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.
Specializes in Critical Care, ER and Administration.
Here is an administrative view. It does not matter if the drugs were controlled or not. They did not belong to her. She had no order to remove them. She intended to self-medicate without a physician's order. It's good that she did not use them, but she did remove them from the facility. That is theft and could have been reported to the police. I think that the facility was probably required to report to the board. I would highly recommend self reporting. In all dealings with the board, be honest. They respect that. Don't try to pass the blame; take responsibility for your actions and have an action plan ready. These actions will help a lot. Good luck to you.
Here is an administrative view. It does not matter if the drugs were controlled or not. They did not belong to her. She had no order to remove them. She intended to self-medicate without a physician's order. It's good that she did not use them, but she did remove them from the facility. That is theft and could have been reported to the police. I think that the facility was probably required to report to the board. I would highly recommend self reporting. In all dealings with the board, be honest. They respect that. Don't try to pass the blame; take responsibility for your actions and have an action plan ready. These actions will help a lot. Good luck to you.
Yes, she was honest all the way during the BON investigation and didn't try to pass the blame.
BON offered a Letter of Concern/Warning Letter as the resolution to her case, a non-disciplinary action that will not be published on the Board's website.
Based on the investigation conducted, the Board has chosen not to take any formal disciplinary action.
Stop travel nursing. Prior to the Pandemic it was based on legitimate need based on legitimate staffing levels. Post pandemic everyone understands ( who wants to) that any hospital that has to pay you to come help refuses to be a place normal employees will show up at. That's a sign you are ask for it- and the financial lure is not even there anymore.
As a 32 Year Critical care BSN RN, and a former paramedic in years gone by, let me point somethings out.
First of all, had the nurse gone to her charge nurse, and explained that she was nauseous, the charge would likely have been able to magically come up with a Zofran, Phenergan, or some other non-narcotic, nonscheduled drug. Likewise, had she just going down to pharmacy and explaining the problem should have offered something to help.
Trust me, pharmacy keeps such things handy, and even if a Zofran disappeared from the pyxis, pharmacy is not likely to launch a major investigation into such a case for an isolated anti-emetic. The original poster did admit to taking a blister pack, and one wonders about that. An isolated tab of Zofran is not an item of import, the hospital probably dispenses dozens if not many more of them every day, if not by the week. However, I think we have all known other nurses who took out medications, and due to a number of factors, stuck the medication in their pocket and did not administer it. and maybe even left the premesis. As long as the sealed vial was returned and the seal was intact, it was a "No-harm, No-foul " sort of thing.
Did she steal the medication? Technically not. . . she took medication out of the pyxis and forgot to return it. IT is of importance that the medication was NOT a narcotic. She did return the med later and it was returned intact. She had never been accused of any impropriety with narcotics and certainly never tested positive for any illicit compound use.
LASTLY: Something she commented on in a follow up message is of import. She noted, "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!!" Notice the term, "My main bully". . . The biggest problem in nursing AGAIN raises its petit head, in an attempt to weaponize aspects of the job to get someone fired, or worse.
A nursing publication points out that the average person stays in nursing for only about seven (7) years. This has long been my biggest criticism of the industry. Cliques and petit immature personalities prevail. (I have NEVER worked in a hospital-based job in 32 years where this was not the case to some degree.)
Anyone wonder why the original reporter had worked so many shifts? Maybe not enough staff at night? Maybe because no one with any common sense wants to work with such backbiting and backstabbing coworkers. Nursing has got to fix this problem.
JohnHood, BSN
74 Posts
Here is an administrative view. It does not matter if the drugs were controlled or not. They did not belong to her. She had no order to remove them. She intended to self-medicate without a physician's order. It's good that she did not use them, but she did remove them from the facility. That is theft and could have been reported to the police. I think that the facility was probably required to report to the board. I would highly recommend self reporting. In all dealings with the board, be honest. They respect that. Don't try to pass the blame; take responsibility for your actions and have an action plan ready. These actions will help a lot. Good luck to you.