Giving tylenol to a family member.

Nurses General Nursing

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So I just got home from work and I had a frustrating incident. A family member asked if I had some tylenol for her. She had a headache and her husband was very sick and it was 2am. I told her I probably had some in my purse. When I mentioned it to one of the older RNs she said it was outside of my scope of practice because I was then "prescribing"??? It was my own personal supply of tylenol, its an over the counter medication, it was an adult who had a headache, I had already clocked out and was getting ready to leave. I gave it to her despite this other RN telling me I could lose my license. Was I wrong? I live in the state of Texas, I've read my NPA and I intepret it much differently than she did. Thoughts? Advice?

So I just got home from work and I had a frustrating incident. A family member asked if I had some tylenol for her. She had a headache and her husband was very sick and it was 2am. I told her I probably had some in my purse. When I mentioned it to one of the older RNs she said it was outside of my scope of practice because I was then "prescribing"??? It was my own personal supply of tylenol, its an over the counter medication, it was an adult who had a headache, I had already clocked out and was getting ready to leave. I gave it to her despite this other RN telling me I could lose my license. Was I wrong? I live in the state of Texas, I've read my NPA and I intepret it much differently than she did. Thoughts? Advice?

The OP wrote her post when she had just gotten home; the incident happened at work.

And please note that while I corrected your mistake, I did not call your post ignorant or embarrassing, or tell you to get a grip. There was nothing contemptuous about my statement.

Specializes in Critical Care.

For those saying this is "prescribing," how? The OP didn't say "Oh, you have a headache? Here, you should take some tylenol." The family member ASKED for an OTC medication. If this was her personal supply, then that means it was purchased OTC and has all of the drug information on the bottle. This is like saying the cashier at the grocery store is "prescribing" the tylenol when you go purchase it.

Also, I don't know about texas, but I'm in NC and it is within the RN's scope to recommend OTC and herbal/dietary supplements.

In a perfect world, everyone would have policies that address this, although that is rarely the case. I followed my desire to avoid the worst thing that could happen and protect myself, which ended up making a 90 year old woman wait 4 hours in the middle of the night for a tylenol that she takes every night with no adverse effects, I'm not sure that I didn't actually end up causing the worst thing that could happen.

What a depressing story. How did it come to this, that we have to choose between protecting our livelihoods and acting like a decent human being?

Unless there were some red flags in the family member's behaviour, I'd probably take my chances with the decent human being route, and give her the Tylenol. If she weren't an arthritic 90 year old, I might take the middle road and direct her to the closest 24-hour convenience store... but I'd feel worse about sending this woman into the street in the middle of the night then sending her to the ER waiting room.

I must have misread the original post as well. I thought it was a family member of the nurse who was the signifcant other of the patient (who was also a family member). In the case that the nurse was totally unrelated, I retract my earlier statement! lol

I must have misread the original post as well. I thought it was a family member of the nurse who was the signifcant other of the patient (who was also a family member). In the case that the nurse was totally unrelated, I retract my earlier statement! lol

The original post was easy to misread because it is so badly written (another problem that permeates the nursing profession). I maintain my response in the spirit of the original post: she had just gotten home and a family member asked her if she had some Tylenol...

When the OP clarifies the post, I will modify my response (somewhat).

Specializes in Peds Homecare.

I was going to respond, but naaaaaaaaaaaa, way to blown out of porportion. Good lord:bugeyes:

That sounds ridiculous, I don't even know where to begin on this one, even ignoring the supposed tylenol/hemorrhagic stroke connection.

I can't imagine coming to work everyday just hoping to not get sued.

Ridiculous you say?

*This was done under someone else's roof, (a health-care institution), correct?

*A pharmacological agent was dispensed (given) not freely chosen off of a retail shelf, correct?

*The visitor had a headache, ostensibly of unknown etiology, correct?

*RN's do not have legislatively granted prescriptive or diagnostic privileges in any State, correct?

*Ridiculous, I suspect for reasons that have no bases in law or fact as in the above 4 points, correct?

There is no connection whatsoever between the Tylenol and the Hemorrhagic stroke scenario. What was required, was the ability to interpret meaning via extrapolation. In the scenario, the lady has a stroke that was developing anyway. She was then "treated" by a licensed professional within the walls of a professional health care environment, and went home without a proper diagnostic standard of care having been provided, by an unqualified provider.

Our very limited scope of practice makes it very easy for us to keep from being liable. (I've been an ICU nurse for 17 consecutive years, and it ain't Rocket Science). It's when you cross that line, (regardless of how innocuous that line may appear), that you place yourself at significant risk for a fall.

The original post was easy to misread because it is so badly written (another problem that permeates the nursing profession). I maintain my response in the spirit of the original post: she had just gotten home and a family member asked her if she had some Tylenol...

When the OP clarifies the post, I will modify my response (somewhat).

Ouch. It was 2am! The poor grammar and spelling bugs me sometimes but still...(not in this post, just in general)

Anyway, I went back and reread it. It looks to me like this is something that happened at the hospital and she wrote about it when she got home. Otherwise, how would the other nurse have been there to disagree with her? And why would the clocking out matter?

The OP wrote her post when she had just gotten home; the incident happened at work.

And please note that while I corrected your mistake, I did not call your post ignorant or embarrassing, or tell you to get a grip. There was nothing contemptuous about my statement.

The OP has only one option then: learn to write a clear sentence. Don't worry about correcting my mistakes while leaving the OP's laying there unassisted.

Ouch. It was 2am! The poor grammar bugs me sometimes but still...

Anyway, I went back and reread it. It looks to me like this is something that happened at the hospital and she wrote about it when she got home. Otherwise, how would the other nurse have been there to disagree with her? And why would the clocking out matter?

Don't come after me about it. Assist the OP with sentence structure, not with my interpretation of a badly written post.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

KABOOM! :lol2:

Your best bet is to ask a lawyer in your state what the legalities are in a licensed dispensing or administering (and these are 2 different acts) OTC med to anyone other than the nurse's patient.

I know it sounds petty, but nurses are not allowed to dispense or administer anything, including Tylenol, to anyone other than patients - generally speaking.

Just save yourself a lot of headaches - no pun intended, LOL - and simply state that you don't have any and/or just tell the truth - that the law prohibits you from doing that.

I know it's hard to say no, but you must protect your license and your income. It really angers me that your school of nursing apparently and your employer's orientation apparently didn't teach you about situations like this.

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