Put on probation first time administering meds

[lilykiss6]

The first time i gave meds, today since i started attending NS, i got put on probation for not remembering the classification of a drug, though i knew all my meds and gave the meds to my patient, well after the med administration was completed, my teacher said i did good.

the problem i have with this is that it is my first week on my second (3 week) rotation of clinicals, the teacher missed the first day and we pretty much had no idea we were going to be passing meds (clinicals 2 days a week), i knew all my patients meds, what they were for and side effects. my teacher asked for the classification and i told her i did not know, and didn't think we were passing meds today, but she put me on probation.

I am passing all my Nursing classes never been on probation in my entire life, (already have BSC, AND MIS degrees)

on my first (3 weeks) rotation of clinicals i got great remarks from my first clinical teacher, never passed meds but did great wound dressing and patient care.

I am not sure why i was put on probation, its not like i gave patient wrong meds, or didn't know my patient (by the way my patient loved me). I do plan to contest it, but don't wanna draw backlash from the teacher since i will be with her for 2 more weeks

what do you all think.

[Tyler77]

A nursing student is usually put on probation if they put a patient in jeopardy, academic dishonesty, etc. Because you didn't know the classification of a drug does not mean someone was harmed.

Your instructor missed the first week of clinicals, so therefore you had AN ENTIRE WEEK to e-mail him/her to find out what the low down was going to be this week....You could have easily found out what the expectations were this week and not be surprised about what was expected of you. And if your instructor is one of those adjuncts that is basically impossible to find, go to your nursing advisor and explain what happened so maybe the message can be passed to the director to light a fire under your teacher's behind so he/she can get back to you.

[lilykiss6]

I did not have an entire week to email the teacher, my clinical days are wed/thurs, teacher missed wed, and it is the first week at a new hospital, and its my first time with this teacher, don't have her email.

other students who did worse than i did were not put on probation, they were told to find out the information.

moreover i checked the student hand book, and like u said, i never put the patient in jeopardy, or gave the wrong meds, i checked everything, and she said i did good after administering meds

i was going to email my former clinical instructor and explain everything

[Rhody34]

Probation for not knowing the classification sounds a bit harsh to me. Are you allowed to make drug cards and hold them on you? Are you sure there's nothing else? Like, were you told specifically, "I'm putting you on probation because you didnt know the classification of Drug A." Seems a bit odd to me. Sorry youre going through this. Chin up- sounds like youre doing well overall.

[Streamline2010]

a nursing student is usually put on probation if they put a patient in jeopardy, academic dishonesty, etc. because you didn't know the classification of a drug does not mean someone was harmed.

your instructor missed the first week of clinicals, so therefore you had an entire week to e-mail him/her to find out what the low down was going to be this week....you could have easily found out what the expectations were this week and not be surprised about what was expected of you. and if your instructor is one of those adjuncts that is basically impossible to find, go to your nursing advisor and explain what happened so maybe the message can be passed to the director to light a fire under your teacher's behind so he/she can get back to you.

conversly, had there been a week between the absence and the clinical, that instructor, or another at that same school, had an entire week to slap together an update and broadcast it to students or post it on blackboard or whatever they use so that the students would be prepared for the clinical. since the teacher was the absent one, it would have been the teacher's responsibility to make up that training session, and the students should not individually have to be tracking down that information.

document, document, document. i had an a&p class that pushed until the slacker part-time prof was fired and replaced by a better one for the rest of the semester, plus special tutors were provided to help the class catch up to the other sections. not everyone in a teaching position is fully qualified to do the job.

i don't know all of the circumstances, but if i were in that situation and there was no way for me to be prepared for that question and i was put on probation because of it, i would be fighting it tooth and nail. document, document, document, is how it works in the real workplace. and both sides can play the game.

[elkpark]

I agree that probation for not knowing a single drug classification sounds a little harsh and the situation sounds a little odd (like, maybe we're not getting the whole story), but I'm confused about what you mean when you say "I knew all my patient's meds" but then say you didn't know a drug's classification. That's part of "knowing" the meds.

I would encourage you to keep your head down, do whatever you need to do to get off the probation, and make sure you know everything you're supposed to about client meds going forward from here.

[Asystole RN]

How in the world did you "know the meds and the side effects" without knowing the class???

[lilykiss6]

@ AsystoleRN, guess what it happens, my client had 10 meds, and not remembering the class of one med is bound to happen. I tried my best and it was my first time.

@elkpark, i knew my meds meaning i knew what medications my client was supposed to take @ 9am, and what they were for.

she did put another of my classmate on probation bcoz my classmate told her he wasn't prepared to administer meds.

I think the probation was harsh, i did not know what we were required to know for this clinical rotation (since teacher missed first day of clinicals that was meant for orientation, by the way its not the first time she has missed a clinical day- based on words from other classmates), at my last clinical rotation the teacher told us what our requirements were first day of clinicals.

the same thing i went through happened to one of my classmates on another clinical rotation, and the teacher said, find out and let me know later. so i think putting me on probation was too harsh, if i were doing things all wrong she would have stopped me from adminstering the medication, but i fully administered my meds and she said good job, so why am i on probation.

[Asystole RN]

@ AsystoleRN, guess what it happens, my client had 10 meds, and not remembering the class of one med is bound to happen. I tried my best and it was my first time.

Not to beat a dead horse but how did you remember the side effects but not the class? Usuaully those two go hand in hand.

Being totally deadly serious with you, it doesn't matter if you had to give 3 or 3,000 medications to the patient... you have to know EVERY single drug BEFORE you give it. Only takes 1 pill, 1 time to take 1 life and 1 license.

[lilykiss6]

Well i'm not gonna argue with you on that, I'm sure you were perfect the first time you gave meds, but guess what not everyone is going to be perfect.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

Im taking it as you knew which meds (as in the name) you were to give, but not the details about the meds. Like the type of med it was, how it works, what the side effects were things like that, am I right?

In my school, we would be put on remediation for that also. Before we pass meds, we have to research each med and basically copy the information from the drug book. Yes we may tell the patient, Here is your Pepcid, its for your acid reflux, but if asked by the teacher, we better know HOW the pepcid works and any other things about the med. However, we are allowed to look it up. What we have been taught to say is, " Let me look that up and I will get back to you"

[jjjoy, LPN]

Nursing school evaluations can feel rather arbitrary sometimes. Perhaps it was just that you said "I don't know" as opposed to "I'll look that up". Or maybe to the instructor, you seemed unconcerned about not knowing the classification, like "so what? I don't need to know that" and the instructor wanted to make a point that while you'll never know everything, it can be dangerous to be complacent and think you already know all that you need to. Or perhaps the instructor just felt that you didn't take her seriously and was flexing her authority. Who knows for sure, right?!

Either your instructor is decent and can clarify this for you. Or your instructor isn't that great and you just need to do what the instructor wants to pass and try to make the best of it til you move on. And, as another noted, document, document, document any issues so you can provide details to either defend yourself or prove a problem with the instructor if need be. In all things, remain professional. I don't think it's right for instructors to act unprofessional and it can be unfair if the instructor isn't clear about what the problem is, but some might argue that the main point is that *you* act professionally. And if you come across as whining "It's not fair!" you don't look at all professional.