Freaking Out a Bit....

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi everyone! I am having some severe anxiety about this so I just need to vent.

Last night I sent a pt to the hospital because he had elevated temp. Charge nurse said to send him.

So I did.

I later find out today, that the pt had several nitro patches on him. NOW. Here is why Im stressed, the daylight shift puts the patch on in the morning, and 311 takes it off at night (me). The pt is pretty 'with-it' and often takes the patch off himself. Each night I ask him if he took the patch off. If he says yes, I ask where he put it. He usually will stick it on his newspaper, or some other random place in his room. If he says no, he takes it off hands it to me and I throw it away. SO I am so confused as to how there was several patches on him. Im freaking out because I feel like this is completely my fault and I should have made him take his shirt off and let me strip him for the patch. I have worked the last few nights, and each night I ask him, he shows it to me, or he takes it off. The daylight shift never writes in the mar where they put it, nor they they right the date on the patch which would have been helpful to know that the patch i saw, or he gave me was the one from that day. I am just so upset over this whole situation. Im so scared Im going to get fired, but even more concerned about the pt. Any advice would be helpful =(:banghead:

Oy well I am not sure of the laws where you are....

It sounds to me like its time to start looking for a new place to work.....or maybe that is the way of it where you live?

I dunno

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I assume this is an AL facility? This is why I'm against med techs no offense to the op, but you are putting responsibility on someone that doesn't have the education to do the job they are doing. Generally med techs work under the license of a nurse. Sounds like the ball was dropped by many people.

I hope your resident is okay.

I would think that everyone involved will be questioned and then action will be taken in the way the management sees fit.

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Yeah, Im not sure. I just dont know what to do, Ive come to like all of my pts... but the job is just soooo stressful. if i quit/get fired I wont be able to ever see them again....breaks my heart=(

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Well, if there were justice in the worl, the person in charge of the facility would lose their job, this is a systemic problem that is their responsibility

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Yeah, Im not sure. I just dont know what to do, Ive come to like all of my pts... but the job is just soooo stressful. if i quit/get fired I wont be able to ever see them again....breaks my heart=(

Another great lesson here is that while it is important to care for our patients in the moment, forming strong emotional attachments usually results in a lot of pain and heart ache, I advise against it.....

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The thing is, I know I messed up because I didnt search him for the patch... but noone else ever does either. Everyone does it this way. AND I know thats wrong now.. There really is no way to say it was me that forgot to take the patches off... I could have been taking the ones from days ago. But I always threw one away.. each night. Its hard to know because there was no date or anything. Does everyone else write a date on their patches when they put them on?? I think this would make it easier to know if i have the right patch...

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I amm still confused about these patches. These are typically not given on a regular basis. Who is putting the patches on? What is the providers order for them?

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Yes all patches/ dressings etcare initialed and dated when applied

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Specializes in geriatrics, IV, Nurse management.
Wow, just wow....

Well the good news is that you dont have a license to lose.....

Time for nurses to start writing letters to lawmakers because thhis is wrong and it is dangerous

Its quite common in my facility. We have a lot of UCPs or Unregulated Care providers who have a background history of nursing/dr/etc but they pretty much are charge nurses without a license. Its a bugger when a med error is made, but there isn't anything to change it at my facility. They gave me the experience to work without my temp license until my RPN registration came in.

OP it can only get better:) I've had patients tell me the same thing, but I try to double check with nitro patches just to make sure they weren't forgetful. Its a learning lesson, like all areas of medication administration:)

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their nitro patches, idk what amout, they are given every day. the pca puts them on in the morning, 311 takes them off at night.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
med administration, discharge, assessment, teaching, all are things that cannot be delegated to UAP...

Med administration (and likewise, med-ed) can be delegated to her if she's a medication aide. Whether the OP is a medication aide, I don't know.

OP: if you're NOT a medication aide or otherwise licensed/certified to give out medications, I'd stop doing it. True, you won't lose your license over a medication error as you don't have a license to lose. But you'd probably be fired...and then that would be sticky to explain on future job interviews, because essentially you would have been fired for doing something you should not have been doing in the first place.

If you are a medication aide...when it's time to remove the patch, ask if they have any additional patches on them. Or do a quick once-over to check them for additional patches--if they question it, you can tell them you don't want to take any chances that they forgot they had a patch on because you are concerned for their safety. Also, check with the MAR to make sure that the number of patches put on equals the number of patches removed.

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Med administration (and likewise, med-ed) can be delegated to her if she's a medication aide. Whether the OP is a medication aide, I don't know.

OP: if you're NOT a medication aide or otherwise licensed/certified to give out medications, I'd stop doing it. True, you won't lose your license over a medication error as you don't have a license to lose. But you'd probably be fired...and then that would be sticky to explain on future job interviews because essentially you would have been fired for doing something you should not have been doing in the first place.

If you are a medication aide...when it's time to remove the patch, ask if they have any additional patches on them. Or do a quick once-over to check them for additional patches. Also, check with the MAR to make sure that the number of patches put on equals the number of patches removed.

This may be the case currently, but it needs to be changed via legislation.

It is dangerous plain and simple

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