I did a no-no

Nurses General Nursing

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I recently received a reprimand on my license in my home state for giving Phenergan to a sick co-worker.:cry: How will this affect me job wise.

It does sound odd. I can only think that unless it was a vindicitve stunt, the OP made her uncomfortable when they offered it to her?

So question. When one of my coworkers asks for tylenol, and I give it to them from my own personal stash (yes, I carry a bottle of tylenol in my bag, I get nasty headaches), this is not considered practicing medicine because it's not from the hospital supply?

I am friends with my school nurse at my college this is how she handles it...."I am giving this to you as a friend (or cooworker) NOT AS A NURSE!!"

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
i have to admit this whole question has me a bit muddled. i understand the bit about not taking your own prescription meds, and/or the hospital's meds that belong to patients, and diverting them for other uses, including for a sick coworker. that part's clear.

what i don't understand is how me handing a tylenol, which i purchased, otc, and have in my purse, constitutes practicing medicine. it's over the counter, i.e., does not require any doctor or pharmacist for a person to take it, unless they happen to be an inpatient somewhere. i do carry what i call my otc bottle, which has my idea of what i'd need in most any otc situation in it... a few aspirin, couple of benadryl, ibuprofen, one lone prilosec, a mucinex, and some tylenol. i've had people remark that i could be arrested for shoving all that in a tylenol bottle, something which continues to amaze me since there are no narcotics on my person, ever. now i hear that not only is my anti-nearly-everything bottle a bad idea in and of itself, i can't share with rational, awake people who probably just ran out of their own otc's. for the most part my intent is that i like healthy, alert coworkers who aren't all headachy and grumpy. the one coworker i had who requested a mammoth amount of ibuprofen for a bad tooth, wasn't given any because she clearly needed to go home, to the er, and/or back to the dentist. if it takes a gram of ibuprofen you have a bigger problem than what i can help with.

please explain. is it the fact that i have a license at all, that means i don't stop nursing when i'm not at work? would this extend to members of my family, i.e., i shouldn't give my kids otc's, etc.? i certainly use my nursing education when making decisions about what to recommend that my husband take or not take, and ditto for my daughter. actually they aren't recommendations, they are more like commands. :-) and seriously, why is it the board's, or anybody's, business what i do with otc meds if i'm not selling or prescribing them? it's not like i shove 'em up anyone's bottom... people ask for them.

i think it is just as you stated...you do not stop nursing when you are off duty. the bottom line is that people will probably accept whatever nurses dole out to them because we have the license. but what we don't have are prescribing priviledges or licensed pharmacists, so, we cannot dispense; whether from the hospital's stash or our own personal supplies. it becomes very different once a person has a license in their hand. the bottom line, however, is these decisions are arbitrary...it depends on who discovered what happened, how they feel about the nurse in question and the mood they are in which determines the course of action taken. i think that in terms of caring for family members, a person is in the role of a caretaker, and would be taught what should be done, when , why and what circumstances, so, i think that this is a different situation, but giving meds under other circumstances can be very hairy.

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Specializes in LTC, psych.

I was working at a LTC facility and had many cards of the med for various residents because we had an epidemic of a gastrointestinal bug going about the facility. Residents & staff both catching it but fortunately I didn't. Yes the med I gave belonged to the facility but I also knew that ultimately most of them would be wasted at a later date. U see in this area LTC facilities get a daily eve delivery of meds from a Phamacy that is miles away & when we get a new order it does not come in till that eve or the next day depending on when the order was received. So say I got the order @4pm then probably wouldn't get the med till next day. Yes we have a limited amout of meds in an EDK but it is a pain to stop in the middle of everything else to go get it if its a med u already have multiple cards of in your cart. In the case of the Phenergan, so many residents were sick that their docs ( only 3 that worked in same clinic) gave a standing Order to start residents on it for S/S of "flu." So say for 10 residents that had a card of 30 pills each that I knew from experience would only use3/4 and the rest would be wasted after they expired. Only LTC nurses know how many meds are wasted. Its a terrible waste of $. I admit that I made an error in judgement & it will not ever happen again. However I was working at another place not long after that one & the ADON broadcast in front of numerous CNA's that she'd given a pal that works in the office her Z-pak and allegra because the pal had the sniffles, was due to go on vacation, and couldn't get in to see her Doc till next wk. I wanted to tell her to be careful who she told that to but couldn't as my ordeal was not yet official & I wanted to work as long as I could. However I was let go when I got the letter of consent & told the DON. Nurses, I know that I have seen lots of bad stuff done by nurses that I wouldn't think of doing that were never reported to the BON but do be careful what u do & who u trust. ie; moving call lts out of reach, spending too much time on break & not giving meds at all, and I been told nurses that so&so doesn't give her pills cause too many Pts ask for Prn Narcs after she's gone and they're signed off given. I also learned later that a nurse was promising extra care for a pt if the family gave her a "tip". Most of my pals I've worked with could believe I got a mark on my license over it but I did.

