New psych nurse frustrated

[Luzern2013]

I am a new nurse.

Well actually I graduated two years ago. Moved away overseas and moved back recently. I started a new job, and have two days of training. I am the triage nurse so I do pt refills for RXs and after two days, they threw me into this new world of medications I knew little about. In school we barely touched pharmacy. I now work with psych meds, hypnotics, sleep aids, controlled substances etc. I am three weeks in, and realized a few days ago I may have been making the same mistake throughout the first week after I started. When I open the pt.s chart to renew a medication, there are two lists of current meds. I now learned the first list is automatically pulled from the pt's chart. Well I wasn't told this, and I had no idea. When I renew a med, I would go in and look at the current med list...and then base it off of weather the was active on that list. Well there are two lists like I said, and the other one is below which is what I should have looked at. Our providers do not update pt charts on time, and sometimes they leave current meds in the chart that were DC long long ago. They are not accurate and up to date information..a current med should be current. Not from 2012 I am upset because my training was poor, and they just threw me into this huge role in two days and now I'm upset. I have learned a lesson here...to always look at the other med list and compare. I know what's done is done and from here on out I will not make that mistake again but that was my reference and I think they should have explained all this to me...

I am frustrated that our doctors don't DC these drugs when they should after giving the verbal. Ahhh...

So now..I will do things differently but I'm mad that my training wasnt more then two days. It's just not right..

In two days I was a full time triage nurse with the responsibility to fill all prescriptions for three doctors, do UAs, a million patient call backs, attend meetings, and understand all these medications and a new system..being the only..I would have to call another clinic for answers and I learned a lesson the hard way, thru my own error and it upsets me. I guess I learned now and that's great but I wonder how to put this behind me!

[chevyv, BSN, RN]

Two days of training is crazy!

[electricblack]

That's beyond dangerous Omg! I say ask questions that's ridiculous I honestly am sick of facilities that takes shortcuts regardless of patient safety since it all falls on the nurses to assess that.