Should I be worried?

[mikala3]

I am a new grad and still have a preceptor. On my third night of working, my preceptor fillout out a safety violation report on me and I do not know what to expect. I did not know that I needed to notify the pharmacist if a medication was out of stock. Instead I documented that it was not on the floor and was not given to the patient because it was out of stock.

She said I provided unsafe care and filled out the report. There is only one hospital in my area of Kentucky, and I am scared to death that I will get fired over it. Am I making too much of it?

[Bklyn_RN]

Some preceptors are hostile. I am speaking from experience.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Did she write YOU up or write the SITUATION up?

There's a huge difference.

A patient not getting med because it's not available is a system wide problem. It's technically a med "error." Not that YOU made the error, but the patient didn't get what they were supposed to get, which is obviously a problem that needs to be rectified to avoid it happening in the future. How else are the powers that be going to know there's a problem if there's no system in place to let them know?

People tend to think of it as being personal when an occurrence report is written, when most of the time, it's just a way to make sure the system gets fixed. Unfortunately, some places do use them in a punitive way.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Did your preceptor exlplain to you what to do when a med isn't available to give? If she did and you managed to forget that in 3 days time, I'd say the writeup may be warranted. BUT, if she never even bothered to tell you what to do in the event of such a circumstance, SHE needs to be written up as a crappy preceptor!

Try not to worry and keep up posted!

[sauconyrunner]

I really do think after 3 nights, it might be a bit difficult to expect you to know exactly what to do with a missing med. Not sure why though you did not ask her "Hey I dont have the med, what should I do?" BUT, I've been a preceptor, would not have wasted my time writing you up. Maybe a report regarding the missing med, btu not YOU. Hang in there.

[mikala3]

I got an email that I have a meeting with my Nurse Manager this morning to discuss what happened.

I plan to tell her the facts of what happened, but I dont know how much detail to give her on my preceptor. I checked the cabinet several times for the drug during the 2 hours, it stayed on the top of the administration list because it had not been given. My preceptor had two hours to step in and ask me why I had not given it, but she did not. My new grad brain said I needed to mark it as not administered because it was not on the floor and after 2 hours it is a medication error. I did not know what else to do besides mark it as not administered, however, after the event, my preceptor talked to me about floor policy. I now know that I should have phoned pharmacy when the item was not in the cabinet. If it had not been delievered within one hour, I should have gone to my charge nurse to see if she had any insight.

My error was not asking proper questions, and I should have known to find my preceptor if she was not with me. I now know the proper procedure.

I do not remember what my preceptor was doing during those 2 hours, but she was not with me. She stuck to me like glue afterwards.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

"however, after the event, my preceptor talked to me about floor policy."

Your preceptor should have been there to guide you through this problem.

She was not!

You should give the NM all the details regarding your so-called preceptor.

You are in orientation to LEARN the rules, not to get beat up because you don't know them!

Good luck , keep us posted.

[elizanne]

I do not remember what my preceptor was doing during those 2 hours, but she was not with me. She stuck to me like glue afterwards.

It's a big red flag that your preceptor was unavailable and didn't let you know where to find her for 2 hours. I'm about to finish orientation, and even though my preceptor isn't always necessarily checking over me, she always makes sure I know where she is (ie--lets me know if she's going to help someone else change a dressing, start an IV, etc.) and ensures that I'm comfortable with her being gone before she leaves, even though I'm fairly independent at this point. Starting out, I would have been very nervous if she had disappeared on me for hours at a time.

Yes, the med error is the issue at hand, and it probably should have occurred to you to ask about it. I suppose you could've gone to the charge nurse since your preceptor wasn't around. I'll echo everyone else and say that your preceptor was too harsh, but it seems that the bigger issue is that she also doesn't seem to be keeping up with her basic responsibility of orienting you to the floor and training you to be a competent employee. I agree with other comments that you should let your NM know about your preceptor's behaviors overall, not just regarding this situation.

Good luck in your meeting! I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

[sauconyrunner]

Hang in there. You probably dont know how much experience precepting your preceptor has, but I doubt it's much. You can totally do this, and you will succeed.

[canned_bread]

I think your preceptor was being a bit harsh. You don't learn at nursing school (well at least I didn't!) that if you med is out of stock you go to pharmacy. That's the stuff you learn on the job. That's why you have clinical practice in the first place!

When I graduated nursing there was no passing on to the registration authorities about any mistakes that people made during clinicals, or any reports. So don't worry. You pass, you pass. Stay strong!

[rn/writer, RN]

I got an email that I have a meeting with my Nurse Manager this morning to discuss what happened.

/QUOTE]

So, how did your meeting go?

[ShayRN]

Update, please!

[mikala3]

I got written up for it. I am pretty angry at my preceptor.