Just before finishing up after a hectic 12-hr night shift the other morning, the charge nurse asked me to witness a waste. She told me what she was giving, how much she was wasting, drew it up in the syringe & showed me her wasting it in the sink and showed me where to sign on the sheet. I signed it and went on about my business.
A little while later, I was walking to the parking lot with another nurse and she said something about the charge nurse giving Versed to a patient and we aren't allowed to give that on the floor because it's conscious sedation. She told her that and the charge nurse gave it anyway, saying it was ok because the doctor ordered it and it wasn't enough to cause sedation. That's when it hit me! I know we don't give Versed on the floor! But I was the one who'd witnessed that waste! I hadn't even give any thought at the time as to what it was that she was giving. This charge nurse has been nursing for many years and is the one all of us go to whenever we have any questions and I trusted her.
Do you think I'll be in hot water over this for witnessing the waste even though I wasn't the one to administer it to the patient?
I had just assumed (I know assuming can get you in trouble :chair: ) it was a med she got from the pyxis. Come to find out from the other nurse, the nurse who gave it had gone down to pharmacy and picked it up. I didn't really question having to sign a sheet instead of witnessing in the pyxis because at the hospital I previously worked last year, we often had to sign a sheet like that when we gave a nonfloor stocked med.