Suspended from work for an investigation,can i resign and take another, will i look guilty

caliotter3 · Jul 7, 2017

If the new job will accept you in spite of the situation, then I would move on to the new job and hope that all can be favorably resolved. Since the old job is not responding to your inquiries, it is safe to say you no longer have a job there, but the letter of resignation would cover you as far as leaving.

SuziQ63 · Jul 7, 2017

I didn't tell them I was suspended. Just that I want to relocate. They offered position and orientation starts in 2 weeks buy I haven't said yes yet since I'm stressed over this mess. Will they find out or just not worry about it.

SuziQ63 · Jul 7, 2017

I'm not guilty, just the fact I messed up if that makes sense

SuziQ63 · Jul 7, 2017

Should I have told the new job the truth? I was afraid it would hurt me

caliotter3 · Jul 7, 2017

They are going to find out if this gets out of hand, so perhaps you better bring it to their attention now.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jul 7, 2017

Telling the truth is always the best course of action. And I'm afraid you've painted a very bad picture for the next employer already.

Sour Lemon · Jul 7, 2017

OK so to keep it short but it isn't, I've been suspended from work due to a med error. Basically I was going to waste meds with my coworker who vouched for me but someone found the meds and turned them in, so I got suspended that day took a drug test the following and now it's been a whole week with no response from current job. I got a new job offer esp since at this point I'm probably fired and because I can't not work, so what should I do? I even called them and left two messages wondering if I can either come back to work and no response. Should I write and send a letter of resignation now so that I can work else where or does that make me look guilty? I'm so stressed mad and sad about everything. Never been in this mess before. Any advice?

I would keep it to myself for now, although it's far from the worst thing you could have done. I've found vials of morphine/dilaudid on counters before ...not good, but it does happen occasionally. If there was no missing medication and you got suspended, I would guess that you've had some sort of problem in the past at that same job. They probably want you to quit.

JKL33 · Jul 7, 2017

If there was no missing medication and you got suspended, I would guess that you've had some sort of problem in the past at that same job. They probably want you to quit.

Obviously I don't know, but I'm 100% willing to believe it if OP says that's not true. Sounds to me like more of this recent trend of calling everything under the sun "diversion". For instance, is any one going to check that vial to see if its contents are really the labeled product and not saline? I bet not - even though that would be a logical part of the investigation if diversion is truly suspected. Either way, it won't be information the OP is privy to. These processes seem like they contain a good hefty dose of scare tactics and outright bullying, based on reading people's accounts here and workplace observations. Sure, they want her to resign...it'll scare everybody else. But it's not an ethical process. Cases like this deserve a rabid, pro-bono lawyer. I know it's not likely, but one can dream.

JKL33 · Jul 7, 2017

Meanwhile, let this serve as a cautionary tale. Never leave the medication-dispenser area until waste is completed. Call the house administrator, manager, charge nurse, whoever...call them to come and waste if everyone else is too busy. Stand there until someone shows up. No one ever died from pain. Anyone reading this right now who is just too nice or too efficient or too much of a "good worker" to follow the above rule is merely biding time until they find themselves in the exact same situation as the OP.

kp2016 · Jul 7, 2017

Given that they aren't communicating with you at all I would say the future doesn't look good for you at your current job. I would seriously consider accepting the new job offer and resigning before anything else is said or done.

I would not share this information with your new hospital. You had already applied before this happened so you have already addressed the question of why you are leaving your current job so there is no need to add new information also if they intend to fire you or not is merely speculation not a fact.

I would worry about the Board of Nursing if and when that becomes an issue and frankly I would personally hope the BON has better things to look into than some mishandled narcotics. Surely any reasonable person would know that if you had been planning to divert the drugs you would not have left them where someone else would pick them up. I have picked up other nurses narcotics more times then I can count and I never reported them. I quietly returned the meds and cautioned them to be more careful. I hope you enjoy your new job, sounds like the current one has a nasty culture.

LovingLife123 · Jul 7, 2017

Why would you waste in the Pyxis but not actually the meds? That's the confusing part for me. Is the cactus not right beside the Pyxis?

One of my biggest pet peeves is finding narcotics laying around. I don't care if they are in a cabinet. I hate the feeling of finding them and then being responsible for others pulled narcotics. It's made worse by the fact that basically doesn't documentation was falsified on narcotics.

Learn from this and move on. I know of lots of nurses that just leave Narcs in cabinets, not falsifying waste, but letting them out, and I know just as many that it drives them nuts. Just keep that in mind for the future.