Written up today for something stupid

Nurses General Nursing

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Hey all

I am angry enough this morning to spit fire. My manager wrote me up today because we had a patient on IVF@100 cc/hr who went into resp distress on my shift and i transferred him to icu. Here is the part she wrote me up for: The patient arrived on our unit a couple of days before i started working that week. IVF were already running when i received the pt. When I did the 24 hr chart check the fluids were not listed on those orders but on his admission orders ,which was before the 24 hrs. Why would she think that i would go past the 24 hr point looking for someone elses mistakes. The order that said the fluids were only supposed to run 500 ml was part of the admission order. I think she is trying to create a paper trail. Lately this woman has been very emotionally labile, so much so that at least a third of the dept has left for other jobs or other depts?

When u do a 24 hr check do you go days back to look for errors??

Specializes in CT stepdown, hospice, psych, ortho.

Sad to say but I only go back more than the required 24 hours if something is odd or if I have my doubts about the nurses that have done the previous chart checks

Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

A 24 hr chart check is just that - 24 hours. When the order was taken off, was the total amt left off? Two people are responsible - the one who took off the original order, and whoever did the 24 hr chart check after that.

Write your rebuttal, look for a new job. Best wishes.

Specializes in Trauma ICU, Peds ICU.

I rarely if ever go look back past my 12 hour chart check, unless I have a specific question I'm trying to answer.

The person she should've written up is whoever was responsible for the chart and patient when the first 500ml had infused.

Specializes in Med/surg, rural CCU.

I'm confused as to the order. If you're on paper charts- and you had a current order for IVF @ 100/hr, I'd be ****** if I got written up.

If however, there was not a current order written, and you just found 100/hr running, but no order for it that day- then you are responsible.

At the start of every shift.... I assess my patient, and double check anything currently running with patient. O2, IVF, NG, GT, etc...

Specializes in Pedi Rehab,Pediatrics, PICU.

Sorry this happened to you. I have caught a few errors when I've checked orders from up to 5 or more days from admission. I always try and go back as far as I can through the chart; I know this can be very difficult. I've found some errors that had occurred on day 1. I always try and find the actual order for any meds I must give for this reason. That being said, everyone who's had that pt since the order was written also should recieve the same disciplinary action as you; they also missed the order.

Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, Neuro, Ortho, Med/Surg.

I am sorry this happened to you. I agree with others...someone else is to blame, like the person that admitted the patient, or the nurse that did that first 24 hour chart check and missed it. I would appeal the write up. 24 hour chart check is that...24 hours. BUT I can be anal and slightly obsessive too, and I have gone back and looked at previous orders to double check stuff just for my knowledge.

I am curious why it was still on the MAR if for only 500 ml at 100 ml/hr, especially since it had been for more than 24 hours (obviously way past those 5 hours). And, we have a Kardex where I work where we write down orders and relevant info each day, such as activity, IVFs, O2, etc..., to keep info current. We write in pencil on it so it can be changed or updated...it is a shame someone did not write on admission day the IVFs at 100 ml/hr for 500 ml, and it would have maybe been caught sooner. Check off once complete, or at least, passed along in report to stop once 500 mls in.

D**n! Who has time anymore to check all the orders on everyone, during the 24 hour chart check?? I agree, it is prudent, and may prevent a lot of problems, but, heavens to Pete, if I did this, I wouldn't have a single minute leftover for patient care!

Sad to say but I only go back more than the required 24 hours if something is odd or if I have my doubts about the nurses that have done the previous chart checks

The response "sad to say" just about did me in. You should NOT have to go back more than 24 hours when doing your chart checks!

You are in NO way in the wrong, you have too much else to do, and reviewing the ENTIRE chart is NOT your responsibilty! That's WHY they call them 24 hour chart checks! Now they want nurses to be responsible for EVERYTHING that EVER happened to a PATIENT? Good luck to that. Your suppervisor is an idiot, and if you get penalized for this, my next call would be to a labor lawyer.

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

How is it the doctor never noticed there were fluids running EVERY day on his daily rounds?

How is it the doctor never noticed there were fluids running EVERY day on his daily rounds?

Agree, especially if he was fired up about fluid overload. ANd how is it pharmacy kept letting y'all get fluids out?

I might be wrong because I have only been an RN for 1 month... But we learned in nursing school that when you are about to give your meds, you compare the MAR to the doctors orders and make sure everything adds up. I know this takes a long time, but I have found meds that were supposed to be dc'd or written wrong.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

One neat trick is we had the nurse who hung the ivf or abx to initial the label on the bag. It's surprising how many omissions you can check. Also MAR checks were gone over manually and the pharmacy got a copy to clarify what should be one the MAR. After that the Nurses goes behind the pharmacy MAR to check that it is what should be given.

So now go to your policy manual and check to see how often orders are to be checks, and how long certain orders are valid. eg: IV site change, antibiotics (time when a reorder has to be written)

When the nurse initials the bottom of the last order as accurate or fixes it, then that SHOULD be where your responsibility begins.

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