, conversations of agression that you may over hear. Report to your agency anything that looks, sounds, or is suspicious. But if you see no action from an outside agency within a couple of weeks, you should follow-up with your supervisor.

It is better to be safe than sorry. Especially in her condition.
%0Health Question & Answer

Sounds like you need to get a social worker involved asap, abuse happens all the time right in front of peoples eyes and the first thing you SHOULD NEVER DO is assume it is nothing. allways be safeHealth Question & Answer

it is your duty to report and you should call aps adult protective servicesHealth Question & Answer



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