Ok so yesterday I was looking for my employee file in our filing cabinet bc my hours got cut due to low census and just wanted to look over things I signed in the beginning..to see if there was anything about hours and stuff like that..
to make a long story short..
In a filing cabinet (and we just relocated to this office and there's stuff EVERYWHERE), behind some folders and a divider I found a bag of medicines. We don't keep meds at the office bc our pt's keep them in their homes. Well...it had vials of morphine, ultram, a few other pain meds and some various pills in containers for various medical problems. The meds that I found were for pt's that I have never heard of. I just took this job with this place about a month ago. There's a homemaker service that just moved into this office with us, and I'm not exactly sure whose pt's these were, but the meds are obviously not supposed to be there and if they were, they wouldn't be hidden. Um..what do I do? I started to go waste all the meds myself and put the empty pill containers and vials back in the bag (just to **** off whoever did it bc there's NO way this is right). Any input would be greatly appreciated.
i never wasted the meds, i just said i wanted to. and i know the repercussions of what would have/could have happened if i did. it was one of those thoughts we all get from time to time but against better and sound judgement don't react to. and i'm not unlicensed i'm an RN. situation was handled though and thank goodness its over! well at least i hope. i did document everything though like some of the other suggestions, just keeping my fingers crossed that all is said and done.
Just a warning. Do not assume you are out of the woods. You could be hit out of the blue. They would want it to appear out of the blue to keep you from being able to cry "retaliation". It might not be a bad idea to become mildly interested in job prospects, in a proactive and self preserving way. Good luck.
Well I could have picked myself up off the floor when she told me that she was happy to have a nurse like me on her team and that if half her staff cared as much as I did, it would turn out to be an alright place. She said she was going to look into it, and took the bag..don't know what happened after that, don't really care to be honest. Its off my conscious and I survived. I think next time I'll steer clear of any filing cabinets. Lesson learned. Thanks for all the input and advice, it's always nice to hear an outsider's opinion!
Think about it for a minute. If the doctor had reacted with anger or defensiveness, you would probably have been very suspicious about what was really going on. Instead, she stroked your ego, said "good job", took that pesky evidence off your hands and I would bet real money that she made it disappear. I'm not saying she knew about the drugs or even put them there or that there was any illegal intent to start with. She was just defusing the situation in a way that would cause the least amount of disruption.
The message you got was pretty clear. She doesn't come down on you for snooping and you forget about the plastic bag. Problem solved. I've been on both sides of various forms of this scenario several times. It's a classic management technique for disarming a possibly volatile issue.
You are absolutely right. You dodged a bullet and survived. Now, forget about it and keep the promise to yourself to stay out of file cabinets.
Think about it for a minute. If the doctor had reacted with anger or defensiveness, you would probably have been very suspicious about what was really going on. Instead, she stroked your ego, said "good job", took that pesky evidence off your hands and I would bet real money that she made it disappear. I'm not saying she knew about the drugs or even put them there or that there was any illegal intent to start with. She was just defusing the situation in a way that would cause the least amount of disruption.
The message you got was pretty clear. She doesn't come down on you for snooping and you forget about the plastic bag. Problem solved. I've been on both sides of various forms of this scenario several times. It's a classic management technique for disarming a possibly volatile issue.
You are absolutely right. You dodged a bullet and survived. Now, forget about it and keep the promise to yourself to stay out of file cabinets.
Dead in the black, Belgarion. And OP, I'll bet your hours will improve as well. I'm glad you made it through the meeting! But I'd still be a bit uncomfortable about possible future repercussions. You must have worked awfully hard to get your license, so keeping your eyes peeled for other job prospects might be a good idea. I tend to be very cautious by nature, so take that advice with a grain of salt (if you take it at all, that is). Best of luck to you. :)
LaurenNicoleRN
17 Posts
i never wasted the meds, i just said i wanted to. and i know the repercussions of what would have/could have happened if i did. it was one of those thoughts we all get from time to time but against better and sound judgement don't react to. and i'm not unlicensed
i'm an RN. situation was handled though and thank goodness its over! well at least i hope. i did document everything though like some of the other suggestions, just keeping my fingers crossed that all is said and done.