PXYIS

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Can someone help me .....I am a registry nurse. The other day I rec call from my registry saying that the hospital was missing 6 narcotics!!!! They said i had taken out 12 narcs... six - 5mg tabs ..each dose =30 mgs. They said I accessed the pyxis twice and it says I took out 12 and the EMAR only shows me giving it once? they pressed me to think ..to account for these meds . I was so nervous i could not think!!! they said that if they were not found that it was going t be reported to the board. MY heart sank!!!! I have never had a strike against me in 18 years... At first I thought I gave them at the end of of the shift and dint chart it....but I didnt. But I said I did cuz I thought I did?? anyways 2 days of agony in the garden..couldnt ea,t , sleep or drink! After deep consideration and lots of prayer I began to remember what happen: I took out one 5 mg tab, I thought it was a 30 mg tab.Closed the pyxis . Didnt know what I was thinking...went back in to pyxis andI thought if I take out 5 more that would be ok. so I did and closed the drawer. so the pyxis actually registered me as taking out 12 when in fact I only took out 6 !!! and gave 6 tabs. I guess what I should have done was cancel the drawer the 2nd time i went in .Anyway , they called and said thefound it..But not before the did a check...

They should have checked!!!!!!They should have check the # of tabs said to be taken out vs the number of actual tabs left ...they would have discovered a surplus of six!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! still really upset about the whole thing.... what do all of you think?

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Specializes in critical care, med/surg.

PYXIS is unforgiving! I had to go into slooowww mooottiioonn while at the PYXIS to keep myself straight!

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Specializes in Mental Health.

It seems like in 2020 they could have something way more advanced than the Pyxis machines by now. We have had vending machines that can regulate how much you get of something for decades ?‍♂️

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Sounds like someone jumped the gun. Registry nurse + Pyxis missing narcs = diversion. Then they actually did a count. And it came out even.

Take a breath. Redouble your efforts to keep your wits about you at the Pyxis. And make a point to keep your wits about you when you get these kinds of phone calls. It's common for the floor to drop out from under you and your mind go blank, but stand your ground. If you didn't knowingly do anything wrong, then the onus is on them to prove it.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

Why didnt they count before they called you and threatened board action?

Pyxholes.

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4 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

If you didn't knowingly do anything wrong, then the onus is on them to prove it. 

On 7/9/2019 at 7:23 AM, Kenny Gee said:

At first I thought I gave them at the end of of the shift and dint chart it....but I didnt. But I said I did cuz I thought I did??

Geez, yes - never let people like this make you lose your composure. The worst thing in your entire story is that you just crumpled because incompetent people accused you of something. This experience would be worth it if you learned never to do that again. You can be pleasant and cooperative but for goodness' sake don't just assume you must have done something wrong because someone else says so. ??

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

The most important "take away" is never ever admit to something that you don't recall doing. Also, it would be helpful if all med rooms had video cameras on them that recorded and the "digital tape" was available to review if necessary. Also it would be helpful if machines could "individually dispense" medication. Thus, if you want one bottle of Propofol only "that" bottle is dispensed. One thing I always do now is to "double" check my EMAR before trowing away the barcode on a medicine to make sure that my "scan" has actually saved (I understand that this is not what happened to you, but this is a different problem that can crop up). Another big no no NEVER pull meds for another nurse (narcotics) when you will not be the one scanning them at bedside. I new a new grad RN who was fired and suspended because she worked on a floor with LPN's who could not pull their own IV push medicines. She pulled the meds for the LPN's, but some of them (on some occasions) failed to scan narcotics. Again, a case of the hospital saving money by gambling with the license of RN's.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
2 hours ago, myoglobin said:

Another big no no NEVER pull meds for another nurse (narcotics) when you will not be the one scanning them at bedside. I new a new grad RN who was fired and suspended because she worked on a floor with LPN's who could not pull their own IV push medicines. She pulled the meds for the LPN's, but some of them (on some occasions) failed to scan narcotics. Again, a case of the hospital saving money by gambling with the license of RN's.

Wait, what? The LPNs couldn't pull their own narcotics but they could administer them? And the RN got fired for pulling their narcs for them? That makes zero sense.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma, neuro.

The LPN's definitely could not pull the narcs, and probably should not have given them either. However the floor had 16 beds, 3 LPN's and typically one RN (sometimes two). Since the RN had a full PCU load they would often (I believe) pull the med and trust the LPN to give. However, sometimes this didn't occur or occurred with less than 100% fidelity. Ultimately, the RN was blamed without the underlying "system" issue being addressed.

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