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Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.
It does sound odd. I can only think that unless it was a vindicitve stunt, the OP made her uncomfortable when they offered it to her?

So question. When one of my coworkers asks for tylenol, and I give it to them from my own personal stash (yes, I carry a bottle of tylenol in my bag, I get nasty headaches), this is not considered practicing medicine because it's not from the hospital supply?

I too do the same, my OWN tylenol or motrin, not from the hospital.

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health.
I was working at a LTC facility and had many cards of the med for various residents because we had an epidemic of a gastrointestinal bug going about the facility. Residents & staff both catching it but fortunately I didn't. Yes the med I gave belonged to the facility but I also knew that ultimately most of them would be wasted at a later date. U see in this area LTC facilities get a daily eve delivery of meds from a Phamacy that is miles away & when we get a new order it does not come in till that eve or the next day depending on when the order was received. So say I got the order @4pm then probably wouldn't get the med till next day. Yes we have a limited amout of meds in an EDK but it is a pain to stop in the middle of everything else to go get it if its a med u already have multiple cards of in your cart. In the case of the Phenergan, so many residents were sick that their docs ( only 3 that worked in same clinic) gave a standing Order to start residents on it for S/S of "flu." So say for 10 residents that had a card of 30 pills each that I knew from experience would only use3/4 and the rest would be wasted after they expired. Only LTC nurses know how many meds are wasted. Its a terrible waste of $. I admit that I made an error in judgement & it will not ever happen again. However I was working at another place not long after that one & the ADON broadcast in front of numerous CNA's that she'd given a pal that works in the office her Z-pak and allegra because the pal had the sniffles, was due to go on vacation, and couldn't get in to see her Doc till next wk. I wanted to tell her to be careful who she told that to but couldn't as my ordeal was not yet official & I wanted to work as long as I could. However I was let go when I got the letter of consent & told the DON. Nurses, I know that I have seen lots of bad stuff done by nurses that I wouldn't think of doing that were never reported to the BON but do be careful what u do & who u trust. ie; moving call lts out of reach, spending too much time on break & not giving meds at all, and I been told nurses that so&so doesn't give her pills cause too many Pts ask for Prn Narcs after she's gone and they're signed off given. I also learned later that a nurse was promising extra care for a pt if the family gave her a "tip". Most of my pals I've worked with could believe I got a mark on my license over it but I did.

I have seen all of these things happen and I am so sorry it happened to you. You will find a job but just be honest. Don't tell them "everyone is doing it" which I am sure you won't anyway. I worked at a Personal Care facility and had a massive headache my first day as a new grad. I asked the DON if she had anything and she handed me something. I popped it and found out it was a residents vicodin. This was common practice in this facility. That was my last day there and they shut down not too long after.

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Specializes in OB, ER.

I understand you being in trouble for stealing the med. If it were your personal supply of OTC meds I don't see a problem but you stole a prescribed drug and gave it to her. A girl I know got fired from her hospital for taking her husbands vicodin. She tested positive in a drug screen and didn't have a prescription.

Our hospital pharmacy doles out OTC's for us all the time. We just call and they will send us a bottle of tylenol or a roll of tums. We have a drawer that we stash them in and they are readily available if the need arises.

As far as what to tell a future employer. The truth. Explain what happened, that you understand it was wrong, and you will be extra vigiliant about not allowing it to happen again. I don't think you should throw away your nursing career. Some employers may not hire you because of it but I bet you will be able to find a decent job. Most people are understanding. You didn't do anything terrible or kill a patient or anything.

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To the OP, I think honesty is the best policy. I would just explain in a factual manner to any prospective employer, without putting in any judgements about the coworker or excuses. If you have a good work ethic someone will hire you. If people hire nurses who have restricted licenses then I'm sure you will find employment.

As for giving OTC meds, my understanding is that you cannot dispense them. But you can however leave the bottle on a counter and walk away, allowing your coworker or friend take whatever. Then its theft, you have no control over it.

And you can administer OTC meds to your family, at least in my state there is a specific provision that allows nurses to provide care to family members without danger to your license, even if something goes bad. I.E. you can't lose your license if you give your Aunt an ibuprofen and she has an anaphylactic reaction.

And the last thing I'm going to say is it really feels rotten to know that because I am a nurse I am constantly subject to worry about losing my license for things that almost everyone in general does (med sharing) I can't as a nurse take a pain pill from my mom because I could lose my license, but yet she can give the same pain pill to my brother and he just gets relief.

Makes my skin crawl really. And I can't help but wonder if our workforce being mostly composed of women makes us more vulnerable to such ridiculous scrutiny?

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