immunizations,safe administration

[peds25yrs]

I would like the opinion of other professional nurses who give imminunizations to the pediatric population. I was working in a new office that is run by very young inexperienced people. The office pullled away from a primary adult office and has been in practice for 1 year. The doctors are young 30 to 40 and the staff starts at high school and up. Most of the staff are medical assistances who give immunizations, Rocephin shots, Bicillian shots, syngist shot and allerygy shots.

The training comes from a nurse with a bsn who has never worked anywhere else but this offIce for only 2 years.

The problem is I have 25 years experience in giving shots. I was taught so many years ago that when you give shots you start and follow through and never leave your tray or take you eyes off your eyes off your tray . To much can happen in such a short period of time when you do not stray focused on the medication you are about to give.

So, I worked for a doctor who believed that no harm would come from leaving they tray on a counter top while you brought his next patient back..example to clear your mind.. Say you have brought back a patient to your doctors room and its a well check that requires immunizations. You don't know which ones hes going to choose until he is done. When he is done he tells you whcih ones hes wants and you promptly go and get them ready and before doing so you check his in box to make sure no new patients have arrived. No new patients are arrived and you get half way through pulliing up the shots for the patient he has just seen and someone else arrives. He (the doc) says to you put down the tray and leave it on the counter or you can put it back in the refridgerator and bring back my next well check and then you can go back to giving the shots.. I refused, said the immunizations are not stable after coming to room temperature and the safety issue is you never take your eyes off any medication once you have started drawing it up.. especially a shot....Well we went round and round about this.. He said I was wrong and I stood up to my guns and said I will not harm my patient in any way by assuming that everything in my shot tray is good to give and safe after leaving it for 10 or more minutes . Iam I old school???Is this the new wave of thinking???The three other RNS in the office agreed with the doctor and said he would never ask you to do anything that would harm the patient and you are protected under the umbrella policy of the office..I ask them, what dream world are you from???? Any patient can sue any nurse at anytime. They don't have to just sue the office..and do you think that doctor will go to bat for you when it really get down to the brass tacks so to speak..

To make a long story short.........I was fired.......because I would not change my nursing standards... They made me look so bad and then when I applied to a community hospital the hospital questioned me as to why I wanted to leave this doctors office and I told them not in detail but said I don't agree on there standards of practice...So then the hospital pinned down one of the doctors I work for at the hsopital and said one of your employees was in here looking for a job because she doesn't believe in your standards of practice and so on so forth.. things got added and twisted and the practice wrote me up nice and dirty and fired me....But they said Iam a excellent nurse and I would get a good reference but I will never be able to work at the community hospital....after they blackballed me..

I didn't think things went on like this in modern day times but they do..

25 years of experience, pals certified,cpr, and YES I"AM AN LPN AND PROUD OF IT... I WORKED AT A LEADING HOSPITAL FOR 20 YEARS AND A EXCELLENT DOCTORS OFFICE FOR 4 YRS AND WHEN I MOVED TO THE COUNTRY EVERYTHING CHANGED,,,,, THATS MY STORY....LOVE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE.