for those who don't know my story, i have chronic low back pain due to three ruptured lumbar discs. i had a discogram on august 3, which showed leaking fluid that is causing pressure on the nerves and that is what causes all of my pain. my surgeon wants to delay surgery as long as possible, as he does not believe a fusion will help me pain-wise. says will be a different kind of pain, maybe worse. i just met with him on the 18th, and he is sending me to a pain management doc.
now, at work, people know i have back problems. they do not, however, know what i take for the pain. i was informed on the 17th, by a co-worker, that one of the midnight nurses is spreading rumors about me that i am acting "peculiar" and "strange" and has told people i am probably stealing narcotics. when i heard about this nurse saying that, i went right to the DON, told her my concerns and told her to investigate it. this nurse has already done her damage. this is the same nurse in trouble for "mooning" another unit. real professional behavior there.
i do have prescription narcotics, and i take them once i get home if i need them. i do not take them 8 hours prior to a shift, or during work at all. i suffer sometimes, but i can make it through my shift.
now some of my co-workers are saying i shouldn't have gone to management. that i should have kept my mouth shut. i told them why would i? i have nothing to hide. nothing. i'm not an addict. i take my meds as prescribed, and never during work. my docs all say i am fit for work. why would i want some nurse going around and spreading rumors about me? especially about such a serious allegation? ugh.
i work in a ltc setting. many times there are "borrows" of narcotics when the one nurse in the whole building who has keys to our backup narc box is gone. many nurses have borrowed, and i have proof of that. my DON has interviewed three nurses. she says she has one more to go, and her results are inconculsive at this point. she didn't take me off the schedule for the weekend, and she told me she didn't have any reason to.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
see, the "borrowing" meds thing bugs me too. I would never do that, myself.
i guess it's hard to understand. i am sorry, i am not good at explaining things. but sometimes, you have a elderly pt come from the hospital, in severe pain from hip/knee/cardiac surgery, with no pain meds on board. needs pain meds ASAP, and i have no in house pharmacy to get those pain meds. it would take four hours minimum to get those from the pharmacy. i have no available pain meds in the backup. what are most nurses going to do? let the pt suffer needlessly? that's a lawsuit also. there is nothing in backup for the physician to prescribe otherwise to cover their pain, nothing to give. except "borrow" and of course document those from the 30 plus cartridges in the narcotic drawer of the right medication.
it's a system flaw, and i don't like it either. "borrowing" doesn't mean not documented.
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
for those who were asking for an update, here's one.
my DON and administrator both had a meeting with me, told me that after a thorough review of the last 6 months of narcotic records, charts, etc., that they have found no discrepancies of any kind. (as i knew they wouldn't). as for my co-worker that spread the rumors, i don't know her fate. but i am glad my nursing managers and administration stand behind me and assure me i am a valued member of their nursing staff and a good one, at that.
what a relief this day has been, after waiting those few hellish days. seeing the looks on my co-workers faces. ugh. i can't wait to be done with school and out of that place. :balloons:
thanks to those who offered advice and support. i sure appreciate it!
for those who were asking for an update, here's one.
my DON and administrator both had a meeting with me, told me that after a thorough review of the last 6 months of narcotic records, charts, etc., that they have found no discrepancies of any kind. (as i knew they wouldn't). as for my co-worker that spread the rumors, i don't know her fate. but i am glad my nursing managers and administration stand behind me and assure me i am a valued member of their nursing staff and a good one, at that.
what a relief this day has been, after waiting those few hellish days. seeing the looks on my co-workers faces. ugh. i can't wait to be done with school and out of that place. :balloons:
thanks to those who offered advice and support. i sure appreciate it!
Good for you..and way to go staying above these evil gossippers, and shutting them down in their tracks!! :).
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Mean, back-stabbing nurses have cost careers, marriages and lives. That is one reason I caution so many against saying too much online. You might be surprised your coworkers can recognize who you are reading enough info.
If a work place is that full of them (back stabbers) and management loathe to do anything about it, I would strongly consider my options to move.
for those who were asking for an update, here's one.
my DON and administrator both had a meeting with me, told me that after a thorough review of the last 6 months of narcotic records, charts, etc., that they have found no discrepancies of any kind. (as i knew they wouldn't). as for my co-worker that spread the rumors, i don't know her fate. but i am glad my nursing managers and administration stand behind me and assure me i am a valued member of their nursing staff and a good one, at that.
what a relief this day has been, after waiting those few hellish days. seeing the looks on my co-workers faces. ugh. i can't wait to be done with school and out of that place. :balloons:
thanks to those who offered advice and support. i sure appreciate it!
Nice to hear the update. You might mention to the people you work with that slander is unlawful. They might reconsider before they start spreading such vicious lies.
I wish someone would DO a bonafide study of nurse diverters in order to clear the stigma of chronic pain sufferers in nursing. Nurse researchers out there...are you listening??
Hmm...I need a topic for my research and theory class...this sounds like a great one...thanks mattsmom!
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
Nice to hear the update. You might mention to the people you work with that slander is unlawful. They might reconsider before they start spreading such vicious lies.
i have casually mentioned it when the time is right. i believe the word has gotten around not to mess with me, with lies anyway. gossip can spread through our building very, very quickly, and i trust that word has gotten out about this incident being unfounded. i have not seen the nurse who accused me yet. thanks for the support!
rehab nurse
464 Posts
i guess it's hard to understand. i am sorry, i am not good at explaining things. but sometimes, you have a elderly pt come from the hospital, in severe pain from hip/knee/cardiac surgery, with no pain meds on board. needs pain meds ASAP, and i have no in house pharmacy to get those pain meds. it would take four hours minimum to get those from the pharmacy. i have no available pain meds in the backup. what are most nurses going to do? let the pt suffer needlessly? that's a lawsuit also. there is nothing in backup for the physician to prescribe otherwise to cover their pain, nothing to give. except "borrow" and of course document those from the 30 plus cartridges in the narcotic drawer of the right medication.
it's a system flaw, and i don't like it either. "borrowing" doesn't mean not documented.