BYOB at work?

[Kayauhs]

Need your excellent, expert advice! Recently while at work, it was brought to my attention that another nurse had brought beer FROM HOME and gave it to a vulnerable adult in our Special Care Unit as a 'treat'.

Nurse was on duty at the time and is not a friend or relative of this resident.

Resident has no doctor's order for alcohol whatsoever.

Thoughts? Actions? I was told to ignore it because this nurse has been doing this for years.

(Later I'll tell you what I did).

[Flatline, BSN, RN]

Resident or prisoner?

[Kayauhs]

Would you even stop to ask anyone if the person brought weed? Or a diabetic cotton candy? Or saw them drinking at work? Hell just having beer at work is reportable, I don't care if you are watering the plants with it.

Anyway Yes, Formal report ASAP. Professional courtesy you can let the person know you are filing the report because you feel you have no choice(especially if you don't think they will get fired) there will be less future tension working together if they didn't get blind sided than if they find out later you were the one who reported them (and everyone finds out) but you don't have to tell them if you don't want to.

Bottom line, their desire to be the residents' buddy comes second to your need to stay employed and licensed.

Thank you very much. It's nice to know I'm not completely insane.

[Kayauhs]

You really should come down off your nursie nurse soap box...lol We nurses on this board know what is and isn't required of us ethically, morally and legally. í ½í¸‰í ½í¸‰ Some of us even have YEARS of experience... lmao

I do not know how far along in the disease process your patient is, however, I can tell you this: just because you are a "nurse" doesn't mean YOUR opinion of what is or isn't right for the patient is the only one that matters here. Yes, yes liability...CYA the hinnies..lol It wasn't careplanned and no order. You handled the situation wrong in my opinion... made way too big of a deal about it. You should have notified your DON so she could make the decision of whether or not it was reportable, gotten the order from MD and notified family. Issue put to rest as far as liabilities towards your "reporting it". A bigger issue could be argued that you withheld a long term comfort measure from a grown adult... even with dementia, a patient in LTC setting still have ALL the rights as a person who is not in a facility. The facility is their HOME. They have the right to drink if they want to. And as long as the beer isn't given within 4 hours of narcotics or another CNS depressant, chances are there will be no adverse event. Most adults do not get drunk off 1 beer. Really, nursing floor drama making rather sucks...

Do you give all your coworkers big lectures on nursing or do you just save it for the internet? Yawn.

Know it all, "I've been here since the foundation was poured" attitudes like yours are a bigger concern in nursing than ever. Patient advocacy is the bigger issue. Patient protection is the bigger issue. You've read way too much between the lines here to understand what really went on.

You write: (and I quote), "You should have notified your DON so she could make the decision of whether or not it was reportable..." That's WHAT I DID.

But in your haste to get on here and spank me for not being the kind of nurse you are, you didn't read what I actually had done. Nice try. I'll go to work today thankful for the nurses I work with who don't act like this.

[Kayauhs]

You really should come down off your nursie nurse soap box...lol We nurses on this board know what is and isn't required of us ethically, morally and legally. 😉😉 Some of us even have YEARS of experience... lmao

I do not know how far along in the disease process your patient is, however, I can tell you this: just because you are a "nurse" doesn't mean YOUR opinion of what is or isn't right for the patient is the only one that matters here. Yes, yes liability...CYA the hinnies..lol It wasn't careplanned and no order. You handled the situation wrong in my opinion... made way too big of a deal about it. You should have notified your DON so she could make the decision of whether or not it was reportable, gotten the order from MD and notified family. Issue put to rest as far as liabilities towards your "reporting it". A bigger issue could be argued that you withheld a long term comfort measure from a grown adult... even with dementia, a patient in LTC setting still have ALL the rights as a person who is not in a facility. The facility is their HOME. They have the right to drink if they want to. And as long as the beer isn't given within 4 hours of narcotics or another CNS depressant, chances are there will be no adverse event. Most adults do not get drunk off 1 beer. Really, nursing floor drama making rather sucks...

Do you give all your coworkers big lectures on nursing or do you just save it for the internet? Yawn.

Know it all, "I've been here since the foundation was poured" attitudes like yours are a bigger concern in nursing than ever. Patient advocacy is the bigger issue. Patient protection is the bigger issue. You've read way too much between the lines here to understand what really went on.

You write: (and I quote), "You should have notified your DON so she could make the decision of whether or not it was reportable..." That's WHAT I DID.

