Nurses Diverting Narcotics.

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Today I caught a fellow coworker diverting narcotics.... she's an RN with a past history of doing this, but it couldn't be proven, not even with a pop up Urine screening. She had patients complaining about not being given the correct pain pill.... she's basically busted now.... so my question is, have you ever turned a fellow Nurse in for diversion of narcotics and how did it all turn out?

Put me in the naive category... I made sure anything I'd wasted was completely witnessed and signed/initialed and did the same if/when I did the witnessing but only cuz I was a stickler for rules.

I did have an incident with a pharmacy on a personal Rx I was taking. I had been on this med (with butalbital in it) for headaches for several years and using a national pharmacy chain, I refilled it while out of my home state. I got the bottle back to where I was staying but found the bottle was smaller than I was used to, so I counted them. The bottle was totally full with a count of 80. I called the store and complained that there were 20 less than the label stated. The answer I got? "We count everything three times!" I told them about the size bottle, the label, and my counting the contents, but just got the same "counting them three times" answer over and over.

I immediately drove back, showed them the full bottle, told them to count them (three times?), read the amount that was supposed to be in the bottle according to the dang label, and asked her to see if she could fit 20 more pills in that bottle. She took the bottle with abject attitude, stomped off to the back, and returned a sealed bottle from the manufacturer without apology or deference. I asked her when was the last time this place of "business" had last been audited. Her eyes widened then ran to the back to answer the phone.

Once I became a nurse, I would count everything I signed for from the pharmacy. I figured if it happened just once to me, it can happen again in any other circumstance any other time, any other place, and any other situation. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but, just sayin'...

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.
I know and I'm a new nurse, so of course I feared retaliation. I know what I saw I'm not dumb, you know? When I took my pledge to be a nurse, I took it to protect the patients I care for. I'm sick to my stomach to think of anyone doing that. These poor people are in pain! I will always stand by my gut and report whenever I have suspicions...

I am a bit confused. You note in a earlier post that you "saw" this nurse & now you are reporting when you have suspicions. And will go so far as to "trust your gut". I've also noted that you don't care if you are liked, don't trust these nurses as far as you can throw them when it comes to any narc issue and, pardon me if I'm off-base here, but you seem to be looking for approval for the action of having already reported this (much maligned and already rumored) nurse.

You also seem to know a LOT about the nurse you happen to have directly witnessed diverting narcs - that she had a history of diverting narcotics (patients complained they weren't getting the right pills) but yet she passed the pop up drug screen & then she had some involvement in a co-worker diverting narcotics and was suspended. Wow. It must be really well known or you've certainly been spending some real time of the gossip wagon. And now .... BOOM .... you catch her and she is (your words here) BUSTED NOW that you have reported her, cause you directly witnessed it or reported that you did.

If I were you, you better hope she goes. Cause I'd be willing to bet my socks, you will be working in a very unhappy workplace if she "survives" your report. I'm not sure if this nurse is a RN or not (doesn't really matter in a way) but some LTC's are tough to reliably staff and short of verifiable proof (video, admission, supervisor witnessing, +UDS) she may survive. You may have great intentions "protect those poor patients that are in pain", but you are, for all intents and purposes a unknown quantity and new to the facility and nursing, and depending on how much ypu have stirred in the "stink" if gossip about her addiction issues, may go to your credibility and perception. Sorry, but don't be surprised. I wish you luck. But, regardless you have to go forward. And I would stay far away from the gossip,

I'm not trying to doubt on you. And if you are sure what you saw, that awesome. Are you still on orientation? Any chance the person you reported is involved in orienting you in any way. Do you feel there is a personality conflict? Cause you aren't there to "make friends". And you are going to be very exacting, which is a great practice, but you will have to develop a team approach at some point to survive in nursing, this I promise you. Promise.

But, you are a new LPN and just posted that you have been working a month & you seem to be catching everyone's mistakes. 1st a shift didn't catch a altered mental status in a patient & you did, were able to send that patient to ED for admission. Good job there, no doubt. And now you just happen to directly witness the "rumored" "dirty" nurse diverting. Wow. Quite a month already.

