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

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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?

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.

I wouldn't say it's a nasty culture. I think the issue more than finding the narcotics is documentation was falsified and that is also reportable to the BON. And it's documentation on narcotics.

I don't report people, but I don't waste their meds either. I dispose of them. And to me it's on them as it shows they pulled one amount, gave a second amount, and where did the rest go?

We all get busy. We all get interrupted and pulled away. But I can't be responsible for someone else's meds. And sometimes, it's days worth of meds in a cabinet and I'm not going to decipher who pulled what, when.

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The most important thing is for you to secure employment. You can begin the process with the new position and see how the other situation plays out. To be honest, most of the time even when found to be innocent employers will have you on their radar from that point forward. Just waiting for you to make a mistake in the future. If I were you, I wouldn't quit, but I would pursue the new job and let the other situation play out as it will. I do think if you resigned, it would make you look guilty.

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Hi, LovingLife -

[Forgive me if I've misunderstood your situation]

If you are working in a situation where remainders of pulled narcotics are being put into any space that others can access (including your co-workers, including any locked cabinets), you are AT RISK. Unless I'm misunderstanding I would encourage you to talk to your employer about this practice and work to get it changed. As soon as there is any kind of aberrancy with already-pulled narcotics, everyone who could have accessed them will be suspect.

As you note, this shouldn't be about the problem of "doing someone else's work", but rather about steering 100% clear of situations where you could be swept into any investigation of what happened with any particular dose of narcotics.

I wouldn't say it's a nasty culture. I think the issue more than finding the narcotics is documentation was falsified and that is also reportable to the BON. And it's documentation on narcotics.

So, here's how this happens to non-using, non-diverting nurses:

Your patient is in severe pain. Everyone on the unit is run ragged with one task or another. You go and pull dilaudid 2mg/1ml for an order to give the pt 1 mg (let's just say that is your only option). No one is near-by to do the waste right then. You do "something" with the remainder (put it near your computer, in your pocket, into some cabinet for storing such things, in the patient's drawer in the room....whatever....) fully intending to waste it as soon as you encounter someone to witness the waste. You get busy and forget. Someone else comes across it. Voila.

We can call that "falsification of documentation", but given the scenario that's a pretty disingenuous and frankly dishonest categorization, since "falsification" implies the intent to falsify.

It is also being called "diversion" a lot these days; personally I consider that characterization pure evil for its intent to malign the person who 1) tried to serve the patient quickly and 2) has no control over contributing circumstances, such as staffing.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
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?

Wait what cactus?

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I would take the new job and NOT tell them what is currently going on.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

This is what's going through my mind: I take the new job without telling my new employer about the situation. My previous employer reports me to the BON and they start an investigation. The investigation includes a call to my new employer. Now they know about the situation and it wasn't me who told them.

I would take the risk of being above board. I would call HR at the new employer, tell them I accept the position but apprise them of the situation with the old employer. Tell them you have been trying to contact your employer to get the situation resolved and can't get them to respond. Give the new employer the opportunity to rescind the job offer if that's what they need to do. Hopefully, they are impressed by your integrity and hire you anyway.

I know many others would disagree with me. I just think that withholding that kind of information could have huge backfire potential. I've always erred on the side of honesty, and it's usually paid off. Good luck. And it wouldn't hurt to consult an attorney.

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2 cents here:

-usually, people do background checks BEFORE extending a job offer.

-resignation > termination. Why give them anymore time to terminate you? By resigning now, any action your current employers take against you post-resignation would look like retaliation.

-When asked, smart former employers would just report when you worked for them. Anymore could set them up for a slander/libel lawsuit.

-If you have not already done so, shadow the new place, and then, if you like what you see, accept the new position.

Though, with your current job, it has just been a week, right? Then again, the longer you wait, the longer you risk termination.

Nevertheless, do you feel your managers have your back and they are just doing this investigation per protocol because an ***-kisser reported you instead of talking to you first?

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Good Lord. What ever happened to just telling someone to they need to waste meds properly and calling it a day

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What is a cactus?

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Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
Good Lord. What ever happened to just telling someone to they need to waste meds properly and calling it a day

Exactly.

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This is what's going through my mind: I take the new job without telling my new employer about the situation. My previous employer reports me to the BON and they start an investigation. The investigation includes a call to my new employer. Now they know about the situation and it wasn't me who told them.

I would take the risk of being above board. I would call HR at the new employer, tell them I accept the position but apprise them of the situation with the old employer. Tell them you have been trying to contact your employer to get the situation resolved and can't get them to respond. Give the new employer the opportunity to rescind the job offer if that's what they need to do. Hopefully, they are impressed by your integrity and hire you anyway.

I know many others would disagree with me. I just think that withholding that kind of information could have huge backfire potential. I've always erred on the side of honesty, and it's usually paid off. Good luck. And it wouldn't hurt to consult an attorney.

How would the BON know where she is currently working?

What is a cactus in this situation?

OP, maybe you should just go see your old boss in person? I don't know what you should do, really, but I wish you well.

Where were the meds? How did anyone else know that you hadn't wasted them and that you were the one who left them wherever you left them?

I know you must realize the seriousness of all of this, so please never, ever do this ever again.

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Specializes in heart failure and prison.

We are all human and make mistakes. Since you haven't heard from them they may have terminated you. When it comes to narcotics they are strick. I would just send them a letter of resignation before they officially terminate you. Good luck

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