did not chart

Okay so I have a big problem. I sincerely regret my actions but it is too late now and i got myself into trouble.

I do not want to go into detail as to why, but to make it short, There were cases that I did not chart on a patient. Its not that I did not do anything. The workload on those days were too heavy and paperwork was not my priority that time. I signed off the meds and stuuf, just no nurses notes. My supervisor found out and I have been severely scolded for it. Now they did an investigation and they said there was a total of 12 missing notes for the period of the 3 months I worked there and they said they have reported it to the state and nursing board as patient abandonment. Nothing bad happened to the patients "yet". And i did all my cares, there was just no documentation. "If it was not charted, it didn't happen". I fully understand my mistake, but at this moment I don't know what to do and what will happen. Will I lose my license? What should I do?
Can you hire a nurse attorney? Do you have malpractice insurance?

I agree--your best course of action is to hire as attorney. I'm not sure if not charting actually constitutes abandonment--anyone know? It may vary from state to state.

Definitely sounds like you need to consult an attorney or at least your malpractice carrier.

Yikes!I agree about hiring an attorney.

Thank for the replies everyone. I have considered hiring a lawyer and yes I do have insurance.I tried searching for penalties or the consequences of not charting online. I can't find anything online that fits my case unless one of those patients start an investigation or something bad happens to them sometime in the future.Oh well, I guess my next step is to find a good lawyer.

If you have malpractice insurance, you have a lawyer already. They will supply you with one as part of your coverage. Call them stat.

Quote from sumomechuuThank for the replies everyone. I have considered hiring a lawyer and yes I do have insurance.I tried searching for penalties or the consequences of not charting online. I can't find anything online that fits my case unless one of those patients start an investigation or something bad happens to them sometime in the future.Oh well, I guess my next step is to find a good lawyer.

Am asking ... if you've signed for meds, that means you've provided SOME care. So how could that be considered pt abandonment? Failure to chart other nsg actions could be considered NOT following orders or standards of care (you know, if it wasn't charted, it wasn't done adage). IMHO, that's where the problem is.And because there seems to be quite a few episodes of omitted charting (and following that line of thought omitted care), it may reflect a pattern of poor nsg care in general. Like you're just not able to do the job. And that will get YOU and the facility in trouble.Am just telling you how others may view this type of issues. Am not accusing you as we all know how crazily overwhelmed we all are.Like others posted - call your malpractice carrier STAT for their input.

Unless the notes they are referring are how report is given to the next Nurse then it's not patient abandonment.

I became queen of the one line nurses notes when I was in a hurry to at least prove that I was there caring for the pt. Its amazing how much info you can cram into one line.