This particular RN (I'll name him Jon) has been working for our unit for two years. We work in a MedSurg unit at a county hospital. Apparently, we DONT do drug tests at all.
Our morning was going fine, we both took report in the same area and had our breaks at the same time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary (aside from saying "I'm sleepy/tired," but we all say it). Jon did one discharge and completed one admit. He helped me start an IV for one of my patients and cosigned my insulin.
It wasn't until lunch I noticed Jon's phone Snapchat(?) of him consuming edibles. I also saw Jon's text messages saying "he was still high this morning."
I immediately went to the charge nurse and reported my discovery. Our charge nurse was in disbelief and found it difficult to believe. We confronted Jon and he denied everything.
Our charge nurse discreetly followed up on his patients, and they reported nothing but excellent nursing care. We checked his charting and everything was within policy. We also checked all his pyxis pulls and there were no discrepancies. Lastly, we privately spoke to an MD that Jon was speaking to in the morning who also reported that his behavior was completely normal.
I apologized to Jon as there were no evidence of him being high towards the end of the shift. As we were leaving the hospital, one of Jon's friends (from another unit), came up to him and ask him about his 4/20. I saw Jon winked and nodded. I got upset and just left.
The next day, I reported it to the charge. She said to leave it alone since there wasn't any proof and no patients were harmed. I am not sure what else to do at this point.
This particular RN (I'll name him Jon) has been working for our unit for two years. We work in a MedSurg unit at a county hospital. Apparently, we DONT do drug tests at all.
Our morning was going fine, we both took report in the same area and had our breaks at the same time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary (aside from saying "I'm sleepy/tired," but we all say it). Jon did one discharge and completed one admit. He helped me start an IV for one of my patients and cosigned my insulin.
It wasn't until lunch I noticed Jon's phone Snapchat(?) of him consuming edibles. I also saw Jon's text messages saying "he was still high this morning."
I immediately went to the charge nurse and reported my discovery. Our charge nurse was in disbelief and found it difficult to believe. We confronted Jon and he denied everything.
Our charge nurse discreetly followed up on his patients, and they reported nothing but excellent nursing care. We checked his charting and everything was within policy. We also checked all his pyxis pulls and there were no discrepancies. Lastly, we privately spoke to an MD that Jon was speaking to in the morning who also reported that his behavior was completely normal.
I apologized to Jon as there were no evidence of him being high towards the end of the shift. As we were leaving the hospital, one of Jon's friends (from another unit), came up to him and ask him about his 4/20. I saw Jon winked and nodded. I got upset and just left.
The next day, I reported it to the charge. She said to leave it alone since there wasn't any proof and no patients were harmed. I am not sure what else to do at this point.
So I thought I would repost the original. Please note the OP says he/she reported to their charge and then there are a lot of "we" investigations. "We also checked all his pyxis pulls" & "we spoke privately to an MD" At the end of the post the OP states that the following day there is another report to another charge who tells he/she to leave it alone.
Essentially 2 nurses running around sleuthing. I hope this facility does some teaching quickly about how to handle such things appropriately. One hopes they have a process.
I would leave it alone. You're just going to annoy your superior. You don't have concrete evidence. So, unless you literally see him sparking a doobie, there's nothing to be done. I'm not sure how you'll look if you keep complaining and honestly violating the rights of others (it's not cool to look at someone's phone like that. High or not). If your superiors are worried they do have the right to drug test, right? Just saying.
People like that, who do stuff like that I mean, eventually get themselves caught on their own. It's a just a matter of time before he comes in with rEd eyes or someone smells a whiff of pot... or god forbid he hurts someone.
Worry about you. I admire and appreciate your concern... but, at then end of the day the patient/resident is the main concern. The best way to provide care is as a team. Don't make waves until you have to. You have to work withe these people.
What a person does in their off time is really none of your business, especially when at work. You want to slam the gavel down high upon your seat of righteousness, because you saw some random message on a phone, tell everyone at work, and then go post it all over these forums. Sounds like you go digging for drama at work any chance you get. You've been a nurse what 2 years now? Time to grow up.
I guess you should ask someone else to help you with your IV next time !
Abd mind your own business ! No patient harm no one notice just you !! From where ? Snap chat , nice very solid!!!!!!! Your kind of nurses some time make me rethink about the whole career
Here's another perspective, although I'm sure OP has long gone: I have stage 4 endometriosis and adenomyosis and I take narcotics pretty regularly, although not at work. Sometimes I don't feel well because of all the hormones I take, and the fact that I'm in pain most of the time, so maybe you might look at me and think I don't look so good that day. However, if you went to the manager and told her you thought I was high, and I got drug tested, I would come back as positive, because narcs stay in the body for 4-5 days. Doesn't matter if I have a valid prescription....you alerted the manager to something not being right and now I'm flagged. If I lost my career because of you I would hunt you down and sue you for everything you owned.There are many variables in life and the most valuable thing you can learn in life is to mind your own business. Focus on yourself, your worth, your performance and your attitude. Be kind to others and don't judge. You have no idea what is going on with others most of the time. So few words can cause so much damage. OK....backing away slowly now. Made my point.
I am so sorry. I too have been accused of being impaired on the job due to a medical condition. Even after negative drug screens I have been fired from jobs........I guess that might be illegal but who wants to work at a place where you were fired for being impaired when you weren't. I know how you feel and it sucks!! Good luck to you
It sounds like he and you have a close working relationship if he felt comfortable showing you his phone, have him on snap, and he helps you with patients. Why couldn't you have then asked him directly and in a confidential matter if he was really high? Why not warn him or talk to him as a colleague
before going to the charge nurse and MD to start an investigation?
I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that anyone would advise turning a blind eye to an impaired co-worker. If you have evidence that someone is impaired, tell the charge nurse. But tell the charge nurse the facts only, and not the conclusions you've drawn. ("Jon is slurring his speech, stumbling and he seems somewhat disoriented" not "Jon is high." For all you know, Jon could be hypo- or hyper-glycemic, having a stroke or took too much allergy medication.)
This. A doctor I used to work with was a known diabetic and used an insulin pump and would occasionally have problems with hypoglycemia. He would get pale, diaphoretic, start slurring his speech, and at the worst, pass out. Had we as his co-workers not known about his diabetes it would have been easy to assume that he was high, especially given his field of medicine and the medications he had access to. But making that assumption and straight out accusing him of being high instead of reporting to someone that Dr. So-and-so isn't looking so good and I feel like someone should maybe help him would be potentially destroying someone's career when we have no idea if they're ACTUALLY high unless we actually saw them getting high, and even then it becomes a he said she said situation. I'm in no way saying that we shouldn't report odd behavior, but we should NOT assume they're high.
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DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN
1,565 Posts
So I thought I would repost the original. Please note the OP says he/she reported to their charge and then there are a lot of "we" investigations. "We also checked all his pyxis pulls" & "we spoke privately to an MD" At the end of the post the OP states that the following day there is another report to another charge who tells he/she to leave it alone.
Essentially 2 nurses running around sleuthing. I hope this facility does some teaching quickly about how to handle such things appropriately. One hopes they have a process.