Fired for giving Med late

[Beaubou]

I am a new nurse, graduated May 2010. My first job was in home health, I was then offered a job at the local hospital 3 months later and I snagged it. I work on the cardiovascular/telemetry unit for 4 months before my husband received orders to move.

I started my new job on the PCU in December. I just got off orientation 2 weeks ago.

The day of the incident: The day was going great, I had four Pt's I had the day before so I was fairly familiar with them. I was actually caught up with all of my documentation (for once!) by midday. I was then told 2 of my Pt's would be transferred. As I was finishing giving report, the ED was beeping in to give me report. Anyways, one Pt came in at 1700, the other at 1800, this is where it all went to chaos.

I should have prepared early and gave my 5 o'clock meds at 4, but I didn't. So after admitting the Pt's and doing their assessments, answering family member's questions (you know the drill) it was 1830, the night shift was starting to come in and I haven't filled out the report sheet yet. After I do that, I give report and it's now 1925. I have completely forgotten about the 5 o'clock meds, and I start working on my admission paperwork. I then see that I didn't give my meds. The night nurse asks me about it and I tell her I haven't given them yet, it is unclear whether she says she will give them or not. So I wrap up my paperwork (Which I shouldn't have done...putting paperwork ahead of care). I notice on the MAR that the night nurse didn't give the meds and she is very busy with the Pt's I gave her. I head to the pyxis, double check to see if she has taken out the 5 o'clock meds and she hasen't. So I take them out and give them to the Pt (klor con, long acting insulin). I then head home, making sure my cell is by me all night in case the night nurse has any questions, assume everything is ok when I went to bed that night.

The next afternoon I receive a call that there was a "medication situation" and my floor manager wants to talk tomorrow morning. She says she is concerned about my errors, lack of time management and critical thinking, and suggests the possibility of putting me on orientation again. The nursing supervisor then comes in and says that I would be better off on a med/surg floor. I asked if I was getting fired and she said not yet. They will meet with the HR and the VP and let me know tomorrow.

I am quite sure I am getting fired though because the nursing supervisor was set on it. I have never even received a warning. I know I ended up giving the meds 4 hours late, but it was long acting insulin (note: his sugar was 409 that AM, and he's a diabetic that just had limbs amputated b/c of his DM) and PO klor con. THe big issue was the night nurse gave short acting insulin a half hour later.

By no means do I not feel completely accountable for my actions! But I think half the reason I was fired is because I am too passive, I didn't put up a big enough fight for them to keep me. Quite frankly, I wasn't expecting to have to fight to keep my job, I thought I would get written up. I am so confused, hurt and disappointed and I don't know what to do next. Should I put this job on my resume? Have any of you been fired before?

[KrissaRN]

My advice to you is to not do admissions in the middle of your med pass. I would never put off giving my meds on time to do that. When we get admits the nurse aides usually help get the pt in bed and do vitals, and there is not usually a reason to run right in there and do the admission (on computer), although I would give pain meds if needed. I can't believe you would have been fired for what happened, nurses at my place of work give meds late or never even give them at all quite often (I know this by looking at are eMAR and all the red boxes before my shift), and nobody is losing a job over it. I work with a nurse that is always giving her 10p meds hours late (and I mean at 2,3, or 4 am!) and nobody seems to notice or care. You must have gave them a bad impression of you for some other reason.

I wanna work where you work! "Sorry, I can't work with that patient right now, you take care of him, I have meds to pass." Now, that may not be how you meant your post, but to me that is how it reads.

I am surprised that she was fired for this as well. I think the first step should have been remediation. We are all human and we all get overwhelmed and can make mistakes. I am sure there is more to this issue than can be stated in a post. There is a big assumption regarding this culture of the floor she was on. I have been lucky and the floors I have worked on have always had nurses that are willing to support and educate new nurses. The first floor I worked on right out of school was amazing and I always had at least one or two nurses per shift that I could rely on for help if things got hairy. That being said there was always one or two that would say helpful things to me like, "welcome to BlahBlahBlah floor!" or "Congratulations, you're a nurse!" when I would ask for help, because reminding me how much my situation sucked and that I volunteered for it was apparently supposed to help me. I cannot even imagine how I would have dealt with my first job if all of the nurses had an attitude like that.

Her whole situation reminds me that "there but for the grace of God go I".

[Beaubou]

i wanna work where you work! "sorry, i can't work with that patient right now, you take care of him, i have meds to pass." now, that may not be how you meant your post, but to me that is how it reads.

i have said things like this.... in a nicer way of course :) ... and the response i would get. "well honey, welcome to the pcu. you need to get used to this." but no help or even advice was offered.

you know, the more i write about this facility, the more i realize how much i didn't like it there. i have never cried at a facility so much in my life (which i rarely ever do!).

it becomes more and more apparent to me that this unit is swimming with sharks, i would just overlook it, and tell myself that i could handle it.

well, it turns out i was a young who was gobbled up.... i hope i was tasty ... actually i hope i tasted nasty and the taste sticks in their mouths!

[cyoucapri]

I know exactly how you are feeling. I was terminated without warning. I was still orienting and I brought up a safety issue to my supervisor. I was also passive when I was pretty sure I was going to be terminated, feeling like I could have done more to save my job. The thing is you don't have to be given a reason for termination when you're on probation. Don't dwell too much on the ifs and buts. Getting fired is always an awful experience. I learned from my mistake, life goes on.

[cyoucapri]

I just read that you resigned from your job. How's the job search going for you? I'm afraid no hospital will hire me because I was terminated in such a short period of time.

[Beaubou]

Thank you for the support and understanding cyoucapri :hug:

Well tomorrow will be my first day in the job search, I've got a few prospects, wish me luck!

[VICEDRN, BSN, RN]

I think its ridiculous to fire someone over one failed med pass. Absolutely ridiculous. Especially a new grad RN.

As for the immediate concerns of the supervisor, I tend to agree that its more concerning that its klor con and insulin than just a failed med pass. If it was colace, I bet your manager wouldn't be pitching a fit over it, for goodness sake. I think you'll turn out just fine. don't worry too much about it.

[nyrn5125]

I feel for you because pcu can be hectic and you really cannot hold off taking patients, at least mine can't. We have to take pt's when we are swamped. To fire you for a late med. I think it's crazy. The money they just wasted to train you is gone. You were 2 weeks off orientation. You had up to 6 pm to give the med w/o being considered late. If you gave the med at 8pm you were 2 hours late. It was given late but still given.

[socal1]

what was the reason for termination

[SmilingBluEyes]

UMMMM this thread is FOUR years old, you know?

what was the reason for termination

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

what was the reason for termination

Wasnt terminated- resigned