Filling in MAR holes

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Only working PRN in a LTCF now I came to work to find someone had filled in my initials on some missing holes in the MAR. They are obsessive about having all spaces filled in, but they shouldn't have filled in my initials. Also, if you do miss some spots, they make you fill it in at the end of the month. I also disagree with this d/t not being able to verify administration.

Anyone else have this problem?

Laura RN:nurse:

Specializes in LTC.
So how do you document PRNs?

Every facility I've worked at slaps post-it notes all over blank MARs/ADL holes. They freak out about them around the time they're expecting the annual State survey. One center even mandated that the charge nurse had to check the ADL books end of every shift... and there was a spot in the ADL books where the charge nurse was required to initial that the ADL books had been checked and completely documented by the CNAs. It was hard enough to get all your work done as it was WITHOUT that 30 extra minutes of documentation! What is all this supposed to prove, anyway?

I work in at a plasma center now, and we actually get noted by QA on a daily basis for documentation errors, They post the number of QA errors every employee has had for the entire month. This is because, if certain things are not signed off on, FDA and German regs actually require us to destroy units of plasma, which is a big pain in the company's bottom line.

Forgive me, I misspoke. We sign out prn's in the back of the MAR, but sometimes forget to f/u with whether or not they were effective. That's where we will begin to get med errors. I think. We get so many memo's that come and go they all blur together after awhile. We have a compliance nurse who is woefully overworked who is supposed to audit books regularly, but often falls behind so there are several days worth of holes that need to be addressed. I personally have taken great strides to ensure mine are all filled in. I have plently enough to do other than "catch up" on days past.

Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

I go one step further- if I know a nrse has a hx of missing signatures- she gets to stay and double check her MAR on her own time, Unfortunately charting and signing are a part of our job- in your home no one comes to check if you gave your 6 month old son his moxypen- but this isn;t your home and without the signatures- it is considered not done and neglect.

When you get a love note reminding you to sign- smile- say "thanks, I'm only human" and sign your box or else you could be accused of patient neglect!! Believe me no one wants to audit and remind nurses to sign- they too have better things to do with their time!!!

What are you upset more with? the fact someone filled in your id, or that you did not? Yes this is wrong for them to do so, but PRN or not.. it was you place to do your job! If you did not int it, you did not do it. You entered a contract to do a job and get paid for it, you got paid but you did not do your job if you did not sign off on it. PRN or not. So, you can go back and contest the fact that you did not do this or you can do a better job next time.

Specializes in acute care and geriatric.
What are you upset more with? the fact someone filled in your id, or that you did not? Yes this is wrong for them to do so, but PRN or not.. it was you place to do your job! If you did not int it, you did not do it. You entered a contract to do a job and get paid for it, you got paid but you did not do your job if you did not sign off on it. PRN or not. So, you can go back and contest the fact that you did not do this or you can do a better job next time.

I'm sorry- who are you responding to?

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