I feel so depressed...

Straydandelion · Nov 18, 2008

I'm so sorry and REALLY think being let go for that instance is excessive. Was there anything else your NM said to you? Perhaps it would be in your best interest to also talk to HR. I am assuming an incident report was filed and were you asked to fill it out?

Yes, this could have caused repercussions for the patient if NOT alert and IF the wrong med was given and IMO the facillity needs to figure out and set rules for who and who can't place admission arm bands. In the hospital where I worked, they came with the admission papers unless the patient was from ER. The admitting nurse on the floor would put them on. IF from ER, they were put on by the ER nurse that documented on the chart.

Scrubby · Nov 18, 2008

I just started my first job as an RN in August, just graduated in May and already been "let go" for something I did not do. I can't do anything because I was still on my probationary period (which I had a week left of) and did not have any union to talk to. This is what happened: I had an admit including 4 patients already. This patient had the wrong ID band on, which was later found out 2 days later. I DID NOT put the ID band on, someone else did but did not fess up to it, still no one knows who did. Since I was the admitting nurse, they asked me about it and I told them honestly I did not put it on and was too busy to even think about it. Although I know what my fault in this was, I did my patient checks before med administering, which was name and DOB and compared to the MAR, no med errors were made. The patient is very alert and oriented. Of course they won't listen to me since I have no seniority at all. I feel "over punished." There are the two other shifts who did not notice it either, which is why it was not found out until two says later, but again since I was the admitting nurse with no seniority, who will they believe? Is it wrong for me to feel that I have been done wrong because that is how I feel. My charge nurse (who was also one of my preceptors) was the one who brought it up to the manager. Also, what got me mad was that my manager had a small talk with me on Thursday about the issue and wanted to meet with me on Friday. She was busy on Friday so she said to meet on Monday (yesterday) to eventually be "let go" of. I worked on Friday and Saturday; if I have had done such a bad thing, she should not even let me have worked/practiced on those days and make me feel that I should not have worried too much about the issue. I'm really sad...but life does go on and so will my job search. Any words of wisdom or comments, other than make sure to check all armbands. This really sucks.

It does seem like overkill to fire one nurse over this when other nurses did not pick up on the error until 2 days later. This sort of thing is a systems error that everyone should be held responsible for and try and learn from this error, not just the one person.

The fact is that inexperienced RN's are going to probably make mistakes. It's part of the learning. Firing people for first offences really makes no sense to me. Your probably better off not working for this place because they clearly don't offer any support to new RN's.

I also think it's really low of them to leave you waiting the entire weekend for the talk on Monday. It must have been pretty stressfull worrying about how the meeting would turn out.

edwardla, RN · Nov 18, 2008

There was no incident report nor anything for me to sign except my final pay stubs. The NM told me "things just aren't working out." and explained about safety. She told me that she knows that I am a good nurse per feedback from other staff, but she's sorry and it was a hard decision, etc. Oh yea, did I mention it was my b-day (11/17)...what a bday and a day off...I went there expecting to have a little meeting with her only. I guess another lesson learned:(

litbitblack, ASN, RN · Nov 18, 2008

Try not to let it get you down. You were in probationary period and if your in a right to work state then they don't have to have a reason. Pt safety is one of the highest priorities but you really should have just recieved a warning. There are probably multiple reason for them letting you go not just your managers. So many things the floor nurses are not aware of. Maybe they had a big beef with jhaco on that very same thing. In reality, if that pt recieved meds then everyone who gave meds and did an assessment is just as guilty as you, but they need one person to get on to. Try to cheer up and chalk it up to experience. If they would get rid of you for one small mistake that did not result in pt harm then you don't want to work for them....Keep your chin up

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2008

That does suck. Look at it this way, if that's the type of facility they are, then it's best to find out early. Good luck to you.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Nov 18, 2008

I'm sorry to hear that.. sounds like a really crappy thing of them to do.

Question - how did anyone notice it was the wrong band if it had all the right pt info on it for verifying identity for meds? What was wrong about it?

MiaLyse, APRN · Nov 18, 2008

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I am sorry to hear and agree that it was a crappy way of handling it. It seems like it would benefit them more to go back and find where, in the system, things went wrong to prevent it from happening again. Firing one nurse is not the answer.

I agree with the other poster, better to find out early that this company operates this way than later. I hope you find something soon.

SDS_RN, RN · Nov 18, 2008

Sorry to hear that happened to you. It's really unfortunate that they blamed you for the incident esp. since there were several more involved as it went on for 2 days. What about your preceptor what was her role in all of this? Was she not there during the admit? She could have just as easily checked the bracelet on admit.

You are right to be upset-but I would try to focus on finding a new and better facility to work for. That facility didn't give you any sort of support-you should not have lost your job over that esp since no harm came to the pt. To me that would be a warning but losing your job is a little extreme. Hope all goes well for you in your future job search.

DA314 · Nov 18, 2008

I guess I'm confused... Did you give the correct meds to the wrong person? Like you gave Patient X's meds to the person wearing Paitent X's armband, but it was really patient Z? Or Did Patient Z get the correct meds but was wearing Patient X's arm band? I can see where this could be harmful.

I'm not at all blaming you. If you didn't put on the armbands, how could you know the difference? I'm just trying to figure out if the right ppl got the right meds or not?

morte, LPN, LVN · Nov 18, 2008

I guess I'm confused... Did you give the correct meds to the wrong person? Like you gave Patient X's meds to the person wearing Paitent X's armband, but it was really patient Z? Or Did Patient Z get the correct meds but was wearing Patient X's arm band? I can see where this could be harmful.
I'm not at all blaming you. If you didn't put on the armbands, how could you know the difference? I'm just trying to figure out if the right ppl got the right meds or not?

i believe, because the patient was A+O she used the patients self identifing not the wrist band.......

and this problem may have originated in admitting..if this was not an ed admit....if they put the wrong band with the wrong paper work.....i wonder if it was discovered when the other patients band was checked....

DA314 · Nov 18, 2008

Morte- thanks for clearing that up!