I am an ER nurse. I came on shift and received report on an elderly pt. with dementia. There was an order for 2.5mg haldol IM. I was told by the provider not to give the pt. the haldol because she had a history of "going downhill fast" and that the pt.'s husband was on the way to pick her up anyway. While I was in another pt.'s room and without asking me, a coworker of mine gave the pt. 5mg of haldol IM and didn't document it. I only found out after finding the empty vial and finding 2 other staff members who admitted that they witnessed it. The pt's husband showed up to take her home. Should I have said anything?
Heres what I did... I asked the nurse who gave the injection to let the provider know it was given, to let her know that twice the ordered dose was given, and to document it. She got mad at me, but she told the provider. She refused to document it. The provider held the patient's discharge to observe.
Was I wrong? I'm looking for serious feedback. The other nurse is really mad at me because the provider "reported" her. And to top it off, management told me that it was I who failed to communicate. The other nurse wasn't even working in my area; she was just passing through!
Every action you do you need to honestly consider, if I was in court and the prosecution called an expert witness in my field to the stand, would they agree that my actions are "within the standard of care and practice."
Yep. That is not new information.
I was not trying to blame the system for the crazy actions of the second nurse (particularly the administration of the wrong dose of med and the subsequent denial and refusal to document); it isn't my mindset/MO to shift blame especially for actions like those. But I was providing an alternative perspective to those who believe the only reason someone would ever think of administering medication to someone else's patient outside of an emergency would be because they intended something really bad (patient harm, set-up of another nurse, drug diversion, etc.). If people are going to start up with the "OMG who would ever walk into someone else's room and give their patient something????" well then I am going to share a bit about how "the system" would prefer us to get patients from the front door to the back door in record time, and what that looks like on the ground. Just for some perspective.
She is lucky it was you not me ,there would have been hell to pay for stupid stunt like that.I dont care that she got mad for you reporting this,she was wrong.2.Not charting it?! double wrong!,#.Not working there ,just passing through? ugh..An incident as to your findings ,the facts mam,just the facts...She must be made to understand to never,ever,do that again.
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
While I am disgusted by that, I am sadly not surprised. What do you bet their "investigation" produced no paper trail that could possibly ever come back to bite them in the rear?
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
Translation: Management cleaned up the mistake and told the nurse to not touch your patients again, not any patients, just yours. I would start looking for another job. Management has shown you their goal is to cover up mistakes, not corrective action. Now you have to wonder what else have they "investigated" with zero results.
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
I'd muster up a surprised face, but just like any business, management is all about saving face (their own).
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
I'd say run from that employer, and fast. If a mistake like that doesn't rate AT LEAST some sort of corrective action on the part of the other RN then there is more to this than you may realize. Some politicking was probably done and she was probably someone's favorite or 'knew someone' and the mistake was swept under the rug. If they would rather do that than actually correct the problem with some sort of systemic change, and/or corrective action on the part of that RN then what do you think they would do the next time? Or the next? The BoN might finally catch on to a track record such as that, and pity the RN's who work at that facility when the BoN brings the hammer down.
Specializes in Nephrology Home Therapies, Wound Care, Foot Care..
Just out of curiosity Green Tea, did you system allow orders to be put on hold by the RN? Not being able to electronically stop a med as the RN taking orders seems terrifying to me! Let ya of room for errors as this situation clearly illustrates. Good for you for landing on your feet.
So... another nurse, whom wasn't assigned or involved in this patient's care, made a medication error, refused to document, was reluctant to self-report to the MD, and doesn't like you anymore for advocating for the patient/doing your job as a nurse?
I would no longer associate with this coworker except in professionally necessary circumstances.
See, this seemingly keeps getting escalated. If she admitted her fault she might have been given a write-up, some additional training/counseling, and be done with it. No one was hurt but an error was made so something had to be done. Now her lies have gotten more grand, involved more people, and are ever-changing. She will be fired, and depending on what type of person she is she might try to take others down with her. This was an easy fix from the beginning, but now its to a point where talk of lawyers getting involved is becoming more appropriate. I hope this becomes a lesson to all of her coworkers that lying like this isn't in their best interest.
Absolutely, fess up and beg forgiveness and pay the dues. This is a web.
Management "investigated" the whole thing and is not doing anything about it. Knowing my management, I'm not really surprised. Thanks for the input, everyone.
No policies? No reprimand? Or maybe they aren't telling what is being done, that is a possibility.
JKL33
7,038 Posts
Yep. That is not new information.
I was not trying to blame the system for the crazy actions of the second nurse (particularly the administration of the wrong dose of med and the subsequent denial and refusal to document); it isn't my mindset/MO to shift blame especially for actions like those. But I was providing an alternative perspective to those who believe the only reason someone would ever think of administering medication to someone else's patient outside of an emergency would be because they intended something really bad (patient harm, set-up of another nurse, drug diversion, etc.). If people are going to start up with the "OMG who would ever walk into someone else's room and give their patient something????" well then I am going to share a bit about how "the system" would prefer us to get patients from the front door to the back door in record time, and what that looks like on the ground. Just for some perspective.