Stealing drugs!! what's your opinion?????

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I was just talking to a woman I work with about this today. But it seems like we are always hearing about nurses that are stealing narcotics from hospitals or other facilities. It has happened twice this year at a hospital where I work which is a pretty good size hospital with a level 3 trauma center. Anyhow my question is with as controlled and counted as these drugs stay, how on earth can anyone possibly think they "might" get away with this?!?!? I mean, I understand some people get really desperate but that is just asking to have your nursing license taken away. What's your thought on the subject????

Honest opinion here and may offend some. If it were my choice, I think it has to be an individualized thing.To me a nurse who is taking his/her OWN Vicodin for chronic intractable pain (ie knee arthritis) while on the job (and is NOT impaired while doing so) is a completely different animal than someone who steals a patient's IV Demerol for the high. It bothers me when a nurse is looked at suspiciously because she uses an occasional RX for Vicodin. I have an older friend near retirement who needs to do this occasionally or she would not be able to work. She does not take this med indiscriminately.

I hope and pray my BNE is doing its job. It scares me to think that a callous addict may be working next to me, my patients may be undermedicated, and the addict may be scheming to place blame on me and other innocent coworkers should they get caught. While I am not totally unsympathetic to addicts, I really don't want to deal with them in MY critical care unit. My job is tough enough. I must agree with Tom that, If it were MY choice, the safest environment for me, my patients, AND the recovering addict too, is to cautiously allow SOME recovering addict nurses to practice in time, but only IF they are capable and willing to follow strict protocols. Preferably AWAY from narcotic administering areas...altho TPAPN lets them into narc areas I wish they would NOT.

Theft of narcotics should be dealt with through the legal system, IMO. We cannot excuse that, IMHO, and we further enable addicts when we let this theft slide 'because they are sick'. As someone who deals with chronic pain myself, I would NEVER allow myself to use a patient's 'leftover' narc for myself...'even' a Tylenol #3 or Darvocette refused. It goes back in the Pyxis or down the toilet, witnessed. Rationalizing it may be OK to take a wasted med oneself is a fall down a slippery slope. It's stealing and its wrong, unethical, unprofessional, the whole shebang. There really is no sugar coating it.

I'm the child of alcoholics and prescription drug abusers. I was victimized by my parents' addictions and had to make up my mind which side of this issue I would be on when I was young...in order to stay off the slippery slope myself.

Some of us here have strong feelings about this issue I know, but I feel I am reading some rationalizing going on in this thread... that concerns me.

Best wishes to those here who are in recovery, I hope you succeed. I cannot support more than once chance in the profession of nursing, however.

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:) Many many years ago we use to give out IM Talwin to elderly patients for pain. At nursing homes many years ago they didn't keep track of the pain meds. Anyway, I kept noticing that we were missing bottles of IM Talwin. I kept reporting to the director of nurses several times about the missing Talwin. She told me not to worry about it and that she was making her own investigation into the matter. Imagine my surprise when I came in to work one day and found that the DON was no longer working at this facility. It turned out that it was the DON who was stealing all the IM Talwin!!!!! :angryfire

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I hear ya Blackcat. I worked an agency shift once and my supervisor asked me for the narc keys. I got busy and later found the narc keys laying on the countertop. With a whole slab of narcs missing...and the nursing supervisor swearing she gave the keys back to me. This was a real eye opener ; I no longer naievely trust even my supervisors.

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Okay, so what about another comment that RN30Years brought up...what about the nurse that is NOT an addict--takes her hubby's Vicodin for a headache and tests postive on, say, a pre employment screen..because..if that nurse cannot produce a valid, personal script for that opiate--she WILL be reported to the Board--it's the law. I'm glad RN30years posed that scenario, because it DOES happen.

What about the nurse that smokes an occasional joint, on her off time, never during working hours or immediately prior to working hours, and the same thing happens.

What about the nurse that has a glass of red wine with a late evening meal and for whatever reason has alcohol in her system several hours later, when tested. (the Boards do not look at "legal levels", they only look at the absence or presence...) Or the nurse that has a "late night out" and still has the odor of alchohol to her breath in the AM--and is reported...

There are so many what ifs and my entire question is "what if.." a nurse is charged with unsafe patient care following one of these scenario's where she absolutely, in no way, put a patient in danger, was not actively drunk/high while working and is NOT an addict or alcoholic. Because, these nurses, if reported, go through the same treatment as a nurse reported because she snorted cocaine on her cigarette break at work....

