Opinions for a new LPN and narc issue

[Brookenicole84]

So I just went on my own at a LTC facility. I had a good trainer the first week and gave me a list of things to write down on my report sheet to remember to do every day. One of the things is Narcs. To go through make sure you signed them all out and they are accurate. I did the the other night plus when the night shift nurse came on we counted and everything was good. The next day back to work the night shift nurse was saying something like when she counted with someone else that it wasnt right and I must of dropped one and that I need two nurses to waste a narc. That she signed that I wasted it for me to just sign next to her name. At the time I was thinking well maybe I did and I signed. The more I thought about it, I cant imagine how with two narc checks they were both wrong and I missed a narc. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it and told the nurse that trained me and she made me report it to the DON. Now I feel kinda bad like what if that nurse that told me i musta dropped one was trying to help me and now I might have gotten her into trouble.. Or what if she's up to something trying to make it look like I dropped it or what if I really actually dropped it?? Just needed to vent.. Any opinions would be nice.

[agldragonRN]

please be very careful before you sign anything. she counted the narc with you at the end of the shift and she did not say the count is off or there is a discrepancy with the count so that must mean the count is correct and she is accepting the key and now responsible for it. and please check your policy if two lpns can waste a narc. in my facility, it has to be rn/lpn or rn/rn not lpn/lpn. i don't know why but it is just is at my ltc facility.

i am glad you told the don. that is the right to do. even if you made a mistake and the count was off, how come the on coming nurse did not say anything? she counted with you, right? so she is now responsible because she accepted the key from you.

another example that can happen to you as well:

i work 3-11 so when i come at 3pm, i count with the 7-3 nurse, then the count is right but when i check the narc sheet, one spot is not signed because the 11-7 forgot to sign and the 7-3 nurse accepted it and did not realize it when she was counting. she would then tell me to accept it and the 11-7 nurse will sign later when she comes. then what i would do is not accept it and call the supervisor and let her know and if she agrees then i will accept the key. usually, if it is a regular nurse at my facility, then they say okay she can sign when she comes at 11pm but if it is an agency nurse, they will call her and have her come in on my shift and sign.

your license is your livelihood so you must protect it at all times.

[systoly]

If she was trying to help you then there's no harm in reporting it to the DON. Always make sure you count with another nurse and both of you sign at the same time. If someone comes later on and claims there's a discrepancie politely advise them to report the incident to the DON and for kicks I'd ask them," what is that form again that we have to fill out for the state?"

[cecilsgirl]

I just read this post ( a little old) and was just curious, what happened ? the nurse who said you must of dropped a narc ---?? something sounds fishy here.

[AZMOMO2]

Sounds like a blame the new girl situation because you didn't know better than to question her right away. If she counted then it was right at the time you signed off PERIOD! Fishy fishy!

[Peds_Nurse]

The same thing was almost tried on me when I first started. What I found was the more experienced nurse would count very fast with me and I finally told her to stop and slow down because I needed to make sure I was doing the count correctly. It sure saved me because I found that 3 narcs had not been signed out by her and it was caught during our count before I accepted the keys.

I know your case was the other way around, but I would still make sure you take your time when counting and if you're not sure, then ask to see the card (or whatever) the narc is on to verify.

Good luck.