I am a friend of a really intelligent and caring respiratory therapist who was recently fired from XXXXX Hospital in YYYYYY because she handed cough medicine to a patient when the attending RN handed it to her and asked her to do so.
Should my friend have told the RN, no? Is this a fireable offense? It makes me upset as she has twin boys to raise and works her tail off for something a layman like myself would consider petty and vindictive.
I want to help her, but because we live in hyper-conservative Texas, workers have no rights.
I feel there is another piece of the puzzle missing.
Did your friend tell you the story exactly as it happened?
Were all of the people in the room? and the nurse handed it to the RT and she handed it to the PT or did the nurse give it to the RT outside of the room and she took it in to the patient's room by herself....AND...was the cough medicine a Narcotic cough syrup???
THat would be the only thing I could think of that could be dealt with quite so harshly, if she was dispensing a Narcotic (controlled substance)..that may be looked down upon. Especially if the amount was wrong or something...I don't know, I am only playing devil's advocate.
Here's the ugly reality. Any of us could end up in trouble is someone followed us each shift and looked for, then wrote up what we did wrong. Someone else pointed out on another thread, that if someone is out to get you and they have power...you're gone. All they have to do is catch you doing something wrong and write it up. This can make you very paranoid or very good. I've seen people who have excellent credentials and technical work experience gone. I know someone on my floor who was fired for giving a tylonol without an MD order. She gave it, then called and got the order from the MD. He backed her, didn't help. Just an overly zealous individual with power.
Here's the ugly reality. Any of us could end up in trouble is someone followed us each shift and looked for, then wrote up what we did wrong. Someone else pointed out on another thread, that if someone is out to get you and they have power...you're gone. All they have to do is catch you doing something wrong and write it up. This can make you very paranoid or very good. I've seen people who have excellent credentials and technical work experience gone. I know someone on my floor who was fired for giving a tylonol without an MD order. She gave it, then called and got the order from the MD. He backed her, didn't help. Just an overly zealous individual with power.
You are right there!! I worked with a nurse like that; she wouldn't point out any kind of mistake I made on our shift - she would actually stay late and go back and find any mistakes made and write them up, and then call the doc. The next day, she would pull me aside and act all worried, "...oh, someone wrote u up last night after u left about ..." Didn't take me TOO long to realize who "someone" was.
As others have said, there is more to this story. How did your friend's manager or RN manager find out? Cough meds are usually no big deal, but it is still a medication. We all know that the RT was working outside her scope of practice, and I would venture to believe that she did too. Policy or no policy, any RT would know better.
Did she need to be fired for it? I don't know, but it does seem like someone was out to get her or the manager is just very anal. However, if we have to go by the books, then I can see why she would get fired for it. If an MD told an RN to insert an arterial line would you ? Afterall it's kind of like a PIV. I know of a charge nurse that got fired for helping a resident put an A-line in. She got written up by a co-charge and she was fired the next day!
Just to be creative, I wonder if the nurse stepped out of the room after asking the RT to give the medication --> manager walks by room as RT is giving the patient the medication --> Manager sits with RN and questions RTs action, and RN denies asking the RT to give the medication! I mean why on earth would the RN ask the RT to give a PO medication, was she in that much of a hurry? This does not pan out. Pls keep us updated, and have a good talk with your friend so she does not get burned again. Sounds like she was just trying to be nice.
Thank you for the response. It seems so harsh to me, but I would think if such a clear policy was needed and thus implemented, employees would know about it.
If she was indeed supposed to say no, then as a professional she should have known. I could definitely see the RN being reprimanded, but the foot soldier in this case should have been educated not executed.
I want to know what happened to the RN, the real, very culpable person in this triangle. Even so, all the way around, it could have been handled with a stern verbal warning, or even a written reprimand. Firing somebody for this one mistake was overboard, if you ask me. And I would have taken real action against the RN before I would crucify the RT. JMHO
Technically only the RN is supposed to handle medication administration to a patient no matter what type of medication it is--- (obviously the patient's rights followed)
and the Respiratory Tech is supposed to give medications in regards to their practice....
Ok, you guys are going to have to enlighten me here - cough medicine, although prescribed and technically the RN's responsibility, is not related to an RT's scope of practice? I think the question here is less whether the hospital was wrong in firing her and more whether the RT's conduct can be described as wrongdoing.
She was practicing out of the scope of her practice. The nurse should not have asked her to do it, but it was also your friend's responsibility to say No. I agree, the penalty was harsh but again, she was doing something she was not supposed to.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Ok, you guys are going to have to enlighten me here - cough medicine, although prescribed and technically the RN's responsibility, is not related to an RT's scope of practice? I think the question here is less whether the hospital was wrong in firing her and more whether the RT's conduct can be described as wrongdoing.
In my experience - RTs don't give po medications, so most likely the poster above meant inhaled medications given with a nebulizer such as albuterol.
To the OP - I am also curious as to how this incident came to the attention of your friend's supervisor in RT.
i would like to know who snitched on your friend? was it the nurse that handed her the meds? who started the process to have your friend fired was it nsg or resp manager? at our hospital the resp director and our nsg admin dont jive to well and often play political shoving matches at our expence.
Yes, she was wrong. It is an offense that is serious enough that it could lead to a firing. Did it have to? Not necessarily. They could have written her up or suspended her. I would like to know how anyone even found out. The RN shouldn't have asked her to do it so I can't see the RN telling anyone. I can't imagine the RT sharing the info either. Was there a prob with the patient or did someone see it and report it?
merlee
1,246 Posts
Meds are a very touchy issue. But every healthcare professional should know their own scope of practice, and what is allowed.
Maybe both should have been fired. ((Sigh))