But in your haste to get on here and spank me for not being the kind of nurse you are, you didn't read what I actually had done. Nice try. I'll go to work today thankful for the nurses I work with who don't act like this.

[Kayauhs]

How many nurses are giving him a beer? How many meds is he getting that should not be mixed with alcohol? Wow! Way too many reasons to let this go unreported. CYA CYA! What if he falls? What if in the fall report a CNA reports that she let you know that he's been getting alcohol? CYA CYA! Patient safety is paramount here. If there is no MD order this should not be happening. Report this suspected unsafe practice. You are mandated to do so.

My bigger question was, why not just get an order for the beer??? If it's been going on for a while and the resident wants it, then just call the doctor and get an order.

Ah...but there in lies the problem. Why not indeed? What else was behind this nurse wanting to give this resident beer? Was he really getting the beer or was the nurse drinking it too?

None of it makes a bit of sense.

He already had an order for, "Beer" but it is non-alcoholic beer so obviously this had already been addressed and the doctor didn't want him to have alcohol.

I did what I was legally required to do. I am absolutely blind sided by the nurses on here that wouldn't have done the same thing. PROTECT THE VULNERABLE.

[Kayauhs]

I stlll want to know what happened to the CNA

She was promoted to Director Of Nursing by Anheuser-Busch and the nurses on here who thinks this type of behavior is just mighty fine.

Me? I quit nursing completely after decades of dealing with snotty, rude, viscious coworkers who cut your throat and now I'm making wooden pallets in the warehouses down by the docks of Green Bay. The sun comes up and shines on my face and I smile and think about how peaceful it is down here listening to the waves come into shore and the Seagulls flying in to eat garbage. It's a good life. No benefits but I don't have to wash and iron a uniform anymore.

Occasionally a beer can floats by and I have flash backs of the horror of my past life but then, I just grab another board and pound in a nail and I feel better.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Was he really getting the beer or was the nurse drinking it too?

To sum up this thread: Nurse (allegedly) brings beer for a resident as a treat--->you ask for advice and don't get the answers you are looking for--->no, the nurse was actually trying to snow the resident and give herself a good night---->a few more people disagree with you---->nurse was drinking the beer herself. Give me a break. Either report her or not, I don't care at this point, especially since the story has changed many times since the start.

Oh yeah, no reason to hurl insults at those who disagree with you, especially when you were the one to come here asking for advice.

[Kayauhs]

To sum up this thread: Nurse (allegedly) brings beer for a resident as a treat--->you ask for advice and don't get the answers you are looking for--->no, the nurse was actually trying to snow the resident and give herself a good night---->a few more people disagree with you---->nurse was drinking the beer herself. Give me a break. Either report her or not, I don't care at this point, especially since the story has changed many times since the start.

Oh yeah, no reason to hurl insults at those who disagree with you, especially when you were the one to come here asking for advice.

Wow! You are still tuned into this channel? I'm impressed with your loyalty. Story hasn't changed, you are just hostile. Disagreeing with me isn't a problem at all, attitude is.

Tah for now. See you soon I'm sure.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

Wow! You are still tuned into this channel?

Umm...it's in my Bookmarks. And you are the one who brought it back after no one else posted for well over a week.

[Accolay]

The "Special Care Unit" where I work is basically the drunk tank.

If we're talking about long term care and I knew my residents, I'm not sure I would give them a beer or not, but if I did I would probably not let anyone see me do it!

But seriously, I don't bring anything from home for resident or patient, only myself.

[Nursetom1963, BSN]

She was promoted to Director Of Nursing by Anheuser-Busch and the nurses on here who thinks this type of behavior is just mighty fine.

Me? I quit nursing completely after decades of dealing with snotty, rude, viscious coworkers who cut your throat and now I'm making wooden pallets in the warehouses down by the docks of Green Bay. The sun comes up and shines on my face and I smile and think about how peaceful it is down here listening to the waves come into shore and the Seagulls flying in to eat garbage. It's a good life. No benefits but I don't have to wash and iron a uniform anymore.

Occasionally a beer can floats by and I have flash backs of the horror of my past life but then, I just grab another board and pound in a nail and I feel better.

Yeah, before I got into nursing, I was a framer, Pounding nails is very therapeutic :) And the beer goes down so good at the end of the day. If my shoulder wasn't shot, and I could find steady work, I'd sure as hell love to be doing that again instead of Nursing. (I never Iron my uniforms after 27 years)