Also some additional advice, which I rarely give. Now, I have never worked LTC and you may be working in a difficult environment and "protecting your license" may be the only thing on your mind as you clock in every day. As a new nurse, protecting your license mentality is expected as you enter clinical practice. I would caution you about setting yourself up as the "nurse of ideals" where you find the fault in every other persons practice and the "why" didn't they "catch" this or that. I would imagine a LTC nurse has a patient load of 20 or so patients and shift work can be such that things get missed or not completed. (It even happens with patients on helicopters, being so busy with airway and IV access, a simple splint is done, or even in the ICU another patient takes priority and a feeding or dressing change has been delayed, it happens) Some times very important things. Crucifying the nurses that you follow will not bode well for your future. A difficult situation may have erupted that consumed a lot of time, families come in, deaths occur - the fact is, you don't know what you don't know, but be glad you can do what you can. And don't begrudge your colleagues.

Set yourself as a strong clinician and patient advocate, be easy to work with and your career will flourish. Be petty, haughty, superior, meddling and nursing will be a miserable experience.

Nursing is a tough business in every speciality. Nurses are awesome & it's impossible to do this job alone, it's a team effort.

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I am a bit confused. You note in a earlier post that you "saw" this nurse & now you are reporting when you have suspicions. And will go so far as to "trust your gut". I've also noted that you don't care if you are liked, don't trust these nurses as far as you can throw them when it comes to any narc issue and, pardon me if I'm off-base here, but you seem to be looking for approval for the action of having already reported this (much maligned and already rumored) nurse.

You also seem to know a LOT about the nurse you happen to have directly witnessed diverting narcs - that she had a history of diverting narcotics (patients complained they weren't getting the right pills) but yet she passed the pop up drug screen & then she had some involvement in a co-worker diverting narcotics and was suspended. Wow. It must be really well known or you've certainly been spending some real time of the gossip wagon. And now .... BOOM .... you catch her and she is (your words here) BUSTED NOW that you have reported her, cause you directly witnessed it or reported that you did.

If I were you, you better hope she goes. Cause I'd be willing to bet my socks, you will be working in a very unhappy workplace if she "survives" your report. I'm not sure if this nurse is a RN or not (doesn't really matter in a way) but some LTC's are tough to reliably staff and short of verifiable proof (video, admission, supervisor witnessing, +UDS) she may survive. You may have great intentions "protect those poor patients that are in pain", but you are, for all intents and purposes a unknown quantity and new to the facility and nursing, and depending on how much ypu have stirred in the "stink" if gossip about her addiction issues, may go to your credibility and perception. Sorry, but don't be surprised. I wish you luck. But, regardless you have to go forward. And I would stay far away from the gossip,

I'm not trying to doubt on you. And if you are sure what you saw, that awesome. Are you still on orientation? Any chance the person you reported is involved in orienting you in any way. Do you feel there is a personality conflict? Cause you aren't there to "make friends". And you are going to be very exacting, which is a great practice, but you will have to develop a team approach at some point to survive in nursing, this I promise you. Promise.

But, you are a new LPN and just posted that you have been working a month & you seem to be catching everyone's mistakes. 1st a shift didn't catch a altered mental status in a patient & you did, were able to send that patient to ED for admission. Good job there, no doubt. And now you just happen to directly witness the "rumored" "dirty" nurse diverting. Wow. Quite a month already.

Also some additional advice, which I rarely give. Now, I have never worked LTC and you may be working in a difficult environment and "protecting your license" may be the only thing on your mind as you clock in every day. As a new nurse, protecting your license mentality is expected as you enter clinical practice. I would caution you about setting yourself up as the "nurse of ideals" where you find the fault in every other persons practice and the "why" didn't they "catch" this or that. I would imagine a LTC nurse has a patient load of 20 or so patients and shift work can be such that things get missed or not completed. (It even happens with patients on helicopters, being so busy with airway and IV access, a simple splint is done, or even in the ICU another patient takes priority and a feeding or dressing change has been delayed, it happens) Some times very important things. Crucifying the nurses that you follow will not bode well for your future. A difficult situation may have erupted that consumed a lot of time, families come in, deaths occur - the fact is, you don't know what you don't know, but be glad you can do what you can. And don't begrudge your colleagues.

