Upset!!! write up and patients marijuana

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i recently was written up for going to see a patient who is on dialysis, has hypertension, and is schizophrenic. he had a marijuana plant growing in his home and i reported this to my clinical manager along with the md. the md confronted the patient about it and the patient denied it. my clinical manager wrote me up because she said that i should not have told the doctor because now he has threatened to sue. my rationale was that it could affect some of his 20 medicines that he was on. of course he denied it. do you think this was right???? i'm upset.

thanks!:nurse:

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Sneering and smart-arsing aside (and ignoring the allcops remark), what if this person was busted for this plant without this nurse reporting it (yes, one single plant)? And she's asked "did you know about this?". And NOTHING'S going to happen to her if she knows about an illegal substance in a person's house, yet says nothing?

No point in flaming me, i'm just throwing an alternative scenario out there.:rolleyes:

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I had a patient calling me every foul name in the book for removing the Vicodin that someone had brought in for her (I know she didn't have it on her admission). The issue for me was that we were already administering narcotic analgesics, what if this person decided to "top off" the narcotics we were giving her with her own and there were adverse consequences as a result. Once it became known to me, I felt I had a duty to protect the patient from her possible actions (there were definately "issues" with this patient, not just the fact she had a prescription narcotic at the bedside).

OH, the reason I knew the patient had the Vicodin, it was relayed to me during report. Staff had been aware of this but did not remove the Vicodin from the bedside because they were afraid they would be accused of stealing the patient's medication and that might put their license in danger. :eek: :eek:

We can be held accountable if we know a dangerous situation exists and do nothing. I think the OP did what she should have done: reported this to the patient's MD and her clinical manger. If the patient were to suffer adverse consequences as a result to taking an illegal substance and it were to become know that the nurse providing care was aware of the possibility of this use and did nothing, yes, she could face consequences for her inaction.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Good reasons not to do home health IMHO. I did home health as an LPN while I was in school. My career ended when I went to the home of a paraplegic injured in a gang shoot-out and found his younger brother playing with guns on the couch. Yep - I left right away (this was in the early 90's before cell phones), called my supervisor and quit over the phone. I did call the police too. I always place my safety above everything else.

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I would have acted like I had never seen it. It isn't my business.

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Good reasons not to do home health IMHO. I did home health as an LPN while I was in school. My career ended when I went to the home of a paraplegic injured in a gang shoot-out and found his younger brother playing with guns on the couch. Yep - I left right away (this was in the early 90's before cell phones), called my supervisor and quit over the phone. I did call the police too. I always place my safety above everything else.

That's quite different than a marijuana plant on a windowseal.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Well....................I would have ignored it. I might have made an aside to the patient that Marijuana could change the effect of some of the medications and encouraged him to discuss it with his physician. I do not know if he uses it just because there is a plant. I would have reported it to my supervisor, but i would also require them to deal with it up the chain of command and not put it on me.

I have learned that you really do need to pick your battles.

If there were guns or actual drugs (not a plant) sitting around then I would inform the patient and the agency that i am unable to go to that dwelling.

I think it can be a thin line and everyone has to make these judgement calls for themselves.

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I truly understand what both sides are saying. I have been into more than one pt's home who were using marijuana for medicinal reasons- both had end stage cancer. They always put it away when I came and, even though I knew what they were doing and they knew that I knew, we never talked about it. I never reported it since I felt that they had a right to their privacy. However, the original poster describes something a bit different. The patient is not trying to conceal it in any way and it is illegal. If there happened to be a search of the house, arrest, etc. then it puts the nurse in a bad position if she/he 1. Knew about it and didn't do anything 2. If the nurse happens to be present if some type of legal action happened. I don't know if I would have called the doc, but I certainly would have gone to my supervisor and I would have documented all in the pt's note. As far as violating pt privacy, the patient signs a consent form on admission giving permission to share info. with the doc. I might not have done exactly what the op did, but she did what she felt she had to do and I don't think she did anything wrong. There is a lack of respect from the patient toward the visiting staff in my opinion.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Well....................I would have ignored it. I might have made an aside to the patient that Marijuana could change the effect of some of the medications and encouraged him to discuss it with his physician. I do not know if he uses it just because there is a plant. I would have reported it to my supervisor, but i would also require them to deal with it up the chain of command and not put it on me.

I have learned that you really do need to pick your battles.

If there were guns or actual drugs (not a plant) sitting around then I would inform the patient and the agency that i am unable to go to that dwelling.

I think it can be a thin line and everyone has to make these judgement calls for themselves.

Well said.

I agree that this should have been reported to the clinical supervisor; I know I would have done so. But in the real world, a single marijuana plant is hardly the stuff of which crime dramas are made....and the act of allowing a nurse to visit one's home does NOT mean giving up all one's rights. (Yes, I KNOW that technically no one has a 'right' to grow wacky tobacky in their home.....but again, we're not supposed to be the police.)

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Sneering and smart-arsing aside (and ignoring the allcops remark), what if this person was busted for this plant without this nurse reporting it (yes, one single plant)? And she's asked "did you know about this?". And NOTHING'S going to happen to her if she knows about an illegal substance in a person's house, yet says nothing?

No point in flaming me, i'm just throwing an alternative scenario out there.:rolleyes:

Amen!

That's exactly my point. By not reporting it you are covering for possibly illigal activity.That's what I ment by "hot seat"

IMHO, liberalism, and political correctness are mental disorders. If those responding to the post could go back to the OP post and look at what she was upset about. It's not about the pothead.It's about her agency turning back on her. If the tables were turned this agency would've blamed her for not reporting it. What's with this obssession of not being judgemntal, especially when the OP's personal record is being trashed by the very ppl who ought to thank her for saving thier orifice in the long run. Was it not judgemental on the part of the agency?Some braught in an arguement about quantifying one vs multiple weed plants. All right then, we shouldn't be (allcops.com), but are we supposed to beall botanists and experts on preferences of the potheads? I personnelly have worked in chemical dependecy (AIDS, multi-drug resistent TB and all other "goodies" you could think of).I also worked on psych and detox wards. So please...I don't need any lectures on morality of drug addicts etc. I was one of their favorite nurses, and many have asked for me (assignment) by name. I got to know many of these folks, and never really judged them. But almost invariably they've told me that Marijuana was their gateway into much more serious drug addiction. Many whished they'd nver came acrosss "only one plant" There was another point made on this thread. I, for one, don't live in the People's Republic of California.So what may fly in the drug-qrazed Hollywood, may not neccessarilly be acceptable evn in overly-liberalized States like mine: NY.So I think the OP is not practicing in Cali.

Take it easy everybody.

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Thanks so much! I did go to my supervisor first and she told me to whatever I felt like I needed.....then was ugly to me. Thanks!

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Agree 100%

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I know I am a guest. But also am I not a patient advocate? I was concerned for HIS safety. I wasn't doing it to tell on him. I was doing it because I thought it could interfere with his health.

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