termination

[susan5864]

i got written up at work and am currently suspended for a few days. when i went in to work the other night to see a fellow employee i was told by my peers that i was fired. i told them i was not told this. when i got disciplinary action there were 3 people in the closed door room. me the don and adon and i told no-one. my work wants me to come in. they called @7am today. my question is do i resign before i am officially terminated. i know this will affect unemployment compensation if i do this. but i also know getting fired doesn’t look good on a resume. either way i know i wont get a favorable reference even though i have been a reliable well liked employee with only a history with one other (verbal) warning. please help i don’t know what to do?

[DebanamRN, MSN, RN]

I would imagine it was - the K+ was packaged incorrectly?? If it was on that end, wouldn't it be the pharmaceutical company? I only am aware of IV Potassium that is mixed by the pharmacy to prevent any errors by mixing on your own - and I'm in the ER. What was the scenario? I'm just trying to wrap my brain around the circumstances.

This happened many years ago on a floor. It's why the pharmacy now mixes the IV K. It was happening quite a bit due to the packaging looking so much like another non-lethal drug. After so many sentinel events, K was removed from drug carts and returned to the pharmacy. I'm in the ER and all our K solutions are premixed. However, years ago, nurses mixed everything themselves, including chemo drugs, which were mixed in a bucket in the sink!

Think the Dennis Quaid twins heparin fiasco. Too many drugs packaged too look too much alike, and nurses who get comfortable (which I can easily see happening, we get into our comfort zone and sometimes relax to much). Everyone makes mistakes. But we need to know what we did so we can fix the causes.

[rph3664]

I would imagine it was - the K+ was packaged incorrectly?? If it was on that end, wouldn't it be the pharmaceutical company? I only am aware of IV Potassium that is mixed by the pharmacy to prevent any errors by mixing on your own - and I'm in the ER. What was the scenario? I'm just trying to wrap my brain around the circumstances.

I've heard of KCL and Lasix being next to each other in decades past in a dispensing cabinet, which resulted in many patient deaths, and THAT'S WHY straight potassium is mixed in the pharmacy. Nurses may occasionally mix it during cardiac surgery but they have provisions to make it safer.

Just a few days ago in the cafeteria, one of our IV techs grabbed a packet of what she thought was a certain condiment because the package was the right color, but after she tore it open, she looked at the wrapper and it wasn't what she thought it was. I said, "That's why you look at the label and not the package color!" and she :chuckle and agreed with me. One of our techs brought this up a while back in a work-out meeting with some nurses, and they nearly tossed her out of the conference room.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

And if it is true, what business is it of anyone else's if it doesn't affect their work? Even if both are married to women, that's a personal problem in this context.

There is a husband and wife who are both nurses at my hospital (different departments) and one of the least-kept secrets at this facility is that the husband is constantly cheating on her......with men. BUT IT DOES NOT AFFECT HIS WORK!

True, true. Again, I would not quit a job unless I saw there was no choice if I was basically liked and got along with people for the most part. If things are horrible, and I had to protect my license, sure, but for just a rumor? Nope! We've had rumors that people died, but they walk in the next day...what a resurrection!

[xxgreenfirexx]

Well, they aren't allowed by law to tell people you've been fired, are they? I have a friend that was fired and she was able to find another job.

[Agency41]

I recently was asked to either resign or be terminated for undermedicating an elderly patient with prn ativan. The dose was 1 mg and I gave her the other half of a .5 (so 0.25mg of po ativan). Also, my old boss (this is on a psych. floor) kept adding, changing and revising forms and added a treatment care plan form. I admitted a patient --illiterate, non-english speaking and apparently in no need of being a patient on the floor. She had refused to sign any of the paperwork and was scared to be on the unit. I worked mother's day and a following Tuesday, was scheduled to work on Friday--showed up to work only to find her assistant standing at the time clock. My old boss produced her petition with her filling it out in blue ink in english & her treatment plan and told me the petition was unacceptable and the treatment plan was incomplete. When I told her that the patient was inappropriately admitted and the treatment plan was not appropriate for her either she dismissed that. Also, she had me drug tested (-) and tried to get me on that. It is a very small unit and people jump as high as they can for her. I ended up resigning and am now awaiting a position as an RN in a jail. Hospital politics--too much.

[susan5864]

suspended for not hanging fluids? There must be more to the story... have you had many offenses and this was the straw that broke the camel's back??? Just asking...

