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?

[notyetnurse]

With all due respect is it your business? I understand standing up for patients and by all means reporting an impaired nurse who may well make a mistake and cause a person harm but truthfully, you've already approached your DON. several times as you say. To me, once should have been enough. You aren't the charge and you aren't the DON so why is it so concerning to you? Is there something else going on behind the scenes?

[Steffy44]

Maybe an investigation was done and it was determined she was not stealing. Why do you think she is at least committing a med error? You can give out meds 1hour before and 1 hour after. So if the meds are due every 8 hours like you say, she is not committing a med error as 7-3 is 8 hours.

I guess accusing somebody of diverting is a huge deal. You are potentially destroying a career so you better be 100% sure you know this is happening. Jumping to conclusions is not 100% sure. You did the right thing by talking to your higher ups. She says she investigated. Let him/her handle it. You have absolutely no idea what is going on behind the scenes. They may be gathering more evidence, be calling HR on how to handle it...... Just because you are not seeing immediate termination means nothing. It takes a lot to fire someone with that type of accusation. They need proof. Let them gather that.

at my hospital you can give regular meds +/-1 but pain meds can be given no earlier than 10 minutes early. It'd be pretty easy to pocket meds for a patient if you wanted. Grab, scan and put them in your pocket. I'm on an ortho floor so pain meds are skittles sometimes. If I were unethical I could pocket the med because we give out so many different kinds to each patient. Surely the hospital has a narc officer.

[MSUOUgirl]

She is right, hour before DOES NOT APPLY TO PRNS. The time must be at least what the doctor orders. So you can give it hours after depending on when the patient asks. PRN means whenever the patient asks and does not have to be given on the dot. That is first semester nursing school.