I am angry...

[NightNurse55243993]

I was off for 4 days this week. I come back to the nursing home where I work and my name was forged on the narcotic book. The resident that the narcotic has cognitive implements. I told the DON and she sad it was not a big deal. She said it was one little pill. She called the next day and said was not needed. Is forging another nurses name on a narcotic book illegal? How do I protect my self?

Night Nurse

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Yes it's illegal. Report it ASAP. Were you off the date of the forgery, if so all the better to make your case.

[NightNurse55243993]

I was and to top it off the DON and I did a narcotic count before I left.

The TMA that gave the last one was the 20 and they wrote my name in the middle and the last one was the 23rd. Who do I call? I called corporate and they said they would call me back. They haven't. The DON scratched my forged name and wrote "void error". Can she do that?

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

Call the DEA, here is how to find your local office Contact Us - Diversion Field Office Locations

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

I was and to top it off the DON and I did a narcotic count before I left.

The TMA that gave the last one was the 20 and they wrote my name in the middle and the last one was the 23rd. Who do I call? I called corporate and they said they would call me back. They haven't. The DON scratched my forged name and wrote "void error". Can she do that?

Oh wow! This sounds like a nightmare for u. I'm wondering like u - can she do that? Wasn't sure if she was going to try to cover for the guilty party maybe. Definetly good u were off!

Good luck - keep us posted.

Anne, RNC

[OrganizedChaos, LVN]

That is scary. If you don't have malpractice insurance, get it!

[TriciaJ, RN]

Call the Board of Nursing. They will want to investigate the nurses who forged your name and the DON who condoned it. It is not legal.

I once had an experience where someone altered my entry on the narc count sheet. She screwed up her count and then altered my previous entry to make hers come out correct. I told her if she ever altered anything again with my signature I'd rip her lips off. I also reported this interaction to the manager (before I could be made the bad guy) and made it clear how unacceptable this was and how angry I was. Never happened again.

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

We don't have to resort to lip ripping thank goodness, that's what we have management and the BON for.

Your supervisor is in as much trouble for not following through as the person who forged your signature. This whole thing tells me your workplace is a dangerous place to work if you have a license. If the supervisor is willing to scratch off a forged signature and tell you to go play now, what else has been scratched over? Last time I looked, we were nurses, not clowns in a circus.

I hope you are looking into another workplace for your own sake.

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

Very illegal

I would also consider filling in an incident form and starting a paper trail. Protect your own butt as much as possible here

Also, as others have said you may want to find different employment.

I had an incident the other day. Giving subcut morphine. Once given and I went to sign the medication chart, the enrolled nurse was "sign it as 1035 as thats the time I put in the controlled drugs book"

I was gob smacked and firmly pointed out that at 1105 I would not be signing a legal document that stated the medication had been given 30 minutes earlier than what it was.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Very Illegal!! Speak to your malpractice insurance for guidance in this. Also, if I am reading correctly, it was a medication aide who signed your name to the narcotic? If I were the supervising licensed nurse on duty when this occurred, I would want to also be given a heads up about this, as it could also fall on that person, for them to have the opportunity to protect themselves as well.

[nursebtanner]

I would call the board of nursing and find out their suggestions maybe they can open an investigation into it.

[vokaybo]

Make a complaint with your state board of nursing first. Issues dealing with narcotics are usually mandatory to report. File a grievance with your HR department against your supervisor and complete an incident report as to what you found. Speak with your Risk Manager. The BON will likely discipline the supervisor for failing to report. The pharmacy will have to file a report with the DEA. Drug screens will likely be administered to all personnel who worked the days the documentation was forged to test for diversion. Our facility does hair drug tests. It could be that whoever did this is selling them also so they may not test positive themselves. Don't let this go unaddressed.