Nurse stealing narcs advice

[Nursenicole1]

I have a dilemma I have been facing at work for sometime now. There is one nurse who gives out WAY more pain medication then any other nurse. It has always seemed weird to me but now alert and oriented patient are telling me they are not getting their pain medication when she is saying she is given them. Also this nurse will give more than what's prescribed if it's one every 8 hours PRN she will give one at 715 and 245 (shift is from 7-3). I have went to my DON multiple times about this and she said she did an investigation but nothing has happened no days off or anything. At the very least she making regular med errors (literally everyday she works) with giving them to frequently. But I know she is always taking them as well. I don't know what I should do. Should I go above my DON so something gets done about it? If so who do I report it to and is there anyway to do it anonymously?

[heron, ASN, RN]

While "high"nurse takes care of old people, stealing meds they pay dearly for, I should ignore it. My DON told us we were crazy. If nurse gets fired from one facility, they're just gonna go to another! Is this how we show"sisterhood" as nurses? Makes me wonder now when StBdNursing publishes 6 pgs of surrendered, suspended, and revoked licenses in newsletter, just how many they've missed! I think your"Frozen" attitude-let it go-is doing our patients a GREAT DISSERVICE. I was not trained to be thst kind of a nurse.

Who are you talking to? No one suggested that the OP ignore the situation, just that she is not entitled to any sort of "progress report" on the investigation or its outcome.

Are you suggesting that we should become vigilantes?

[chorr]

Excuse me. I thought more might be discussed on here than how much our feet hurt, or what we wish we could say to our patients. How deep!

[Remy Ox]

While "high"nurse takes care of old people, stealing meds they pay dearly for, I should ignore it. My DON told us we were crazy. If nurse gets fired from one facility, they're just gonna go to another! Is this how we show"sisterhood" as nurses? Makes me wonder now when StBdNursing publishes 6 pgs of surrendered, suspended, and revoked licenses in newsletter, just how many they've missed! I think your"Frozen" attitude-let it go-is doing our patients a GREAT DISSERVICE. I was not trained to be thst kind of a nurse.

Excuse me. I thought more might be discussed on here than how much our feet hurt, or what we wish we could say to our patients. How deep!

But, what do these even mean?

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Why wouldn't it? Otherwise a nurse would have to drop every single thing she/he is doing to go give that PRN right on the dot.

no, but it should not be less than the prescribed interval.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Yes the hour before rule does apply to PRNs and can be given - It is so stated in the JACHO and CMS guidelines.

Hppy

citations, please,

and it defeats the purpose of the order...

i have not in all the places i have worked run across such

[MaxAttack, BSN, RN]

But, what do these even mean?

Lmao, I'm glad it wasn't just me.

[MaxAttack, BSN, RN]

citations, please,

and it defeats the purpose of the order...

i have not in all the places i have worked run across su

My facility has a written policy on PRNs. I probably should know it off hand, but it's either 15 or 30 minutes early. I would be surprised if most facilities didn't have a policy addressing this.

I'm with you. If they wanted it q2hr instead of q3 they would have written it that way.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

What's a "pt"? What's a "u"?

Seriously, you can type out "supervisor" but not "you"? What's "AAO"? Text speak is against the terms of service, and besides that it's just rude and unprofessional.

And disrespecting a fellow nurse without knowing a thing about the situation other than what your 90 year old father told you? One Percocet may not have been enough for his pain, perhaps he needed two. Maybe he needed Dilaudid. Maybe he got it and forgot it. You weren't there and you don't know.

I've been a patient or the family member of a patient all too often in the past ten years. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've only encountered one nurse that scared me. She was on orientation and her preceptor promptly set her straight.

Yes, you do listen to patients who say that they are not receiving their medications, even if it is your 90 year old father. At least a quick MAR check is in order. Possibly an investigation.

Have you never heard of a nurse not giving medications just because they are lazy? I have, with someone I love very much and whose daughter is a nurse. It was proven that the nurse was not only not giving her Coumadin for chronic a fib and long- term antibiotics for osteomyelitis, but that she was lying to the patient by saying, "You just forgot." While my 95-year old loved one is forgetful, she was also very right.

The nurse was fired, but the daughter did not want to report to the BON.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

What's a "pt"? What's a "u"?

Seriously, you can type out "supervisor" but not "you"? What's "AAO"? Text speak is against the terms of service, and besides that it's just rude and unprofessional.

Seriously? Aren't you part of the nursing generation that abbreviates everything, to the point that my old employer had multipage lists of abbreviations to avoid?

[Remy Ox]

Yes, you do listen to patients who say that they are not receiving their medications, even if it is your 90 year old father. At least a quick MAR check is in order. Possibly an investigation.

Have you never heard of a nurse not giving medications just because they are lazy? I have, with someone I love very much and whose daughter is a nurse. It was proven that the nurse was not only not giving her Coumadin for chronic a fib and long- term antibiotics for osteomyelitis, but that she was lying to the patient by saying, "You just forgot." While my 95-year old loved one is forgetful, she was also very right.

The nurse was fired, but the daughter did not want to report to the BON.

That is horrible! Wow. Warfarin and and abt, those to be withheld w/o cause is evil. Agree that things should be question and investigate. But OP already reported and wants to monitor what happens to coworker and is impatient for her to get fired. it made me question motives

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Yes, you do listen to patients who say that they are not receiving their medications, even if it is your 90 year old father. At least a quick MAR check is in order. Possibly an investigation.

Have you never heard of a nurse not giving medications just because they are lazy? I have, with someone I love very much and whose daughter is a nurse. It was proven that the nurse was not only not giving her Coumadin for chronic a fib and long- term antibiotics for osteomyelitis, but that she was lying to the patient by saying, "You just forgot." While my 95-year old loved one is forgetful, she was also very right.

The nurse was fired, but the daughter did not want to report to the BON.

Yes, you listen. Perhaps you even investigate. What you don't do is immediately jump to the conclusion that the mean old nurse is mistreating your loved one.

I've been a cancer patient and a joint replacement patient, and I have gotten a pain pill and forgotten about it once or twice. It isn't uncommon. I've been fortunate in that all of my experiences, the nurses were hardworking, well meaning, kind and competent. I haven't seen any of those scary nurses that the previous poster was complaining about.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Seriously? Aren't you part of the nursing generation that abbreviates everything, to the point that my old employer had multipage lists of abbreviations to avoid?

Back in the Stone Age, when we were writing everything out in our three colored pens, we had lists of approved abbreviations we could use. My point, perhaps badly made, is that text speak is against the Terms of Service and acronyms, while they may seem obvious to you may not be so obvious to the nurse from Kenya or the one who has never worked in your specialty.