sherabear

[quote=Nurse_;7212422 So why is she taking the Ativan? Is it for anxiety? Do you think she's anxious? If not, you have to explain to her. That's your job. If she needs a stronger dose, you have to rely that to the physician. The doctor does not know how much ativan she takes, and its your job to follow up on that. Is her anxiety getting worse? If it is, does she need a better medication to manage it? Just because other nurses openly admit it to you, it doesn't mean they will risk their license to openly admit that in court. You have to protect yourself because, guess what... you are the newbie, it's easier to get rid of you. If things go well for me, I am going to talk to the doctor about possibly scheduling it BID or TID depending on what he thinks; she asks for it like clockwork, regardless of whether or not she actually needs it, which in my honest and professional opinion, she does not. She is a higher needs resident and has her call light on at least 6-8 times per hour, which definitely indicates a need for human contact, and I have stayed in her room on more than one occasion, even making her forget that she requested the ativan, which is why I've only administered it once. I think she relies on the idea of the ativan more than the effects of it...that doesn't excuse the whole not administering it thing, I know. And I've had the last two days to have my heart pound and think about the outcome, and really regret being a lemming. I don't agree that she needs it. But like you say...it's not my call. It's the doc's and her's.

I don't think the resident every found out. The night nurse must have said something, because I reported off and let her know about the PRN pain meds she had received, but told her no ativan this shift...I have only ever given her ativan once, at her request. The night in question, the resident just asked for 'all her night pills', and then asked about her sleeping pill, which I assumed was the trazodone she gets, and asked to make sure that all her pills were there. The day nurse and other evening nurse have both OPENLY ADMITTED to not giving the ativan, which is why it mostly just sucks that I am the one on unpaid leave during investigation. I s'pose from now on, I'll just ativan her up.

I am a new grad LPN. I started my very first nursing job last week, and have been orentating since last Wednesday. On the wing that I will be working on, I have 1 resident in particular that asks for PRN Ativan at least four times per day, and other nurses have openly admitted to not giving it to her but telling her that they have. This resident does not exhibit any overt signs of increased anxiety at all, and her behavior doesn't change whether she receives the medication or doesn't. The nurse I was orientating with did the same thing; she will tell her that all her pills are in her med cup and administer away. Like I said, there are no changes in behavior; she believes she got her ativan, so she doesn't ask for another one for 6 hours (she gets it every 6 hours PRN). I did the same thing last night, but suddenly I'm under investigation, despite the fact that it's been going on far longer than I've been there. I'm suspended without pay pending investigation, and I'm just wondering if anyone knows what typical outcomes are. My nurse manager just said that re-education would likely be the result, but that doesn't make me any less nervous!