Nurse Betty- Do you send the blister packs out with your residents? Is that what the families are signing out??
Yeppers. The only time it becomes interesting (and it does happen) is when a resident is signed out by a friend/family without the RP present, and that particular person is very into how many Narcs the resident has. In recent weeks, another issue that has presented is the misuse of certain drugs.( Res. "A" thought she had chest pain 10/10, took Nitrostat...then c/o ha...fam wanted to take res "A" to the ER...res "a" got to the ER, family never notified facility, ER nurse calls me and says so-and-so is loaded with BM so I'm sending her back with a new RX of lactolouse and Prilosec. Hmmm) The way I look at it as far as dispensing the drugs is that I am not dispensing them, but transffering place of ownership albiet temporarily. I believe that if the drugs are in their original packaging with resident name, there is no issue. However, there's no way in h-e-double hockey sticks, I'd be popping the pills into different envelopes, too many uncontrolled variables there. Some serious, some not..too risky. What I do know, is that in our Med Room, we have signs from the State Pharm. Commission/Board (whichever) allowing us to dispense certain meds because of the E-Kit....food for thought.
We send out the medications, even PRN Narc's for stays >overnight (ie weekend trips, vacays, etc). The RP signs for them akowledging receipt, we sign saying we gave it to them. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS COUNTED. They are given their insulins should that apply, but no needles. If it's only going to be for a few hours, we don't play "catch up" we simply sign the MAR as OOP. Of course, our meds are dispensed in blister packs for the patient directly by the pharm. We have a policy in place that prevents our building using RX's that come in bottles that the family brings in. (Interesting huh?)
:redlight:I have a question? What were you doing looking so closely at your patients FB page? Seems like you were invading the patients privacy. . I have many, many FB friends, and if you were to look at them all you would have to be signed into my account and hit the all friends list. What was your excuse to the patient while you were wading through their friends list? Were you standing behind the patient and looking over their shoulder? You seem to want to tell these nurses what to do in the cause of Nurse/Patient distance, but how did you find all this out?:typing I wonder if you explained to upper management how you came to this conclusion? And if part of the answer is that you are on their friends list, I'd defriend you quickly.
I came across post just browsing through the nursing news, which I enjoy reading...and am joining specifically because of this thread.
What were you doing going through everybody's personal information? Be it the staff, or resident, that to me would be a red flag to find another place of employment, specifically if my 'boss' took it upon him/herself to "check up on my facebook". Forgive me if I'm wrong, but, the way you present the situation, and the context of what you found, it seems as though your leadership style is a bit off. On line, we have no privacy, by this day in age, most of us know that (hopefully at least). Everything you say/type and do can be traced (think Big Brother). Personally, I find it rather unproffesional to befriend a patient on facebook. However, like the term 'ethics' that statement is simply based on my morals and opinions. That being said, I'm wondering who made the wrong choice in befriending who? Your asst befriending you? (Who befriends their boss on Facebook?) Or your asst befriending the patient?
That's my opinion, which like all others on this board, is a dime a dozen.
Now, what would I do, if I were you? Make management and corporate aware. Leave the reporting and legalities of the situation up to them. I do believe your heart was in the right place by just glimpsing, but, if you did violate the resident's privacy, you would and could be targeted by an Obudsman or the Resident Council. (This has recently happened in our facility with a RN supervisor).
We send out the medications, even PRN Narc's for stays >overnight (ie weekend trips, vacays, etc). The RP signs for them akowledging receipt, we sign saying we gave it to them. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS COUNTED. They are given their insulins should that apply, but no needles. If it's only going to be for a few hours, we don't play "catch up" we simply sign the MAR as OOP. Of course, our meds are dispensed in blister packs for the patient directly by the pharm. We have a policy in place that prevents our building using RX's that come in bottles that the family brings in. (Interesting huh?)
What were you doing going through everybody's personal information? Be it the staff, or resident, that to me would be a red flag to find another place of employment, specifically if my 'boss' took it upon him/herself to "check up on my facebook". Forgive me if I'm wrong, but, the way you present the situation, and the context of what you found, it seems as though your leadership style is a bit off. On line, we have no privacy, by this day in age, most of us know that (hopefully at least). Everything you say/type and do can be traced (think Big Brother). Personally, I find it rather unproffesional to befriend a patient on facebook. However, like the term 'ethics' that statement is simply based on my morals and opinions. That being said, I'm wondering who made the wrong choice in befriending who? Your asst befriending you? (Who befriends their boss on Facebook?) Or your asst befriending the patient?
That's my opinion, which like all others on this board, is a dime a dozen.
Now, what would I do, if I were you? Make management and corporate aware. Leave the reporting and legalities of the situation up to them. I do believe your heart was in the right place by just glimpsing, but, if you did violate the resident's privacy, you would and could be targeted by an Obudsman or the Resident Council. (This has recently happened in our facility with a RN supervisor).