Right med but suspended

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Need help. I was pulled into HR concerning a patient's chart. I gave the right pt the correct antibiotic at the correct time. BUT it would not scan. I got caught up with a few other pts and two hrs later went in and manually entered the med was given and at what time. I got suspended. I have been a RN for two years, always on time, worked extra shifts and volunteered to come it at times.

It seems that did not matter. My supervisor was not there nor my assistent supervisor. I told them this should be a teachable moment not suspension. Also we have problems with the COWs all the time.

I feel like this was not fair.

I said that I feel that i should not be fired over this. They said " we didnt say you were being fired" but they did not say i wasnt. First time being called to hr. This does not feel right to me and i need help.

Thank you and i will do that. Plus, to show i am a bigger person i will find out who had to come in and cover my shift and trade a day with them.

I would stay business-like about this, myself. You do NOT need to appear to be over-compensating for something. Not to your peers or anyone else.

Nope, don't do it.

You did not cause anyone to have to come in and cover your shift.

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True. Thats what mom said. Lol

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.
True. Thats what mom said. Lol

Mom knows best, LOL

I am glad that things are looking up, maybe staying where you are might work out now, especially if you want to go back to school, good luck!

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Yes, I will get the back pay for days missed.

Sounds like you're supervisor has your back. Maybe reassess the situation before making a move to a different job.

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Thought about that as well. I will look but just take my time. But still going forward with school. Looking forward to it as well.

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Specializes in Oncology.
Thank you and i will do that. Plus, to show i am a bigger person i will find out who had to come in and cover my shift and trade a day with them.

Nonononononononono

This was not your fault. Don't act like it is

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Specializes in Emergency Dept, ICU.

Very odd discipline, but I like it!

At my work you can just not give any of the meds EVER and no one cares. No one ever gets in trouble for anything. Shocking to hear of a facility that disciplines so severely for this incident, must be more to the story. I do like it though, wish my work place would take care of nurses who underperform.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
What in the world. There's gotta be a snake in the grass somewhere.

Another thought to keep in the back of your mind - - there have been reports here of various exaggerations of medication administration/documentation situations; this could be as simple as someone thinking you tried to falsify the time you gave the medication. I'd want to make sure they're not actually accusing you of that (falsification of documentation).

I FULLY AGREE! Having been one of those nurses "thrown under the bus" and harshly punished (wrongly) in the end, for something entirely different than what I was told at the time, I would be very thorough in finding out just what their issue is. Make them put it in writing and show you the policy. If they can't because they don't have one specifying this, then you have cause for legal action.

I don't think you mentioned this, but are you suspended without pay?

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No i got paid for time missed.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

Wow, that's very harsh. What's your scanning average? Usually, they track how often you scan and come up with a percentage. I got an email from my manager once for going below 96%, but that's all. Are you sure there's not some other issue behind this? If this is the only thing, it's very harsh and I would consider looking for a new job.

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It's likely the 2 hour gap between the med administration and charting the med administration that got OP in this mess.

OP: in addition to all the advice given, if a medication doesn't scan, don't let hours go by before you manually enter it. Enter it ASAP, even if you have to halt the rest of the world for 30 seconds while you do it. In addition, follow the procedure your facility has if a medication doesn't scan.

Occasionally, I'll have medications that won't scan (unrecognized or missing barcode/square (QR?) code, damaged wrapper, etc.) or that I don't have time to scan immediately (emergency meds). When I have to manually chart giving these meds, I always include a comment in the entry as to why the medication wasn't able to be scanned.

This! If it won't scan manually enter it ASAP and also enter a nursing note. I usually would enter something to the effect of "no side effects noted from ___ medication" as a backup to the manual administration so when they do chart checks there can be no excuses.

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Very odd discipline, but I like it!

At my work you can just not give any of the meds EVER and no one cares. No one ever gets in trouble for anything. Shocking to hear of a facility that disciplines so severely for this incident, must be more to the story. I do like it though, wish my work place would take care of nurses who underperform.

Wow! She didn't "underperform" the scanner failed. So harsh!

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