Let's face it--we are nurses--we know what drugs do--we also know we aren't going to run to the ER and doctor for every ache or pain, hubby has an old script for Vicodin, I have a back ache, can't get outta bed, so, I'm gonna try one of those before I drag myself in to the ER for treatment----doesn't make me an addict, doesn't make me an unsafe nurse and doesn't make me an idiot, but in the eyes of the law, it's completely illegal----and let's be realistic--most of us have done it....

just curious as to opinions on this topic....again, not the nurse that is addicted, but the nurse that doesn't imagine her action will result in loss of license and possibly criminal charges..and it DOES happen. And not everybody that takes someone elses script is an addict, as this person will most certainly be labeled by the Board...

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

But this thred is about those who steal drugs or misappropiate them or however you want to label it

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But this thred is about those who steal drugs or misappropiate them or however you want to label it

i have to agree with you there teeitup. this thread is about who steals drugs, not why. and lemonhead, i too, would report anyone that smells of alcohol in the morning, definitely.

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I would also like to hear how the administration handles a potential nurse bandit when narcotics are missing.....How is it handled when there is no proof. Such as, a nurse didn't count after a shift, and narcotics became missing during a 16 hour period. We can assume who had taken the meds, but can not prove the fact......

Comments?

i am curious i am new to this site and i like the info i read but i guess my concerns are that in reading this about narc abuse and nursing it is a hugh issue and goes on alot, but can a nurse be convicted just on hearsay and charting that they gave something they maybe did or didnt. someone said a pt was questioned about what he was given is this appropiate or is it uncomfortable for everyone if i were that pt i do not know that i would want to be in that position especially knowing that the nurse would be coming back to care for me, not to scare me but maybe the pt did get medicated and did not remember i have had pts tell me they were not medicated but then called back in and told me they did think about it and they were medicated just forgot, or the pt was confused, sundowners is this enough to convict someone, or does that person have to be caught, i was reading thru the archives and lost the page i was looking at concerning investigations into nurses who abuse how does that work and what proof do they need, i know nurses who have prescription drugs for chronic pain and other staff do accuse them of things i really do not think they are doing but if asked they would come up positive, and the investigation however it works would be damaging to them, what proof is needed what do you look for when some nurses do use legally with prescriptions how do you know, and what about investigations someone stated it may take years hows that work, whats right here, anyway i am new from iowa and find this site very interesting any answers would be helpful, thanks jd
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EDITED DUE TO SURGERY AND INABILITY TO SPELL, TYPE WILL GUESS I PICKED THE WRONG FORUM

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my heart goes out to the terminally ill patients, and those unable to speak up for themselves. Or those that are in pain because they are not receiving their medications.

A nurse that steals narcotics cannot justify her actions?

Think of your Grandmother lying in bed with breast cancer that has mets. throughout her liver. Would you want to see her suffering? Of course not!!!

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Not to be unkind, jodidax, but your post made my eyes bleed. You will probably get more repies if you use a little punctuation. I gave up reading your post purely because it was too hard to follow.

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Let's face it--we are nurses--we know what drugs do--we also know we aren't going to run to the ER and doctor for every ache or pain, hubby has an old script for Vicodin, I have a back ache, can't get outta bed, so, I'm gonna try one of those before I drag myself in to the ER for treatment----doesn't make me an addict, doesn't make me an unsafe nurse and doesn't make me an idiot, but in the eyes of the law, it's completely illegal----and let's be realistic--most of us have done it....

This is rationalizing, something addicts tend to do. Its a slippery slope to start rationalizing about when it is OK to take somebody else's narcotic, IMO.

Not 'every nurse' would take a Vicodin belonging to someone else. And if a nurse does this, she /he is a fool to think it is without risk. It is a risk they are free to take, but the drug testing system is clear about the rules.

I've been hurting and tempted to take my hubby's a Vicodin, but my common sense takes over...not worth the risk. Someone who thinks it IS worth the risk is probably not being honest with themselves. Why not go to your doctor and get a valid script? What's stopping them? If they aren't comfortable asking for a script for Vicodin, why not something non narcotic to control pain??

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but trying to present a POV. Being a healthcare professional means we have to take responsibility and act like a professional. Employers are making a logical conclusion to think someone who took her hubby's Vicodin might also take a patient's Vicodin, IMO.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Not to be unkind, jodidax, but your post made my eyes bleed. You will probably get more repies if you use a little punctuation. I gave up reading your post purely because it was too hard to follow.

I hate to say it, as I'm the worlds worst at grammar and spelling. But I quit reading it too.:chair:

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