our Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"and your next! All Rights Reserved. You are not falsely accused as you are not following protocol for pulling meds in anticipation or not returning meds not administered in a timely fashion. She recalled having been told eating at the nurses stations was against protocol. Closing arguments are expected to follow. Every specialty faces its own peculiar risks. And who wants to go back to community college for accounting yuck! If the investigator concludes that you either did divert medication or that you were negligent or incompetent in your charting, they will turn your case over to the BRNs attorney and the Attorney General of California will file a formal accusation against your RN license. 500North Hollywood, CA 91601 T. (818) 287-0576, 6841 Energy CourtSuite 120Sarasota, FL 34240T. Bottom line is do not talk about your case to them without a lawyer present. The jury's award came after the criminal charges were dropped seven months after being filed and a letter was sent by the State Attorney's office stat-ing she had been cleared of suspicion. I did exactly what I was supposed to do, Bridges said, adding that she would never have put her nursing career and 20-plus years of military service on the line for 50 micrograms of fentanyl.. Have honest, non-judgmental talks with family and friends, and seek counseling if a serious rift has occurred. He also notes the importance of following up internally on each diversion case and figuring out what went wrong, and adjusting procedures to address any lapses. If you did divert, only you can decide if the BRNs Diversion or Intervention is right for you. A single addicted health care worker who resorts to "drug diversion," the official term for stealing drugs, can endanger thousands. Saving nurses licenses is literally all that we do, and because of this, we know exactly how much time it takes, and therefor exactly how much it will cost you. Placing a narc in your pocket can be grounds for immediate dismissal. Has 13 years experience. She has no criminal record. In that area, I knew immediately, this patient could have a broken bonethey were in intense pain and requiring this medication, Leon says. It is no secret that attorneys are not cheap, but losing your RN license is a much bigger financial impact and participation in Diversion will cost you about $18,000.00 over the three or more years you are stuck in it. I was falsely accused of drug diversion. A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, registered nurse was recently sentenced to 5 years' probation for diverting fentanyl for her own use. I have personally seen this. DEA will look at these recordkeeping forms and determine if in fact everything has been filled out correctly, that they have been keeping good records, he says. 1-612-816-8773. allnurses Copyright allnurses.com LLC. You find out 60 days or six months later, or you dont see that pattern emerge by just using one or two data sets. In recent years, the "war on drugs" has had a new focus: the abuse of prescription medication. But there is no reason to panic. You could lose it, you could accidentally take it home, someone could see you pocket it and report it, etc, etc. Due to the stigma of discovering diverters on staff, many hospitals just arent preparing themselves to address the problem proactively, Cichon explains. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has also brought charges against California pharmacists for violating the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act ("CMEA") portion of the CSA citing diversion of a significant amount of controlled substances, failure to control the pharmacies' inventory of . you were incompetent or negligent in your charting. I know thats the standard practice, and thats what we strive to do, she told prosecutor Brooke Belanger, but as youve heard others testify, that doesnt always happen., Bridgess attorney, Jim Moir, criticized the hospital and state investigators for never reaching out to Bridges for explanations before arresting her in Maine and labeling her a fugitive from justice.. Please spend some time reading the Diversion section of the blog, for more information. Review the policy.Pharmacy has a protocol that THEY must follow. Posted in Registered Nurses THE PROBLEM OF FALSE AND MISLEADING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS Virtually every healthcare practitioner has seen a colleague fired or disciplined after being accused of diverting drugs or misusing their prescription pad. The goal is to identify these people as quickly as possible so they are no longer a risk to themselves or the patients or anyone they work with.. You are not following protocol. Your employer is a mandatory reporter, and regardless of how beloved you are, I can promise you that they are not going to put themselves on the line by not doing what they are required by law to do. Fast forward to your recent interview in a different health care system. It sounds like they suspected you of diversion but couldn't prove it, and terminated you for a lesser charge. avg rating 4.27 5,457,050 ratings published 1960. Often the reports they generate as to the errors are so complex and confusing that these errors and deceptions are not immediately noticeable. Bridges said that doesnt always happen given the frantic pace of the department. Case Study 1: A licensed nurse in Providence, R.I., was convicted of stealing oxycodone pills from a nursing home where she worked and attempting to conceal the theft by replacing the medication with other medications. Recently I applied and interviewed at an ER local to me here in Pa, the interview went fantastic and I was very excited. Please spend some time reading the Diversion section of the blog, for more information. Has 10 years experience. This is where things can turn ugly for the RN accused of diverting medication, but who didnt. You need to change yesterday. You need to change yesterday. allnurses is a Nursing Career & Support site for Nurses and Students. The plain and honest truth is that I did not have several narcotic wastes witnessed by another nurse, as there was no one immediately in the area to assist me on several occasions. Even orderlies have very stressful physical jobs, theyre lifting patients. While street drugs remain popular, an influx of new prescription pain medications in the late 1990s helped to fuel an opioid epidemic that killed 50,000 Americans in 2019 alone. Some medications can also trigger false positives for an illicit drug. I would definitely think about changing your practice. Toni Martin, 34, of . Drug and Alcohol Complaints Before the Missouri Board of Nursing Allegations involving drugs or alcohol are among the most common reasons nurses receive complaints from the Board of Nursing. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. 305.712.7177. Someone is black-balling you; it might be someone you least suspect. I hired a lawyer, and went through all the steps to have this . My breathalyzer and UDS were negative. Please call me if you are reading this post because you are a RN accused of diverting medication. The employees appreciated the cameras because it showed they werent diverting medication, they just made a mistake.. Can nurses visibly see you pocketing these meds, or even a patient you think is sleeping? However, those are just the numbers that were legally prescribedabout 75 percent of people who take opioids recreationally get them from a friend or family member. Puts patients at risk for healthcare-associated infections. This complaint / report initiates a disciplinary investigation. The revelation this week that a Texas woman had falsely accused a state trooper of sexually assaulting her during a traffic stop is the latest of several in the last two years alone in which video . The City of Trinidad has reached a $375,000 settlement in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Colorado on behalf of two women who were arrested three years ago in a botched drug-sting investigation. Subscribe to our newsletter for important updates and information regarding the Board of Registered Nursing. Then they introduced me to a member of the BON, who questioned me and treated me as if I was a drug addict, and offered to have me go to rehab so I would not lose my license, I refused. What got me on this path of prevention was observing the nurses as they would admit to what they did, he explains. This is a horrible catch 22 in which to find yourself because you are faced with only 2 outcomes as the BRN sees it: 1.) In 2016 I moved to another state and got an RN job at a Drs office. Lady Luck (Colorado Mountain, #3) by. No accusations from patients. Not just security personnel should be involved with the diversion aspect, he says. Kristen Ashley (Goodreads Author) (shelved 3 times as falsely-accused) avg rating 4.41 38,248 ratings published 2011. Protect yourself and do not give the employer or the future BRN investigation all they need to unequivocally prove diversion. God forbid it falls out in front of another nurse, or you take it home, or you lose it, you are going to be in a world of trouble. Mitchell points to algorithmic software that can identify a potential diverter long before their peers could. Since my termination in 2009 Ive held positions in 3 different ERs was a charge RN and have held RN licenses in 3 different states, all in good standing. There is no overarching agency or organization that records every instance of drug diversion in the United States. Any company involved with controlled substances, whether manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing, must be registered with the DEA and must adhere to certain rules and regulationswhich arent always easy to follow. Akeya Lee . Nicole Irmer | Posted in News on December 8, 2021. (NICK REID / Monitor staff) '"; Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg. Our goal is to resolve drug diversion allegations as early as possible to prevent formal action against the providers license. Controlled substance management is dictated by a number of laws, including the U.S. In this instance it helps to have a lawyer. Our members represent more than 60 professional nursing specialties. This study guide will help you focus your time on what's most important. Taking data such as medicine cabinet access, shift hours, time to waste, and departmental access allows software to identify anomalies, such as a nurse whose time to waste is often high, or a doctor who accesses patients files after they have been discharged. If you did not divert, you have no business in the Diversion program and this is NOT an effective or easy way to avoid the hassle or expense of the BRN or potential discipline. A traveling nurse accused of diverting drugs from Concord Hospital took the stand Wednesday on the penultimate day of her criminal trial, emphatically contesting the claims and suggesting she is the victim of one giant misunderstanding. If you were only warned, it sounds like your manager is trying to give you a gentle warning nudge to change your practice. Take the extra 5 minutes to pull med school per policy. Please spend some time reading the Diversion section of the blog, for more information. Fast forward to your recent interview in a different health care system. *For licenses in other states, please visit TAANA. If your employer believes that you were stealing medication especially if it was pharmaceutical meds, of course you can be fired for that - or any lawful reason. I am a physician who has been falsely accused of drug diversion, given mandatory fmla and inpatient addiction evaluation versus being fired. Allegations of diversion always stem from charting issues, always. If a facility loses its DEA registration, it cannot dispense controlled substances. I will tell you whether Diversion is the only way to save your career. Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant. It is a charge that should be taken very seriously. The DEA doesnt regulate the personnelthats up to the state and the facility. Chairperson of White Collar Defense & Government Investigations, Michigan Office1441 W. Long Lake Road, Suite 310Troy, MI 48098Phone:(248) 644-6326. You want to try to find them before that.. 3. Do not pocket or store anymore drugs in anticipation of needing them later. Should the false accusation take a turn and your employer believes the false statement, you could have a case for a defamation lawsuit. Hospital staff called the pattern unusual. There was a poster recently that lost their job and were reported to the BoN & authorities for mishandling controlled & prescription only substances by pulling & "holding" onto narcotics & Benadryl "just in case" in a pocket. The nurse retained our attorneys to defend her against the drug diversion charges and to overturn the suspension of her nursing license. allnurses, LLC, 175 Pearl St Ste 355, Brooklyn NY 11201 [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Markus Rashad Tull, 28, was arrested at a Morgan County Walmart on Saturday after he was accused of "skip scanning" items in the self- checkout lane. So I wasted the medication myself down the drain, and my job went with it. Department of Justice investigator Mark Myrdek (left) sits on the stand. This can result in several types of patient harm, including: The new roundabout next to Exit 17 might flummox some first-time users since its a design unique to Concord, but after four months of winter use New Hampshire sugarhouses bounced back in 2022 after a dismal prior year, producing more maple syrup than any season in the past seven years.The U Kerry Bridges (right) sits next to her attorney, Jim Moir, in Concords district court on Tuesday. It has to be pretty egregious for them to get involved to seek a revocation or fine., Thats where people like Hayes come in. If the diverter has a license from one of those state agencies, usually its required that they be reported, and then its up to the board how they proceed with the personal license of the individual, he says. She might have left them in the patients' med drawers. Its just a question of whether you know it or not.. Designed to give you the foundational knowledge and skills you need to become a more dynamic security professional, including EP specific threat and risk assessment, protective intelligence, advance planning and more. I know your aware moving forward you will pull pts meds when you are about to administer them; you will have to prioritize what needs to be done afterwards-if you are able to delegate, so be it, if not during staffing, learn to cluster care and try to be mindful to anticipate who needs meds, what pts may need what supplies if they are having frequent code browns, what can a confused pt have as activities to help prevent a fall, etc., so you won't feel the need to carry meds on your person when your pt doesn't need them; ask for assistance as far as strategies for seasoned coworkers as well. Agreedand the DEA won't care how busy your floor is. Disclaimer:This information is a sample of our past results. We are often contacted by nurses falsely accused of diverting narcotics, abusing narcotics, or stealing narcotics from patients. Please Note: The statements and information provided on this website are for informational purposes only. It takes an average of 4 hours to review your case. Very understaffed working place. Perhaps you failed to properly waste a med. So, at 11 p.m. on a Friday, Leon settled in for a night of observation at the Level I trauma center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Regardless of the reason, if you are a pharmacist who is accused of either of these violations, it can result in disciplinary action against your license by the California State Board of Pharmacy (CBP). , ASIS International Its no secret that opioid addiction has reached epidemic levels in the United States. The circumstances of your case may differ from the results provided. Good luck to you. you didnt. Bridges testified that she was never once questioned by hospital officials about the discrepancies or given the chance to submit to a drug test. If a nurse or anesthesiologist or physician is speaking with you and telling you they are having these issues, then you should say something, Leon explains. Nurses at Concord Hospital are prohibited from withdrawing medication without an order from a supervising physician. To ensure safe quality nursing care, it is critical to immediately address nurses suspected of diverting drugs or using drugs. The administrator. The doctor went to properly treat the patient and Leon called the nurse manager and the local sheriffs detective in to begin an official investigation into the nurses actions. PUBLISHED: November 17, 2012 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 11, 2018 at 12:00 a.m. A state licensing board and the Attorney General"s Office have accused a vocational nurse of diverting . False accusations and gossip can destroy lives, even if the accused is innocent. I agree that she needs to stop doing what she got flagged for. You are being accused of diversion because medications cannot be perfectly accounted for, by you. If youre both ordering and putting away drugs, thats a bad thing because you can order six bottles when you only need five and keep one for yourself, Hayes notes. Concord Monitor. Posted in Registered Nurses, THE PROBLEM OF FALSE AND MISLEADING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. It would be right before the procedure that I pull it, and I would waste the unused portion right after the procedure is done. And one should not rely on a union rep to come to the rescue. If you are a registered nurse and have been recently accused of diverting medication, there are only 2 scenarios: 1.) . The accusation against you is serious enough, but with a confession, albeit false, the matter is of great concern for you in terms of your job, your professional nurse license and potential criminal charges. Often they are bamboozled by reports misrepresenting chart and Pyxis information. 