Patient asked me what an IV med was for..i didnt know

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I am a new grad LVN and a IV med was scheduled for a patient. The patient asked me what is the IV med for and I did not know. She also asked why does she need to have this? and Do you know why she has it?

She kept bombarding me with questions I did not know because as an LVn I am not even allowed to give IV meds at my hospital.

She asked for my name so I am sure she will report me. After this I told her i would look up the med and I did. I read exactly what is was from my drug book.

Next time this happens I want to be better prepared with good answers. What is the most professional way to say I do not know.?

abatacept was the IV med and I did not know what it was for but its nice to know there are nurses like yourself that know every single med that will ever be given to any patient. :up:

I am sure when I am 50+ years old I will know many medications. :) I am just starting my career and I am learning so much.

Perfect! That is exactly the right response. Then when you turn 50, all the meds you learned will be helpful, but there's a whole batch of new ones coming down the pike. The learning never ends. This learning experience was so important for you because it really isn't about the med at all. Its really about nursing styles. Some eat their young and some support and encourage learning. When you meet a new insecure nurse with a question a year from now, you'll know what to do :) good luck!

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
No we still use paper mars. :)
I LOVE our system.It was tough for the Luddites among the staff but those of us who use computers at home adjusted quickly.It has cut down so much on med errors,increased the speed of the med pass (L-O-N-G in long term care) and the entire chart and the pharmacy is right at your finger tips.It's da bomb.Now if the pharmacy we use could up their game I would not have much to complain about.Well,except for that co-worker of mine who has a habit of belching and farting in our faces.
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Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.

You are a new nurse NuringBro and willing to learn from your mistakes. I applaud you for that.

Same experience happened to me when I was a new LPN. I was embarrassed after a patient asked me and I did not know the answer and that made me look up every single med and become familiar with all of my patients' meds. I had 25 patients on 3-11 shift in LTC. I would go home and review the meds again. After a while, several of my coworkers were asking me "what's this med for?".

Keep doing what you are doing and try to learn as much meds as you can and you will be a talking PDR in no time.

Maybe next time this happens, you can say "You know what, I am unfamiliar with this medication. I looked this up earlier but I want to double check your chart again to give you the correction information."

Good luck!

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IV meds are covered under the basic education here. Oral antibiotics and IV usually have the same names.

Again... what are you talking about??

1) IV meds can be MANY more things besides antibiotics.

2) How is a nurse supposed to know every medication from his/her pre-hire education alone?

Random example... abatacept. Have you heard of it in YOUR education? Have you heard of it even in your daily practice? Is it an antibiotic?

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I didn't realize so many nurses were perfect. I come across medicines all the time that I have to look up. Luckily, I have a computer at my side when administering meds and a button I can click to give me all the info. within seconds.

Huh? Who said anything about perfect. This is one of the first things they teach you in nursing school--at least in any RN program I know. But why wouldn't this principle be taught to Practical Nursing giving medicines as well?????

Geez going back to the day. . .I can remember our instructors. They signed you off on giving the med, and they drilled you about it, while you were drawing it up or procuring what you needed--some of them even wanted input on mode of action right then and there. After they felt good about you giving certain kinds of meds, and signed you off on them, they good instructors would come up to you and ask what you are giving, why are you giving it, all of the relevant stuff. You were a fool if you drew up the med before you looked it up, b/c there stood a good chance you'd get schooled.. .and rightfully so.

Point many of us were making is that it's a lesson learned, and the OP seems like he's well on his way in terms of being on the ball with this.

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True. But since OP was NOT giving it, I think he's covered on that front.

Oh, my bad. You are totally right Wooh! LOL. I missed that, and the part about LPNs not being allowed to give IVs, b/c in some settings they are. . .

LOL.

Well then, to the OP, my humblest apologies. Also, I have been asked about medicines or treatments on patients that were not mine, and I didn't know anything about them--or maybe the plans had just changed. I've excused myself with the patient or family when they have asked me questions that I don't know, and either tell them I will discuss your inquiries with your nurse, or look at updates and changes on the team's plans of treatment. I mean you can't know what was not within your purview to know.

But hey. It was a good opportunity to learn, know?

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Thanks for the varied advice given to our thread starter who has acknowledged the help.

Thread closed.

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