Set yourself as a strong clinician and patient advocate, be easy to work with and your career will flourish. Be petty, haughty, superior, meddling and nursing will be a miserable experience.

Nursing is a tough business in every speciality. Nurses are awesome & it's impossible to do this job alone, it's a team effort.

This.

Be really careful about using gossip as a basis for reporting another nurse. I understand you "saw" something. But to base it on the premise that this nurse apparently has some "history" therefore you were even MORE mindful, could be an issue.

Make your own judgments on your own time with your own information. Otherwise, look at what is presented to you first hand.

The "other pills" that the patient's received--who is looking into that and what the heck did they get? Are we sure that the pharmacy did not change the manufacturer of said pills--if the med is a "blue pill" and now it is green, well, the FIRST person who sees that is a LTC patient.

I get that diverters are in fact very skilled at what they do. And it is absolutely the best practice to not sign out narcs for others to give, to actually witness wastes, to be mindful with any handling of narcotics.

With that being said, be sure you are making your own conclusions, and not basing your reactions/opinions/treatment of co-workers on stuff you hear about people at the nurses station.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
Report suspicions or known facts. I don't trust any nurse as far as I can throw her... I can like you alot, but I don't like anyone who steals from anyone under and circumstance. I'm not at a job for friendship. If I find friends, awesome. But my sole purpose is to protect and advocate for the people I care for on a day to day basis.

I guess I don't understand why it has to be one or the other- making friends or protecting the patients. I think you actually could advocate and protect patients a lot more by starting off trusting your fellow nurses and working together. You aren't there to monitor other nurses behavior or act as the unit watchdog. If something seems "off" then yeah, I would agree to investigate further. The tone of this post just strikes me as very pious and "holier than thou." I would much rather work in an environment where nurses trusted, helped, and supported one another to provide the best care possible rather than a police state where all of us are suspicious of one another and constantly assessing each other's behaviors and actions.

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

I like the smart ones....You know the ones,whenever they feel the net tightening at work they " get hurt" and somehow end up in the emergency room.Everyone else's drug screen comes back negative and this nurse can cover her butt....Will let you know how many times she gets away with this trick.

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I had a nurse draw the fentanyl gel from the patch with a syringe and replace it with surgi-lube. It would have been impressive if it wasn't so pathetic.

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Specializes in L&D.

This may be a dumb question, but what is "diverting meds"?

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
This may be a dumb question, but what is "diverting meds"?

Taking meds prescribed for their patient....Stealing.

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I had a nurse draw the fentanyl gel from the patch with a syringe and replace it with surgi-lube. It would have been impressive if it wasn't so pathetic.

If someone is hurting badly enough to have a fentanyl patch, stealing their meds is downright hateful!

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I've never dealt with this issue. I trust nurses until they give me a reason not to.

A place I worked at accused a nurse of diverting. They threatened her with sending the DEA over to her house and reporting her to the BON even though they didn't have any proof. Apparently there were 10 norco pills missing. She was on pins and needles for weeks insisting that she had nothing to do with it. I honestly didn't know what to believe so I watched it all play out. Finally, when they opened the pyxis they noticed that the pills were lodged in one of the compartments between the drawers. She never got an apology or anything. She still works there but has since changed jobs out of patient care.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I've never dealt with this issue. I trust nurses until they give me a reason not to.

A place I worked at accused a nurse of diverting. They threatened her with sending the DEA over to her house and reporting her to the BON even though they didn't have any proof. Apparently there were 10 norco pills missing. She was on pins and needles for weeks insisting that she had nothing to do with it. I honestly didn't know what to believe so I watched it all play out. Finally, when they opened the pyxis they noticed that the pills were lodged in one of the compartments between the drawers. She never got an apology or anything. She still works there but has since changed jobs out of patient care.

That's crazy! :no:

I would've changed jobs! :facepalm:

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Specializes in hospice.
That's crazy! :no:

I would've changed jobs! :facepalm:

No kidding. My husband's workplace of four years (non-healthcare) just told him that he has no chance to move up and that they basically don't really trust him. FOUR mf-ing years of good work.....he's upset and I'm livid. He's looking. Hard. There is no point staying there for him. I can't imagine a nurse staying on after being treated like that and not even getting an apology. She's a better person than me, clearly.

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