HUGE mistake

Specialties School

Published

*Admins, do not put this on facebook*

Full disclosure, I am lazy about counting meds. I count them when they come in, and since I'm the only one who passes meds I just assume that the count will be right.

Well yesterday I was sick and the sub found 2 bad counts. One kid was missing a tylenol and the other was missing two ritalin. I'm so upset. I don't know where the missing pills went. i did the in counts for both. All documentation looks good, no missing entries.

I'm in my probabtionary period and I know I will be in trouble. On top of being sick I'm am now anxious.

So, I guess I learned my lesson.

Always do the count.

Specializes in School health, pediatrics.
What about other staff access? We had an incident in one of our elementary schools a few years ago - after alot of detective work done by the nurse and upper district peeps it ended up being the principal taking the meds.

Woah! Yeah, any staff can access. The key to the clinic and all my cabinets is kept in an ulocked drawer at the front desk.

Also, this all is happening after I had a nice fidget spinner and a real ansy labs fidget cube get stolen.

0 Votes
Woah! Yeah, any staff can access. The key to the clinic and all my cabinets is kept in an ulocked drawer at the front desk.

Also, this all is happening after I had a nice fidget spinner and a real ansy labs fidget cube get stolen.

Honestly I wouldn't worry too much then - if everyone has access there is an issue admin needs to address. How can you be the only one to blame?

0 Votes
Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..
Honestly I wouldn't worry too much then - if everyone has access there is an issue admin needs to address. How can you be the only one to blame?

They will probably see it as she was supposed to be counting at every pass, which would've made it easier to narrow down who/when the error occurred. (I mean no disrespect OP)

0 Votes
Specializes in School Nurse.
This will sound bad but interesting that 2 ritalin go missing only after a sub?! Do you know the sub? Are the meds locked up?

This was my thought also. Only because a similar situation happened to me a couple of years ago. It had been a week and half since my last count, all my days were accounted for, and when I returned after a sub 2 pills were missing. Never figured out what happened, reported to my principal and lead nurse, created an incident report. Not sure any follow up was ever done. Provide your documentation and make a list of anyone who has a key to your office/medicine cabinet. You can't ensure security if multiple people have access to your office.

0 Votes

You do count?:blink:

0 Votes
Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.
You do count?:blink:

I don't, do you?:bag:

0 Votes
Specializes in School health, pediatrics.
They will probably see it as she was supposed to be counting at every pass, which would've made it easier to narrow down who/when the error occurred. (I mean no disrespect OP)

None taken! I messed up by not following the policy.

0 Votes
Specializes in School health, pediatrics.

Also,

I have been out of the clinic for vision screenings about 25 mins at a time for a few days.

0 Votes
Specializes in Med-surg, school nursing..

It is rough, so many people have access to our rooms it would be near impossible to track down where a missing pill went. Mine is never locked (even after hours) thought I think it should be.

I keep a key to the med cart on my person at all times and a spare is easily accessible to adults, or a tall kid for that matter.

0 Votes
Specializes in kids.

Sounds like a systems issue. I would meet with administration and brainstorm as to how things can be more secure. If they allow every one into your office, you are not totally in the doo. IF they recognize that it shouldn't be that way, they need to help devise a plan to limit access. Spare key locked up? I do that with mine. I lock my desk at night and the spare is in there. I take my keys home and always have them on me at school.

0 Votes
I don't, do you?:bag:

Nah. Not since the hospital.

0 Votes
Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

so i don't bother counting tylenol or other otc meds. i glance if the bottle's open and make sure it is what it's supposed to be. If it's a controlled med, i give it a count. But if it's not, again. I look at the pills and just ensure it's a bottle of all the same stuff. I had a run in with THAT parent that sent in a bottle of mixed GOD only knows and thought i wouldn't notice. ritalin are small and blue. Seriously -and you wonder why your kid has issues...

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment