Supported a community today and had a resident fall and fracture something. I was the caregiver assisting the resident. I can't help but feel terrible. Am I getting in my head?
JaneDoe2022, there could be a room full of doctors, nurses, and aides, and out of the blue a senior in that room would fall. It happens so quickly, it is almost impossible to catch the person.
I remember my Mom telling doctors she didn't need caregivers because my Dad could catch her before she fell. Well, my parents were in their 90's, and it would have taken Dad a couple of minutes to even get up out of his chair. So unless Mom froze mid-fall, there was no way Dad could catch her.
I was assisting a Resident into bed, she shifted a little and we both went down. She ended up sitting on my legs. Neither one of us were hurt. Things sometimes go wrong no matter how experienced you are..
I wouldn't think much of you if you didn't feel terrible, but that doesn't mean you were at fault. How does your employer handle incidents like this? I hope you're being well supported. When it comes to filling in all the forms keep it simple and state exactly what happened. Was anyone else there, or was it just you and the resident?
I remember my Mom telling doctors she didn't need caregivers because my Dad could catch her before she fell. Well, my parents were in their 90's, and it would have taken Dad a couple of minutes to even get up out of his chair. So unless Mom froze mid-fall, there was no way Dad could catch her.
Although she was tiny, she needed someone on either side to prevent falls.
“fall risk” is always serious and often gets worse.
Unless you were looking in the wrong direction, it’s pretty likely that you couldn’t have stopped the fall.
Learn all you can about managing falls (there isn’t a lot you can do) and be at peace.