Reprimanded for NOT giving IV Push Medicine

Nurses General Nursing

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I worked for this doctor's office that also had an iv infusion center. I was told to give IV Push Ativan and I refused because am not legally allowed to do so. I could lose my license. I was told to learn my place and listen to my superiors. I was also told that I would be fired because I could not listen, I quit first.

Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Specializes in Med/Surg.
I worked for this doctor's office that also had an iv infusion center. I was told to give IV Push Ativan and I refused because am not legally allowed to do so. I could lose my license. I was told to learn my place and listen to my superiors. I was also told that I would be fired because I could not listen, I quit first.

Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Are you sure it's not in your scope of practice? LPN's that I work with are allowed by the state that I live in to push Ativan :nurse:

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Are you sure it's not in your scope of practice? LPN's that I work with are allowed by the state that I live in to push Ativan :nurse:

And in some states LVNs can't push IV meds at all

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
And in some states LVNs can't push IV meds at all

Correct. But does she know if it is allowed where she lives?

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It sounds like she does know, but the bottom line is that the "shut up and listen to your superiors" line is dead wrong.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
the bottom line is that the "shut up and listen to your superiors" line is dead wrong.

Thank You, you are 100% correct, I wasn't looking at it from that angle which is or course the most important issue. Thanks Tazzi :nurse:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Unless they were willing to pay your bills and support you and your family for the rest of your life when you lost your license, then you did the right thing by quitting and standing up for yourself.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

I do believe that when you are working in a doctor's office, the doctor is in the office and has instructed you on how to do this procedure, you can do it, license or not. It comes under the theory of the doctor being the "captain of the ship" in his own office. This is how MA's are allowed to do all kinds of things in doctor's offices. Some state board websites have policy statements that clarify this for RNs who have complained about MAs doing things way beyond their scope of practice. If you haven't been instructed in how to do an IV push by the doctor himself and are not a licensed RN, however, that would be your defense to a claim of insubordination on the job.

When you work for a doctor in his office, you are pretty much his assistant and obligated to do what he wants as long as he takes the time to instruct you in how to do it. That's how docs save money and get away with employing MAs instead of licensed staff. If this doesn't sit well with you, then your choice is to leave.

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Unless they were willing to pay your bills and support you and your family for the rest of your life when you lost your license, then you did the right thing by quitting and standing up for yourself.

Tweety....educate me on this...

I mean, obviously she didn't want to work there anymore because who would want to work in a place where they are flat-out asking them to perform a procedure outside their scope of practice, is an unethical place to work.

However, is it always better to quit without notice than be fired?

Obviously, an office is going to deny any knowledge if what they were asking her to do was truly illegal.

So is it better to quit or did I just answer my own question? :p

Just trying to learn the "politics" involved that future nurses like me would need to know.

These are the BEST posts...it serves as a very good learning experience.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Tweety....educate me on this...

I mean, obviously she didn't want to work there anymore because who would want to work in a place where they are flat-out asking them to perform a procedure outside their scope of practice, is an unethical place to work.

However, is it always better to quit without notice than be fired?

Obviously, an office is going to deny any knowledge if what they were asking her to do was truly illegal.

So is it better to quit or did I just answer my own question? :p

Just trying to learn the "politics" involved that future nurses like me would need to know.

These are the BEST posts...it serves as a very good learning experience.

Good questions all. I'm not sure how to answer though.

It might be better to be able to honestly say you quit you last job "because it wasn't a good fit for me" or something like that. Rather than have to fumble around the fact you were fired. However, if you want unemployment, or need to report them for unethical/illegal behavior having some documentation that you were fired might be of assistance.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

As far as i'm aware, in the state of virginia, only an RN can do IV pushes.

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Can someone else help me find the SOP for an LPN in the state of virginia? I want to have it in writing, this way if i come across this situation in the future, i have something i can show as proof.

This is the best I can do. They have a lot of links here, and I didn't have time to look at them all. http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/nursing_guidelines.htm

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
This is the best I can do. They have a lot of links here, and I didn't have time to look at them all. http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/nursing/nursing_guidelines.htm

Thanks for the info! :)

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