Signing off on Meds

Nurses Professionalism

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Last evening I was working with an LPN. We both work at a nursing home prn. I felt like she was kind of rude to me.

I was going on my dinner break, and she asks me for my wireless phone, but the way she asked me was like, "phone!?" Now if we switched shifts, I would have asked her if I could please take her phone. She made me feel dumb.

THEN we were both done our meds for 8pm, I put a resident's 8pm meds on the med cart to give to her at 2130, as the resident requested and a couple of other residents meds for 10pm on top of the med cart as well. I opened the electronic mar and switched to my co-lpn's residents to see if I had any residents that I had to give meds to for 10pm because her shift ends at 2130.

I notice that there was one resident who was highlighted in yellow, meaning that meds were not signed off on or meds that needed to be followed up on. I click on the resident and the 8pm meds werent signed off on. I check her med cart for the resident that was higlighted in yellow to see if the meds were still there and they were not. I thought maybe she accidentally forgot to sign off on those meds, SO I asked her if she gave them and that they were not signed off on the emar. I think this nurse had forgotten to sign off on some residents medications in the past, which is why I asked her, but I didnt mention that she may have forgotten to sign off on residents in the past. It was a busy night the last time I worked with this nurse, and it was on a locked unit.

She then told me that she had been an lpn for 42 years and that she didnt appreciate me giving her a reminder to do her job. I didnt even tell her or ask her to sign off on the emar! Then she told me that she was sure that I wouldnt appreciate be reminded either. All I could respond was, "sorry!" and, "okay!" and in my mind, I was thinking that I actually WOULD like the reminder because I've only been working for 6 months and I'm still learning! I'm sure nobody is an expert overnight.... Right? Then she was upset because it was almost 9pm and that she was going to be leaving soon.

It was 2125 when she left our office and when I went out down the hall to see a resident and came back, she had been talking to a cna for the remainder of her shift before she clocked out.

Honestly, my intention was NOT to offend her, I just didnt want her to go home WITHOUT signing off that she had given a resident their medication!

Has anyone evr dealt with a co-worker like this?

Was I in the wrong? Did I over-step my boundaries? Was she unprofessional, or was it I who was being unprofessional???

Thoughts?

JKL33

6,768 Posts

Honestly, my intention was NOT to offend her, I just didnt want her to go home WITHOUT signing off that she had given a resident their medication!

I don't mean to nit-pick. :) In my mind, ideally you would have asked about the medication for the purpose of knowing whether or not the resident had received the medication. Do you see the difference? In one scenario your concern is for the resident, and in the other the "concern" is about someone who didn't do something she was supposed to do. I wasn't there, so I am not saying you didn't speak professionally - - but there is a distinction that may have affected your paraverbals (tone, etc). It kinda-sorta sounds like you may have mentioned it to her with the forethought that she has done this in the past...

I would've said something like, "Sorry, I know you're getting ready to leave, but quick question - - do I need to give Mr. Jones his meds? I'm happy to do it, but figured I'd better ask if you'd already done it..." Leave it up to her to realize you're asking because she didn't sign them off. That way you don't just look like you're trying to pull a "gotcha!"

If you approached her with good intentions, then just don't worry about it any more. It's her problem.

Specializes in LTC.

Thabk you so much for your response and that suggestion of what I could've said! I was feeling confused about this

In situations like I try to only report the actual facts, in first-person, as in, "I see these meds are still highlighted," as opposed to, "Did you give these meds?" It is a subtle thing but I have worked with a lot of people who left things to the last minute or genuinely forget. I have done it myself.

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