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:

Hello to all the nurses in the whole world...My commit to the topic is that you have decide to the right decisions as to tell the truth to the medical team as well as to the MD..

truly yours,

juanicsblues

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Hi to all the nurses.com.....Peace be with you borther and sister...

truly yours,

juanicsblues

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yes i do!!!! i quit...couldn't work for someone who did not back me on my judgement. i never did this to hurt the patient...only to advise the md. never heard anything from the patient so far. by the way....he did not have this plant prescribed by a md...per the md. thanks so much for your support!

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a lot being written about the nurse's role in regards to trust. what about the patient's role in regards to trust? seems this part of the nurse-patient relationship has been ignored here.

it was not the op that violated the trust in the nurse-patient relationship, it was the patient:

first by not being honest in the first place if he is using marijuana (whether or not it was for a medical reason).

second by placing the op in a situation she should not ignore (as another so obviously stated he didn't have the plant in plain view).

what the op did was report a situation to the doctor that could be potentially harmful to the patient. also an issue has been made about the op not discussing the situation with the patient, bear in mind in home care, you are there one-on-one. in the ops situation, it may or may not have been appropriate. it may have been safer for her at the time not to confront the patient.

as to the myob remarks, let me put it this way: if you saw someone drowning would you turn and walk away because it wasn't your business?

we are responsible for the safety of our patients. when we observe or encounter a situation where the safety of our patients is at issue it becomes our business.

as to marijuana use for medical reasons, yes it can be beneficial, but what is wrong with being honest about it?

thank you so much for your support. i felt i was being a patient advocate...not a cop!

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I happen to agree with the OP.

I think I would have reported it to my supervisor, documented that I had reported it, and left it in his/her hands....

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thank you so much for your support!

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and your point is. the last i looked this was still a free country. it might not be much longer with the reps in power, but for now its still free. you should have never violated that pts right to privacy with in his own home.

you should not only be written up, you should be fired. who set you up to be judge and jury over this pts life. you are there to help not to violate their rights.

whoa!!! fired?? yes it's a free country (even though i'm a canadian nurse) but what about the american's "war on drugs?" what happened to that? why should she be fired for making an obsevation? why should she be written up for making an observation and reporting it? doubtfully, this client can sue. what judge would support that?? what's he going to say to the judge? "she violated my privacy because she saw my pot plant and told my doctor?" :crying2: whah!!!

yeah right. this client launches a law suit and everybody runs scared?? the point is, she made an observation about the pot and reported it to the md. regardless of whether pot helps this person, it's still illegal. i've worked in child welfare and growing pot plants are a reportable observation. what law states that american's have the right to grow pot?? last i checked americans have the right to bear arms. but pot??

come on teeitupmom!!! you don't like drug seekers. why on earth would you support that?? what's that all about??

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whoa!!! fired?? yes it's a free country (even though i'm a canadian nurse) but what about the american's "war on drugs?" what happened to that? why should she be fired for making an obsevation? why should she be written up for making an observation and reporting it? doubtfully, this client can sue. what judge would support that?? what's he going to say to the judge? "she violated my privacy because she saw my pot plant and told my doctor?" :crying2: whah!!!

yeah right. this client launches a law suit and everybody runs scared?? the point is, she made an observation about the pot and reported it to the md. regardless of whether pot helps this person, it's still illegal. i've worked in child welfare and growing pot plants are a reportable observation. what law states that american's have the right to grow pot?? last i checked americans have the right to bear arms. but pot??

come on teeitupmom!!! you don't like drug seekers. why on earth would you support that?? what's that all about??

thank you for being so supportive of me. i agree with you 110%!;)

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It's very obvious that you want to hear from people who agree with you, most people do. However, you asked in your post for opinions not just will you all back me up.You have gotten alot of opinions both supporting your actions and also telling you ways that you could have handled the situation differently. What I am wondering is are you walking away from this experience saying, "Those people are all wrong and I'm right" or did you by chance find something in all this that you can learn from. Something that makes you say, "Even though I am not going to change all my thoughts about this, there are somethings I could have done differently and I have gained some knowledge from this that I didn't have before"? That should be one of our goals as nurses to constantly learn better ways of handling situations that we have not been prepared for. If you open your mind and stop feeling that you have been wronged, you might see a purpose to this experience in your life. If not then it was for nothing.

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It's very obvious that you want to hear from people who agree with you, most people do. However, you asked in your post for opinions not just will you all back me up.You have gotten alot of opinions both supporting your actions and also telling you ways that you could have handled the situation differently. What I am wondering is are you walking away from this experience saying, "Those people are all wrong and I'm right" or did you by chance find something in all this that you can learn from. Something that makes you say, "Even though I am not going to change all my thoughts about this, there are somethings I could have done differently and I have gained some knowledge from this that I didn't have before"? That should be one of our goals as nurses to constantly learn better ways of handling situations that we have not been prepared for. If you open your mind and stop feeling that you have been wronged, you might see a purpose to this experience in your life. If not then it was for nothing.

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I did ask for opinions and appreciate all the response. You are putting words into my mouth by saying, "Those people are all wrong and I'm right." I NEVER said that. I do appreciate the people that see it from my side though because I felt in my heart that I had done the right thing. I totally agree with the lady that said her brother used pot...he had cancer and that was the only thing that subsided his symptoms. As a nurse I am constantly trying to learn new things and am not one of those people that think I know everything. Your opinion is YOUR opinion. My opinion is MINE. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.
last i checked americans have the right to bear arms. but pot??

i think the 'right to bear arms' is a lot more dangerous than pot!

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I put no words in your mouth. I asked you a question. I did not say that you said it. I asked , "Are you walking away from this experience saying...... Please reread what is written. NO one is trying to put words in your mouth, no one is saying that you said sometyhing that you didn't say. Again please re-read what I wrote and correct the misconception that I or anyone else is doing anything to you. You have left alot of unanswered questions on this subject and opinions have been given without knowing some vital things like was it really a pot plant, Do you know what one looks like for sure, or did you ask him what it was, did he tell you, did you see anything around to even suggest that he was smoking ....Pipes, papers, ashtrays, lighters. And if so why didn't you say this in your post, or at least sometime when these questions were asked early on. You never said or indicated or even hinted at whether you spoke with him about it. Did you ask your nursing supervisor how to handle it, or did you just go to the physician on your own? So many questions, so many assumptions. Many many times in my long history of working, I have seen situations where things are presumed, and where if taken a little more time and understanding, things could have been worked out much better for all involved. I don't see where your actions did anything to help the situation that you saw as detrimental. I do see that with some time and consideration, some discussion with the patient and also some with your nurse manager, you could have established a stronger role as someone there to help. That is what I was hoping you had been able to learn.

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