No other offenses other than a verbal for being late. But they did hire a bunch of new younger LPN's so now they no longer need me as they did just 2 weeks ago when they begged me to work OT.. or 2 months ago when they talked me in to staying after I put in my 2 wks notice. My problem was I never went to the back office and ratted on people ... I just minded my own business. I figured the DON had enough stuff on her plate. But I just had a feeling someone didnt like me but then I was told by other employees that they treat everyone with disrespect. thanks for taking time to read my woes. Sue

[susan5864]

I recently was asked to either resign or be terminated for undermedicating an elderly patient with prn ativan. The dose was 1 mg and I gave her the other half of a .5 (so 0.25mg of po ativan). Also, my old boss (this is on a psych. floor) kept adding, changing and revising forms and added a treatment care plan form. I admitted a patient --illiterate, non-english speaking and apparently in no need of being a patient on the floor. She had refused to sign any of the paperwork and was scared to be on the unit. I worked mother's day and a following Tuesday, was scheduled to work on Friday--showed up to work only to find her assistant standing at the time clock. My old boss produced her petition with her filling it out in blue ink in english & her treatment plan and told me the petition was unacceptable and the treatment plan was incomplete. When I told her that the patient was inappropriately admitted and the treatment plan was not appropriate for her either she dismissed that. Also, she had me drug tested (-) and tried to get me on that. It is a very small unit and people jump as high as they can for her. I ended up resigning and am now awaiting a position as an RN in a jail. Hospital politics--too much.[/quote

It hard to read minds and figure out what these bosses want. Mine would freak if you got an order for a psych med for a pt that really needed it and they would d/c meds that people were doing perfectly fine on.(then we would have to deal with the behavioral issues) Good Luck in your future endeavors.. I heard correctional nursing is very rewarding!

[susan5864]

Well, they aren't allowed by law to tell people you've been fired, are they? I have a friend that was fired and she was able to find another job.

I didnt think they were but I havent had any lawyer to back me up. Thanks for the encouraging words:loveya:

[MassED, BSN, RN]

sounds like something else is going on with this situation.... just my thoughts...

[MassED, BSN, RN]

I recently was asked to either resign or be terminated for undermedicating an elderly patient with prn ativan. The dose was 1 mg and I gave her the other half of a .5 (so 0.25mg of po ativan). Also, my old boss (this is on a psych. floor) kept adding, changing and revising forms and added a treatment care plan form. I admitted a patient --illiterate, non-english speaking and apparently in no need of being a patient on the floor. She had refused to sign any of the paperwork and was scared to be on the unit. I worked mother's day and a following Tuesday, was scheduled to work on Friday--showed up to work only to find her assistant standing at the time clock. My old boss produced her petition with her filling it out in blue ink in english & her treatment plan and told me the petition was unacceptable and the treatment plan was incomplete. When I told her that the patient was inappropriately admitted and the treatment plan was not appropriate for her either she dismissed that. Also, she had me drug tested (-) and tried to get me on that. It is a very small unit and people jump as high as they can for her. I ended up resigning and am now awaiting a position as an RN in a jail. Hospital politics--too much.[/quote

It hard to read minds and figure out what these bosses want. Mine would freak if you got an order for a psych med for a pt that really needed it and they would d/c meds that people were doing perfectly fine on.(then we would have to deal with the behavioral issues) Good Luck in your future endeavors.. I heard correctional nursing is very rewarding!

"she had me drug tested (-) and tried to get me on that"

if it was negative, what do you mean by "and she tried to get me on that." Did your manager think you were ripping off the patient and taking the extra Ativan, then??? Or were there other nurses who had issues with you?? There has to be more to the story - there are always two sides.

[susan5864]

I hate being nosy, I'm just curious what caused the OP to be suspended.

I didnt hang an IV bag schedule on MAR for 11-7 shift. I think the res. was sent to the hospital a few days later so I think they are going to blame me for that. Either way I shouldnt have signed the suspension or I should have at least made comments in the area where it said employee comments or I should have gone to look at the MAR to see exactly what it read. We usually dont even have IVs this was my first offense it should have been a verbal. This discipline stuff is all new to me and Im learning the hard way. But either way it proves they just wanted to get rid of me. I have a meeting today to determine my fate. Wish me luck. thanks sue:clown:

[susan5864]

sounds like something else is going on with this situation.... just my thoughts...

Thanks you are probably right!