Long story short, I almost passed a med to a patient without the instructor directly present.
Short story long, one of my postpartum patients was in pain and asked for a percocet to help relieve the pain. I told my instructor about the complaint and she went to the medcart and withdrew the narcotic and gave it to me to hold. Meanwhile, she was documenting on the computer another medication withdrawl for another student.
Me, not thinking went into the patients room and opened the med and put it in her hand. My instructor walks in and sees me and takes it back to properly document and administer.
Today, I was called to the directors office and had to recall the incident. I confessed the truth to what had happened and was told in lieu of dismissal, I had to write a paper on the Patient Safety Goals and was suspended from attending this weeks clinical, which I think is a fair punishment.
I just had to get this out so it's not stuck on my head all semester. The only thing I'm worried about is this somehow biting in the butt in the long run... which something tells me it will.
Personally I think that if you had ADD/ADHD you probably would have been diagnosed earlier in your life. If you think it could be a real possibility though, by all means talk with your physician.
Please do not be hard on yourself everyone makes mistakes. It is part of learning. You were very professional in accepting responsibility for your mistake. So you have learned a lesson move on and became that great nurse.
It was your nursing instructor's fault to begin with. She should not have taken the medicine out so much in advance and to have given it to someone else. That said, it was your fault not following procedure and directions.
Medication errors and safety errors like leaving rails down while the bed is up are safety risks that can cost you your license as a real nurse. I think your school was very generous.
That's funny how its different in different states - in IL, leaving the rails up is considered restraining the patient.
All four rails up is restraining in my state as well.
Three rails up (top two and one of the bottom ones up) is not restraint and in fact is what's expected for patient safety...and that's probably what that poster's classmates got dinged on.
It is OK to have as many rails up while you are working with the patient, even 4. Restraint is counted when you leave the bedside. That is when you cannot have 4 rails up in most states, the bed lowest and the wheels locked.
Good job owning up to it, the worse thing you could have done was try to talk your way out of it ~ hence the second chance. From now on, think clearly through everything before you do it and double check all work. Make sure to question yourself if there is the slightest doubt. I don't think it will come back to haunt you because you did the right thing in owning up. Good luck!
Holy crap, I'm glad I'm not in school these days. As someone else has posted, it was a mistake to get out a narc while still involved with another task. That is what causes mistakes. Did the instructor think the Rx efficacy would improve while you're standing there holding it? At minimum the instructor could have instructed you to wait, however, it would still be wrong to get the Rx out prematurely. I certainly commend you on your attitude about this; it reflects positively on your character and integrity. While I do believe you did the best thing in this situation in accepting the suspension, I believe it is completely unfounded, harsh and counterproductive. Think about it, a student makes a mistake ( according to the school ) during clinicals so the solution is suspension from clinicals ??? I know you'll do fine from here on out.
Like everyone else, good for you for having the courage and integrity to admit to your fault. My program gave the boot to one girl for giving tylenol to the wrong client. I couldn't believe that they'd kick somebody out because of an over the counter med but it definitely taught us to double check EVERYTHING we do!!
Actually wasn't your fault, you don't describe in detail exactly what happened, but if your Instructor (Lisencsed Nurse) were to give you a medication, and not properly Instruct you on what to do, what to expect, how to do it, Then that is your instructor's fault for not delegating responsibility (Especially to an Unliscensed worker)
If I were you, Sure I would have said what I did, but I also would not have taken the fall for it, now your marked in your school, and thats not a good thing. Your instructor who was supervivsing you put respobsbilities not critical to patient care before the actual patient. You stated you told your instructor your patient was in Pain, she went and got the narcotic, and then what? Went to document instead of comming with you to administer it?
Like i said, you didn't go into detail, but it really isn't your fault, and don't feel bad, from now on, if you are in a situation again with this person (obviously a terrible clinical instructor) DO NOT take the medicine to "hold onto" Just refuse to take it unless your going to be giving it right away, and all you have to do is mention this one instance...I'm sure your instructor will be glad to hang on to it so this doesn't happen again, or maybe Be the Nurse who is actually credited and be responsible for the students under their watch. I'd file a complaint against her/him if I were you.
ErinRN2B
315 Posts
Personally I think that if you had ADD/ADHD you probably would have been diagnosed earlier in your life. If you think it could be a real possibility though, by all means talk with your physician.