Legal?

APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP · Oct 21, 2014

Once upon a time, a long time ago and in a land far, far away, I worked in a nursing home passing meds as a new LPN. I can still see *Agnes* sitting there in her striped orange red and yellow shirt (that she loved to wear, alternating with the checkered green, white and black polyester shirt) and brown pants in her blue wheelchair. She would never take ahold of the wheels to propel herself anywhere. Instead, she would scoot her hips forward to nudge the chair along. Luckily, she resided in the room closest to where all the action happened and never had to go too far.

She would ask me for her “pills” on the HS med pass and I would give her four plain M&M’s. One red, yellow, blue and green. Apparently, this had been going on for quite some time prior to my arrival. She was terribly forgetful, yet she would always remember to ask the HS med pass nurse for her “pills”. I didn’t work there long enough to delve into how this got started. All I knew was that *Agnes* tried hitting me with her reacher/grabber during my first few med passes because I didn’t know what she was talking about when she asked for her “pills” and I didn’t know to give her the M&M’s.

Junebug14, ASN, RN · Oct 22, 2014

Thanks everyone for your input. I completely felt this was wrong and was very upset when my instructor brushed it off. These are the kinds of things that can make a nurse defend his/her license, so I would think they would tell us this is not appropriate. I for one, don't think I would do what she did, but just to know would be nice. I think the fact that the nurse brushed off the patient's nausea as unreal and said he just thinks he is nauseous made me the most upset. How could it ever be her right to say if he is feeling something or not???? In my mind it works like pain, it is whatever the patient is feeling or experiencing. Who are we to say otherwise?

subee, MSN, CRNA · Oct 22, 2014

In this month's AJN, there was an article by a student in a DNP program defending the point that academic nurses do not need patient care experience - that we need nursing instructors more than we need nursing instructors with clinical credentials. That just struck me as patently wrong. My program required that all teaching faculty work one day a week at their clinical specialty site and at the time I thought that was a no-brainer and didn't realize until later, that was the exception, not the rule. So maybe this instructor in the OP's po never worked as a nurse!

Junebug14, ASN, RN · Oct 22, 2014

Wow! That is crazy! I agree, how can they instruct us without having the experience?? I didn't know about that. She had said she did, but who knows.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Oct 23, 2014

Giving M&Ms to a lady w/ dementia, who had no particular complaint other than "needing her pills," and who WAS given her actual ordered medications--one thing.

Giving NS to an man who complained of nausea--who I presume was A&O since the OP didn't say anything about confusion...just paralysis--very different.

Someone says "I am feeling nauseated," why in the world would you not either 1) give him his meds as ordered, or 2) call the provider if you've exhausted all his ordered meds w/ no relief??

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Oct 23, 2014

In this month's AJN, there was an article by a student in a DNP program defending the point that academic nurses do not need patient care experience - that we need nursing instructors more than we need nursing instructors with clinical credentials. That just struck me as patently wrong. My program required that all teaching faculty work one day a week at their clinical specialty site and at the time I thought that was a no-brainer and didn't realize until later, that was the exception, not the rule. So maybe this instructor in the OP's po never worked as a nurse!

I can't remember what forum it was on, but a while back a poster said something about having worked in cardiac critical care for years pre-academia. An unexperienced instructor asked something like "what would you do if the pt's HR went from 60s at 0800 to 80s at 1200. The experienced CCU RN said "I'd monitor the pt," and the other kind of gave her a "tsk tsk, someone didn't read her [textbook.]"

Need one say more? :roflmao:

Junebug14, ASN, RN · Oct 23, 2014

Giving M&Ms to a lady w/ dementia, who had no particular complaint other than "needing her pills," and who WAS given her actual ordered medications--one thing.
Giving NS to an man who complained of nausea--who I presume was A&O since the OP didn't say anything about confusion...just paralysis--very different.
Someone says "I am feeling nauseated," why in the world would you not either 1) give him his meds as ordered, or 2) call the provider if you've exhausted all his ordered meds w/ no relief??

Exactly!!!! I have no idea.