I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, so I'm sorry if it's not and please move it to the right forum if possible for me, thank you.
I have a friend who is a new grad, been working at a skilled nursing facility for about 3 months. She was oriented and trained for only 4 days. Yes, it is bad that she took the job when the training was so short, but what had been done already been done . Her usual schedule is AM shift, but on the day that she made a mistake, she was on pm shift covering for someone else. So this was like her 1st time working on the PM shift, on a Saturday with no supervisor. She is an RN, but working on a med cart as a charge nurse. The nurse/patient ratio at this facility is 1:26 with 2 CNAs in the pm.
The shift got really busy right at the start with a new admission, and a hard stick resident whose IV for hydration came out (she's on g/j tube too). Then about 2 hours in, she got another admission. She was just overwhelmed overall.
This is when the event happened...She made a med error by giving a resident metformin when the resident blood sugar was at 75. The resident didn't eat his dinner, so later he was found unresponsive. His blood sugar was at 28 when they checked. Glucagon and 911 was called. The resident was transferred to the E.R. The next day, we called the hospital to check the resident's status. His blood sugar was up to 96, more alert and responsive, and will stay at the hospital for a few days for monitoring.
My friend is really devastated and knows that she made a huge mistake. She apologized to the family, the DON, and everyone else who's involved. She can't sleep, cry, and all that. The DON took my friend off the schedule and suspended her indefinitely (my friend also signed this form).
Well, now the questions are...
1. Would this status "indefinite suspension" going to hurt my friend's future employment?
2. Would it stay in her record if there is back ground check done?
3. What can she do now?
4. What does indefinite suspension mean? Does it mean that she is suspended until the facility decided on what to do with her?
5. What if my friend decided to not come back to work even if the facility takes her back?
6. How can she keep her status clean?
I'm sorry, my friend and I are both new to the world of nursing and would like to hear any advices. Please focus on what she can do now, instead of what she should have/have not done. Thank you all very much, we both really appreciate it.
. Her usual schedule is AM shift, but on the day that she made a mistake, she was on pm shift covering for someone else. So this was like her 1st time working on the PM shift, on a Saturday with no supervisor. She is an RN, but working on a med cart as a charge nurse. The nurse/patient ratio at this facility is 1:26 with 2 CNAs in the pm.