Reference no: EM132300929

You recently started a new job as Unit Manager at a skilled nursing facility. While the job is rewarding, it is not without challenges.

This morning, one of your nurse's aides asked if they could meet with you. When she came to your office for the appointment, she explained that she suspects that a newly admitted patient has suffered physical abuse. The nurse's aide relays that when she was helping the patient get to her room and into her bed, she saw some bruises on her wrists and back that, in her experience, might be the result of having been abused. She has no idea, however, whether the bruises were there when the patient initially entered the hospital (where she was admitted before being sent to your facility for rehabilitation). The nurse's aide has met the patient's son and, she explains, he was very short and brisk with you and with his mother. In fact, she witnessed the son speaking to the mother in a very disrespectful manner when he came to visit with her. The nurse's aide wanted to be sure that she shared this with someone on the unit. She selected you because the nurse that she reports to "has it out for her" and, she fears, would retaliate against her because the nurse should have noticed these bruises and also witnessed the patient's son's demeanor.

After she leaves your office, you ask the nurse manager where the patient is and go to visit with her. You also see the bruises and agree with the nurse's aide.

Think about the circumstances and answer the following questions:

(1) How can you determine whether the bruises that you saw meet the criteria for suspected abuse?

(2) Assuming that they do, how can you figure out who is required to report the suspected abuse, and how they should report it?

(3) What will you say when you approach the patient's nurse about the matter?