Nurses who can't give out narcotics

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They have recently hired 2 new nurses who are in some kind of drug rehab program. So now all of the other nurses get to do a lot of extra work. There are a lot of narcotics that are used at this facility. So now in addition to doing one's own heavy nursing medication assignment, the nurses are expected to give out all of the narcotics for these new hires. Why would they even hire nurses who can't give out narcotics in a nursing home?

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Wow your right why would you hire someone that can only do half the job.

I feel for these nurses and hope that they do well in their recovery. But I'd not hire them till they had gone through their programs and were off their restrictions.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
Wow your right why would you hire someone that can only do half the job.

I feel for these nurses and hope that they do well in their recovery. But I'd not hire them till they had gone through their programs and were off their restrictions.

Most people who have restrictions MUST work in order to show the monitoring program "good faith" that they are still competent at work so that their license can become "free and clear again".

As for in a nursing home-the main issue is their ratios; that is not the person's fault who is trying to get a chance to work again. :no:

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I have helped with passing narcs for some other nurses. It can be a pain yes, hopefully they are not working at the same time. Maybe the RCMs or MDS nurses can come help pass some of those narcotics, I know I would if needed. Many of these nurses feel like crap that they have these restrictions and they are actively working to clear their licenses. Be supportive.

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I see... thanks I never knew that. Well hoping that all will turn out for all concern.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Ideally those nurses would do some tasks for you that do not involve narcs to even out the workload.....

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I commend the employer for giving these nurses a chance, but I don't see why they haven't made an accommodation to lessen the pressure it puts on others. It does not take a genius to figure out that a swap of "non-narc" patient names could be made so that the other nurses aren't doing a lot more extra work.

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I wish nurses in recovery all the best. However, I cannot work at See's chocolate candy store. It would be "too tempting" for me to be around all of that chocolate. So why would someone with a drug problem want to be around a job that involves giving out narcotics? Aren't they worried about being tempted once again by narcotics in the future when they are cleared to give narcotics?

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I do not think that temptation is as much of a concern as not being able to obtain nursing employment at all, thus, not being able to comply with the terms of the program, and not being able to reenter nursing at some level, to allow for future self support. If the person is truly concerned with the temptation situation, they would probably make the decision to leave nursing altogether. Getting a non-narcs nursing position is not easy in the short run or the long run.

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Specializes in OB.

maybe being assigned to patients who don't take narcotics can help? not everyone at the nursing home gets narcotics, right? As a student, during my med surg rotation I had many patients who had no narcotics on their daily meds

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:laugh:

I wish nurses in recovery all the best. However, I cannot work at See's chocolate candy store. It would be "too tempting" for me to be around all of that chocolate. So why would someone with a drug problem want to be around a job that involves giving out narcotics? Aren't they worried about being tempted once again by narcotics in the future when they are cleared to give narcotics?

Yeah....your post makes a "little" sense. However just appreciate that the company you work for is so accepting and forgiving.....WWJD?

Almost all addictions are to things that are everywhere, commonly available. Alcoholics, over eaters, former smokers, attend parties, functions, celebrations where alcohol, smoking, and a lot of food, is readily available.

Computer are everywhere for those of us addicted to Allnurses.:laugh:

Really hard for nurses to find jobs where no narcotics are used.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

:roflmao:ask the MDS nurses to help! Really? Mine are so busy they can't even get their own work done. It's a miracle if they help feed a resident when we're short. Plenty of LTC residents don't take narcs, but we have an EMR so configuring the teams for the days those specific nurses are on duty would be an issue. Perhaps the easiest thing would be for them to do the treatments for the nurses who have to do the narcs for them.

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