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Trying to help out my mom...

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culbertsonj

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio

Here is the history behind my mother's dilemma:
My mother is a nurse who has worked for the same company (a nursing home)for about 20 years. Because of her tenure, she has reached a salary cap and they cannot pay her anymore. (new nurses coming in get paid atleast $10/hour less) She has recently recieved workers comp for a back injury. She also has decided to put my grandfather into the same nursing home she works at. She did this because she believed that he would recieve the good care there.

Unfortunately, my grandfather has taken a turn for the worse. My mother has been working overtime trying to get his affairs in order. On top of this, she had to guess as to what paperwork needed to be filled out for his Medicaid. She missed some paperwork which caused the nursing home to lose out on a substantial amount of money. My mother informed me that normally, family members would have been provided with a social worker to aid in filling out this paperwork. Because she worked there, she was not provided with this.

Now, the problem:
Now, everytime she goes into work, she gets handed a write up. Example write ups include: A written verbal notice the same day she recieved a write up about the same problem. The verbal notice was dated months earlier, but given the same day. Example #2: she got written up because of improper charting on her subordinate's behalf. She was told everyone else got written up also. She learned later she was the only one. Example #3: She gets written up for not getting her work done in time and working over to finish up - she will be put in charge of two hallways worth of patients while three nurses are put in charge of the two others.

They all know she has a weight restriction of ten pounds, but she is expected to lift and move patients around all the time.

I want to help my mom, but I'm afraid that without $$10-20k, we have no hope but to wait until they fire her. Between her treatment she is recieving at work and her father dying, she's so depressed! Any advice?
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Perhaps your mother's employer assumed she would ask for the assistance of a social worker if she needed help since she would be far more knowledgeable regarding the resources available to her than would your typical family member.

Anyway, to put it in a nutshell your question is whether retaliation for her employer missing out on substantial amount of Medicaid funds is prohibited (assuming retaliation is in fact taking place, which hasn't been established.) Good question and I can't answer that. If nobody else here can, then I suggest your mother contact her local Medicaid office and inquire.
 

culbertsonj

Junior Member
Well, it's not just the retaliation because of the medicaid issue - it could be a multitude of problems. It seems obvious that they are either waiting for her to quit, or planning on firing her. She's not sure exactly why, just that between winning her workman's comp case, making the higher salary, and the problems with her dad and medicaid issues, and the fact that her weight restriction will eventually become an issue (she's really hurting herself by not abiding by it, but she has to do her job!), they are definitely making it clear she is no longer wanted. Is there any way she can protect herself and any steps she should take in the event she does get fired?

I guess the retaliation against her could be only related to the medicaid issue, but so far, it's all a guess and there is no proof. All of the above issues(minus salary) all came about around the same time period. I will have my mom call the medicaid office and see what they have to say - thank you Beth3 for your response!
 

purple2

Member
A few thoughts for you, FWIW:
culbertsonj said:
she had to guess as to what paperwork needed to be filled out for his Medicaid. She missed some paperwork which caused the nursing home to lose out on a substantial amount of money. My mother informed me that normally, family members would have been provided with a social worker to aid in filling out this paperwork. Because she worked there, she was not provided with this.
Check with Medicaid, but normally, it's the applicant's responsibility to get the applications filled out. Social workers may provide assistance, but that usually doesn't mean they become responsible. While it was unfair for the nursing home to provide a lower level of service to your mom in this regard, it's probably not illegal.
 

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