Yep, it happened to me. Another nurse forged my signature on a narcotic sheet! I'm pretty certain I know who it was and am not real pleased with the nurse at the moment (obviously!). It wasn't just my name either.
I feel betrayed, hurt, angry, taken advantage of, etc.
I don't think I'll be able to talk to this nurse in a civilized manner anymore.
The one good thing is we saw this at the beginning of our shift and brought it to the DON's attention immediately.
oh, sorry, i didn't know that it was multiple diversions. i thought it was a single diversion, which you would never lose your license over. multiple times, and multiple occurences then possibly, yes. however, of the cases i reviewed with the bon, the RN has always been offered rehabilitation as an option to save his or her license. but never, ever, will a nurse lose his or her license over a single diversion. but then again, if there has been one, then there has probably been others too! :/
Wow 30 pills of the same narcotic disappeared?! Seems like the DON would have drug tested all of the nurses when that happened.
But I'm really glad you noticed it before she was able to use you as a scapegoat and pin her problem on you. Hopefully she'll be fired and I'd be suprised if she isn't reported to the board of nursing. That type of forgery is a felony/frowned upon by the DEA.
Hopefully, she will be. There was an incident when I started at this facility where the exact same med came up missing (a whole 30 pill card) but they could never prove who had taken the meds. It seems pretty obvious now, though.
?? we use a pyxis and everything is computerized with your fingerprint and empoyee number so there is no way anyone could sign my name to a narcotic card, thank goodness..
oh, sorry, i didn't know that it was multiple diversions. i thought it was a single diversion, which you would never lose your license over. multiple times, and multiple occurences then possibly, yes. however, of the cases i reviewed with the bon, the RN has always been offered rehabilitation as an option to save his or her license. but never, ever, will a nurse lose his or her license over a single diversion. but then again, if there has been one, then there has probably been others too! :/
I hate to tell you but yes ma'am, you can and you will lose your license over a single diversion. If you are caught on that single diversion and turned into the BON, you certainly could lose your license. the BON is revoking more and more licenses in leu of offering the peer program.
I'm about to hit my 5 yr sober birthday. I'm also highly active with our recovering nurses.
I agree that the nurse should be fired. she has NO business practicing. she's a danger to her patients not to mention herself. being an addict isnt an excuse. it may be the reason but it is never an excuse.
I hope she gets treatment. and i agree...if there is one diversion that was found...there are tons of ones nobody ever knew about.
?? we use a pyxis and everything is computerized with your fingerprint and empoyee number so there is no way anyone could sign my name to a narcotic card, thank goodness..
Still be careful, if someone wants drugs, they'll get around the safeguards.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
you are not going to lose your license for a missing narcotic.
One cannot say for sure if the OP or anyone can lose their license, but who needs the aggreviation?? If I didn't do it, I should not have to worry about someone forging my name to ANYTHING. I don't want the inquisition, the stares or the suspicion. This can break down the walls of trust that are already high amongest us nurses.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
are you serious? if you read the OP, it was not just one narc. it was a sheet of 30.
her signature was forged by someone who was taking narcotics and if someone had accused kermitlady of stealing them, she may have lost her job, her integrity with her coworkers, faced criminal charges and possibly been reported to the BON and be required to complete nurse rehab before practicing again, nevermind have difficulty finding a job and having to prove herself because she now has an infraction on her license and drug charges.... because someone else forged her signature.
what the forger did was wrong. i'm all about rehab. but that's where this nurse needs to be. not near patients.
Not only should she not be near patients, but nowhere near other nurses. It is obvious that her habit is harmful to her collagues as well. Is it right that a person with a habit beat the crap out of little old ladies, prostitute their children or even kill innocent people because we have to have empathy and say 'tisk tisk...they need our help"?? Once it gets to the point where the quality of life, career or safety of others are involved, I say to get rid of this person. Getting rid of them can mean send them to rehab and give them a chance, for sure, but no one should have to worry about the safety of patients and their career choices because of such selfishness.
I totally agree that this is a wrong situation - and I've argued extensively that nurses who divert and expose their colleagues to risk are beyond an acceptable risk.
There is an issue of compassion towards a nurse who is addicted to medications - it's not a case of simply choosing to become addicted. But that wasn't the OPs issue. She has every right to be annoyed in the extreme and to expect the BoN to take this into account when they evaluate their response.
On the more general discussion side - with 'diverting' being such a big issue (at least it seems to be Stateside) - I would suspect the BoN has firm guidelines on how nurse managers need to handle this sort of situation that recognises the issues in their widest sense.
If not - there should be. That's what you pay the BoN for.
inland18mempire
193 Posts
oh, sorry, i didn't know that it was multiple diversions. i thought it was a single diversion, which you would never lose your license over. multiple times, and multiple occurences then possibly, yes. however, of the cases i reviewed with the bon, the RN has always been offered rehabilitation as an option to save his or her license. but never, ever, will a nurse lose his or her license over a single diversion. but then again, if there has been one, then there has probably been others too! :/