Kmrn27

I don't know. I'm starting to believe someone had it out for me. All I hope is that I can keep my current job.

The pt was on a PCA, however, she never pushed the button. Also, these extra doses of dilaudid were on the MAR for or that had a lot of pain and were typically a larger dose than the PCA dose, so this pt preferred to get a larger dose every 2 hours, vs a small dose every ten min. There is no order to not give it when on a PCA or anything. Also, the only reason all of this got brought up is because pharmacy flagged me for giving more dilaudid than the other nurses that month...that led to an investigation, which led to them believing I diverted, looking into my charting and deciding they had evidence of this stuff instead of the diversion, when I wouldn't admit to anything I didn't do. No other nurses are in trouble...my lawyer believes they think I diverted but can't prove it so they will punish me this way then...still waiting to hewr from her today, as I haven't gotten to discuss this settlement agreement with her.

Thanks for the reply. Also, they are saying I put someone's psychosocial welfare at risk by administering dilaudid to someone on a PCA...it was ordered and on the MAR and the pt requested the extra dose because it was a higher dose that controlled their pain better and they weren't currently using their PCA...is this not ok?? Other nurses had been doing it for weeks for this pt.

So they've already decided not to drop the matter. Unfortunately I think they believe I was diverting, but cannot prove it, so they will punish me for charting mistakes and not wasting one time. Right now their settlement offer is 75 hours education and a 300 dollar fine. Does anyone know if your punishment is something like that, is it the same as a punishment if suspension/probation? Like are all punishments seen as equally bad by future employers?

I haven't talked with her yet. I meet with her Monday. I guess I'm also curious if you are guilty of what they are charging me with, but it is nothing you wouldn't see in almost every nurses charting, have you ever heard of the BON giving out warnings or dropping charges? I know it's unlikely, but one can hope.

Any ideas on how to bring it up to current employer?

Are there places that are more accepting of nurses with marks on their record? I am just so worried about never finding a job again.

There is already a discipline document posted and I haven't agreed to anything yet. So, it is public at this point.

To make a long story short, my previous employer accused me of stealing dilaudid, which i did not do. There were some issues with documenting pain scores, administering a dose of dilaudid to someone on a PCA (It was ordered and other nurses had done it as well), and forgetting to waste one time. There was not enough evidence to charge me with diversion so BON came up with 3 charges related to the documentation and pain medicine administration and wasting. My question is, whether or not I decide to agree to the settlement, will my current employer keep me around with a punishment from the board on my record? Does anyone have experience with this? I have worked at this hospital since September and NEED to keep my job to support my family. If there is any possibility of getting these charges dropped, I may tell my attorney I want to go for it because i don't want this black mark on my record. I feel like I am being made an example of and it is not fair. I didn't do anything that almost every other nurse on my floor did too. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you so much!! 4o bucks...not gonna complain!

I looked all sorts of places online for ceus on documentation and I couldn't find ANY. Do you happen to know of any good self study sites?? Thanks for all the advice

My concern is they would try to turn it into a diversion case. So, I tried to cover my bases with the hair test and UDS. I guess I don't know what else to do besides hiring an attorney which I already did.

So the problem was some time discrepancies so potentially some doc errors or bad practice, but I guess I'm curious if the boards investigation would turn into one about diversion or do they just investigate what the complaint was made for?

Recently, my employer met with me to discuss an internal Investigation re inconsistent medication practices, where I was basically accused of diversion of narcotics. I hired an attorney because they said they would be turning this over to the board. I passed a urine drug screen and hair follicle screen shortly afterwards. I would like to find a new job as I need the money, but I am scared of what is going to happen with the board complaint. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks