Worried losing her license

Updated:   Published

Specializes in ICU.

This is what happened. 

I have a friend who is employed by a Travel Nursing Agency and got terminated from the assignment facility. 

She was called for investigation by the Pharmacy team because of drug diversion after a month of the incident. She's working the night shift, exhausted, and nauseated at that time because of workload and 3rd night shift in a row, so she pulled out 1 blister pack (10 tabs) of Zofran from Omnicel without thinking what would happen. Though she didn't use and ingested it, she just drank ginger ale instead and felt mild relief. She brought the unused and non-tampered Zofran back home and totally forgot about it. 

The pharmacy team investigated her after a month because they saw her on CCTV. They said they are required to report the incident to the BON. She confessed to everything, told them what happened, didn't deny the incident, and what led her to do that without thinking. The pharmacy team even praised her for her honesty. The nurse Manager supported her and recommended keeping her in the unit. She returned to this Pharmacy team the unused, non-tampered blister pack of Zofran.  

They obtained urine drug tests and alcohol tests on that same day and of course, all were negative because my friend hasn't done drugs or drunk alcohol in her entire life. 

Right now, she doesn't have a job and her employer is supportive and told her that she needs to complete a clinical remediation. After, they will search and help her to relocate to find a new assignment, though they are already working on finding a new facility for her. We asked if her previous facility reported her to BON, but they said they didn't have any idea and would notify my friend if they got any updates. 

I'm really worried about her because she's not eating well and crying all the time because of that insident.

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I'm a little confused.  Did she pull it because she was going to use it, and decided not to?  

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Specializes in ICU.

Yes, she pulled it, but decided not to and just decided to drink ginger ale. She just went home unintentionally brought the Zofran, maybe because of exhaustion. She didn't ingest it and totally forgot about it until the Pharmacy team investigated her after a month of the incident. 

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I'm not an expert on this, but I wouldn't think stealing a non-addictive and non-controlled substance would be cause for disciplinary action from the BON. That's good that she is supported by many people and praised for her honesty...not that there was even much to lie about if they have CCTV footage. She can talk to a nursing license defense lawyer for advice if she's that worried. Maybe see a therapist who has experience with this.

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Specializes in ICU.

Does she need to do a self-report to the BON?

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Specializes in I've worked most every part of Psychiatry;.

I don't think she should worry about it? First "3rd night shift" and not used to it?  I did a double shift and the next day the manager confronts me leaving Apple sauce in the cart insisting " there's Ativan in that". Might have been I was exhausted and needed to drive 49 miles to get home after that then show up the next day for a double back?  Write a point of contact it's not stealing if you bring it back?  You just forgot and exhausted!!  That was my first med error of my career!  My main bully was the one that brought attention to it,!  I later got him removed from the unit!!

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Specializes in I've worked most every part of Psychiatry;.

Maybe ask your union if you need to?  Get something in writing that you asked!  I don't trust HR,   the head of the AMA is a cool Guy and is on LinkedIn last I knew!  When you renew your license there are check offs at least in NY. I don't remember seeing anything like that!   

   You forgot you had it, you were very fatigued and you brought it back!  I know some nurses that wouldn't bring it back!!

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Specializes in ICU.

Just now she finished talking with her Agency and they confirmed that her previous facility reported her to BON. So it's already under investigation though my friend hasn't received any notification from BON. What they recommended is to do also self-report to BON to kinda speed up the process. Not sure if she needs to talk with the lawyer first before self-reporting to BON.

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

She should def contact a lawyer first, before talking to BON, just my opinion.   While she didn't steal a controlled medication she did steal a prescription medication by self dispensing it, which is against the law, as it is not within the scope of practice to dispense prescription medication to other people as a registered nurse, let alone stealing it for herself!  

I wouldn't take this lightly, while the punishment and consequences may not be as severe as if she diverted narcotics, there likely will be license consequences. The BON will not care that she was nauseated or that it was a night shift, they will care that she helped her self to a prescription medication without a prescription and stole medication from a hospital.  Any RN with even a small ounce of common sense realizes that their are cameras in the med room and that it's both morally wrong and illegal to steal medications, especially one that is not over the counter. 

Annie

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Specializes in Occupational Health.
Fatima Marei said:

Just now she finished talking with her Agency and they confirmed that her previous facility reported her to BON. So it's already under investigation though my friend hasn't received any notification from BON. What they recommended is to do also self-report to BON to kinda speed up the process. Not sure if she needs to talk with the lawyer first before self-reporting to BON.

Why? It's not a controlled substance. She made a mistake, admitted it, and rectified the problem. IMHO, the BON will eventually get around to investigating and essentially determine it's not worth something worth pursuing. 

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

I agree with AnnieOaklyRN that it's serious from a BON point of view.

A urine drug test conducted a month later isn't necessarily helpful information, assuming they even tested for Zofran. Confessing after being confronted with a video doesn't warrant praise for honesty.

The BON will likely focus primarily on theft. If this progresses to the BON, suggest your friend take responsibility and refrain from using phrases like "unintentional," "totally forgot," and "without thinking."

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Unfortunately I agree with the two above me who advise taking this seriously.  This recommendation does not come from a place of moral judgment—I think most of us can understand that this was done under stressful personal circumstances and that it wasn't the worst error in judgment ever seen. By far. 

Just the same, the BON is likely to be interested in the aspects already mentioned; the fact that the intention was to self-treat using prescription medication without a prescription, taken from the employer's stock. There are some mitigating factors such as the fact that yes this was a regular legend med and not a controlled substance, and the fact that the medication was available to be returned when asked for (though that doesn't mean it can/will be placed back into the employer's stock; which I highly doubt that it will be and is likely still a loss to them). 

I agree with Beth that responding to this with the seriousness that it warrants and avoiding the appearance of minimizing and excusing the actions might be very important part of encouraging leniency. 

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