I'm a brand new nurse. An LPN. I started work at a catholic nursing home on the Alzheimer's wing. My preceptor told me to only give narcotics the two days i had admissions and to forget about the rest. So i did that. The supervisor found out. And she claims that i havent given some narcs. The count was always correct though. Ive been a nurse a month. Is it all gonna end?

I highly disagree with your preceptor. You give narcotics when the patient needs them, after you've assessed the patient, even if it's day 8. That being said, I hold them if the patient doesn't need them after a discussion with the patient. Unfortunately you were advised poorly.

In this case, I dont think the count being off is the problem. I think you're manager is more concerned about a) ignoring doctors orders without a discussion with the doctor and b) not using nursing judgment to base your decisions off of.

It's hard, when you're being preceptored, to do something against your preceptorship advice. However, you are practicing under your own license and ultimately you are responsible for the patient. I've had to have a couple of conversations with older nurses because I didnt feel comfortable with what they were telling me. It doesn't have to be confrontational. You just have to explain your concerns and back it up with some evidence.

I don't think you'd lose your license. Your best bet is to talk to your manager, explain why you didn't give the narcotics and explain why you've realized you were wrong. You might end up with a flag in your employment record, but take this chance to start fresh. We all make mistakes and you're learning. Learn to listen to your gut feeling when it tells you something is off. Best of lucj