248.644.6324, 5250 Lankershim Blvd.Ste. Today a woman from the finnish customs called me saying its narcotics, she asked me if it was me who ordered the narcotics saying that that way i wont get into much trouble and it will be easier but if i deny ordering them i would have to go to the police station for a court hearing so they can get my statement and decide what to do. By using the site you agree to our Privacy, Cookies, and Terms of Service Policies. Our members represent more than 60 professional nursing specialties. allnurses, LLC, 175 Pearl St Ste 355, Brooklyn NY 11201 Even if I have a pt. We frequently defend nurses and doctors accused of diverting drugs. Create well-written care plans that meets your patient's health goals. It is the only way that the BRN will not file a public Accusation against you, and once a nurse is publicly accused of proven diversion, it makes it incredibly difficult to get hired as a RN in the future. HCMC has cameras set up in the medication room to monitor controlled substances, and Leon watched as the nurse began gathering prescribed medication for a patient in the emergency department. Maybe in can be shown by other witness testimony that he had the drugs.The only way a warrantcan be out for your arrest is ifa Complaint was filed. We give them CEUs of classes on charting. Did your manager write you up for this.. or simply make you aware that you cannot walk around with a narc in your pocket? You were cleared of everything, yet it's all coming back and keeping you from getting hired. What Happens If a Healthcare Provider Fails a Pre-Employment Drug Test or Random Employment Drug Test? These are: hire a defense attorney, There isn't any medication missing. A Georgia man who was busted for shoplifting at a Walmart found himself in even more trouble when officers found 37 pounds of marijuana in his trunk, according to the Morgan Citizen. Bridges was accused of misconduct in 2014 by Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, but it was never raised Wednesday in court. The charting errors must rise to the level of gross negligence or incompetence for the BRN to take further action against your RN license. var tag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkBridgesTestimony-CM-051916,ph02'); Depending on the diverters role, state accreditation boardssuch as those that license nurses and pharmacistswould be notified and could potentially conduct their own investigations. I think the combination is almost deadly.. Pharmacies. Phillip Jensen, 61, was arrested Monday on eight counts of drug diversion, eight counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of tampering with consumer products, and three . It is literally worth millions of dollars. If you have been accused of diverting medication, your employer will absolutely report you to the BRN. Im sorry this is so long but I wanted you to have the full story. I am on a floor where there aren't any CNAs at times, nor a resource RN and sometimes no unit clerk and every minute counts. However, they typically do not carry guns, wear uniforms or flash their badge. Problem solved. Wholesalers can even stop the flow of medication to pharmacies if they believe diversion is occurringwhich can be disastrous to a trauma center, Hayes notes. They told me to cut it out, and I did. chris camozzi musician. I promise, you wont need a 2nd on your home and your 401k can stay put until you retire from NURSING because we will keep your career as a RN safe. NOTHING else. She offered to take a drug test but the hospital declined, according to an order last year by the New Hampshire nursing board. Drug diversion is a multifactorial and multidisciplinary issue, particularly involving pharmacy, nursing and medical staff. A few weeks later I received a letter from the BON stating basically that they did not find any reason to discipline me and that my license was in good standing! Happens to me all the time. It takes 14 hours to negotiate an Accusation or 20.5 for a Hearing. Prosecutors will continue cross-examine Bridges today. There are many reasons why a person may get falsely accused of a crime. Drug diversion by nurses can begin with a nurse misusing drugs as a pain killer followed by repeated, follow-up use as drug tolerance increases and ultimately, as an addicted user. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 52 people in the United States die every day from overdosing on prescription painkillers. Our mission is to Empower, Unite, and Advance every nurse, student, and educator. Pharmacists can make mistakes that mean life or death. Listen to what they have to say and then please hang up. I am a registered nurse accused of narcotic diversion even after dividing a negative drug screen. But dont turn to the impairment program first do this instead. Unfortunately, experts acknowledge that most diverters dont get caught until they have been diverting for so long they start to get sloppy. Leon observed the nurse dispense a syringe of hydromorphone from the medicine cabinet, and, while a fellow nurse was signing off on the withdrawal, she placed the syringe in her pocket and pulled out an identical syringe, which Leon later learned contained saline. Virtually every healthcare practitioner has seen a colleague fired or disciplined after being accused of diverting drugs or misusing their prescription pad. If a 300-bed hospital is finding one person a month, and Hospital B has the same amount of staff and beds and is finding nothing, NADDI has been providing training for hospitals to develop antidiversion policies. The drugs are sorted and stocked in the pharmacy, where they will remain until they are brought up to the patient floors and stored in various types of locking medicine cabinets. By using the site you agree to our Privacy, Cookies, and Terms of Service Policies. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been snubbed from a royal portrait that was taken at a reception they were "uninvited" from. Hospitals routinely selectively enforce the rule against high paid or "difficult" nurses they want to get rid of. The Board accepted the ALJs proposed decision and dismissed the entire drug diversion complaint. Hayes details the path of drugs through a hospital: a pharmacy technician orders the medication from a wholesaler, who will deliver them to the hospital pharmacy. The patient was still screaming in pain and the doctor was frantically asking the nurse, Are you sure you got the right dosage?
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