Myra Gail

Chevy, I am the second nurse to resign d/t this situation. Other nurses read the note and one even called me at home on my day off because she was very upset. The "note" was shredded! There are witnesses, but whether they will speak the truth or not is a 64,0000$ question. The DON knows I have refused to do as he ordered; he called in another nurse who would do what he said. She took great pleasure in telling me all about it! She is my immediate supervisor, and it was her night off! This patient was my responsibility.

I turned in my letter of resignation on Jan. 21st! My next step will be reporting the situation.

At the LTC facility where I work, The DON has ordered nurses to give Roxanol 5mg Q1hr routinely which is contrary to MD's order: Roxanol 5mg Q1hr PRN pain or air hunger. The patient is without S/SX distress. The DON told all of us that if we nurses had a problem following his instructions, we could resign. The patient is on palliative care; not palliative sedation. What, if any recourse do we as nurses have?

To all of you out there: The nurses and CNAs all had a meeting this AM with our DON. She put it bluntly; we will be working with "Med Techs", we are responsible for what the Techs do, and we should be grateful to have an extra set of hands and feet to do the work! I am in the process of writing to the NCBON for a copy of The Nurse Practice Act since I have not been able to access the PDF files on the BON website. I am also updating my resume! The bottom line is all about money; it's certainly not about good nursing care. Let's face it; even nurses are not infallible, but we have at least been educated and had to demonstrate our abilities before we graduated! After graduation, we had to pass boards in order to receive a license to practice nursing! Now we've been told that an Aide without any clinical experience is to be passing meds. Heaven help us all! Gail in NC

Thanks to everyone for your replies! You all have been very helpful and I certainly appreciate your advice. I have been on a quest for the last 2 wks. gathering info. re: UAPs giving meds. I do not wish to be responsible for this new policy. The nurses at our facility were never spoken to about this plan. One night at work, one of our nurses shows up at work and finds out she'll have a so-called Med Tech carrying Narc. keys and being responsible for a whole unit! She called the DON, who was sleeping, and then called the ADON.She was told to just go along with it . There was a resident in the dying process receiving Oxyfast bucally Q15 min. Prn pain and also receiving Oxyfast Q6hr. routinely (Hold if unconscious). This "Med Tech" had only studied a Med-pass booklet and answered the questions in the booklet 2wks. prior to being handed over the keys to the Med. Cart! She had no clinical experience at all! My understanding is that she picked up the booklet at the local Dept. of Social Services or the Dept. of Human Resources. Does that make any sense to anyone? I'll try to keep you informed about this situation. Thanks again for everyone's input! Melinda Sue

efy2178, Thanks for your reply. My DON has informed us that UAPs are able to medicate residents in our facility as long as the nurse signs her signature after the UAP. I emailed my BON re: this situation and never received a reply! I plan to protect my license. Thanks again, Melinda Sue

Please help! The Facility where I work is going to initiate UAPs administering meds. I want to know if a nurse can refuse to be responsible for this. The facility is calling them Med Techs but my understanding is that Med Techs go to school to learn about meds and the administration of meds. UAPs on the other hand do not. Am I being too conservative to go along with this practice? This situation has caused a turmoil at work. Thanks for any advice. Melinda Sue