Tapping this quick little post out to announce that I'm heading out soon to catch me some much needed Theme Park Therapy. Yup, bitches, I'm finally coming "home" to IOA and the Studios this slightly overcast yet hopefully storm-free morning to kick off my vaca a tad early. It's been way too long.
But wait! Isn't tonight a work night? The true vacation doesn't start 'till Sunday, right?
Well, that's one of the main reasons I really need this therapy. My mind is blown and my faith shattered, yet again, at the ridiculousness of the mess that is my workplace.
I was confronted by the sorrowful-faced cabal of Jake, Jessica and Charmaine (oddly minus Susan) on Wednesday afternoon, diverted to the CEO's office after clocking in for the fire drill inservice. As I sat in Jake's (formerly Helen's) office like a perp under a hot lamp in a smoky interrogation room, I was initially without a fucking clue as to what I could be in here for. This was well coordinated, though, and they were unusually solemn and grave.
Charmy starts the ball rolling, pulling "evidence" out of a folder in hand and placing it in front of me. It was a PRN record, a page of MOR and a controlled med count sheet. She points to the PRN record, specifically a line which was clearly in my handwriting and asks "Do you know anything about who wrote this line?" or something to that effect. I think it was worded in a rhetorical fashion like that since she damn well should know what my handwriting looks like and she must have known it was me. I, without any iota of guilt or regret clearly state that it was me. They all seemed to let out a sigh of pity, staring at me as if I had just confessed to a murder.
Let's take you back to the night before...
It was a normal shift like any other. Not much really deviates from the norm on the night shift. Very easy to fall into a routine. Very satisfying. But, when one resident came to the med room requesting a PRN of ibuprofen, I checked in his MORs and in fact there was a new order for ibuprofen 800 mg written in by what looked like a new staff member named Shadell. It didn't have the doctor name, the date of the order or her initials in the left margin indicating her as the person who wrote the order in the MOR. That was minor, in my opinion, Bridget or I could added that in since that info was on the script. But more disturbing, the resident says they had already received a dose of this earlier in the evening but that wasn't corroborated by the MOR, it didn't have Shadell's initials in the body of the MOR entry under that evening's date for that med. She hadn't written the time she'd given the resident the pill on the PRN record either. Luckily, the 3-11 shift leader had reported the exact time it was given in the shift log so with that I knew when he'd last taken it to avoid over medication.
But, that was kinda moot 'cause then when I went to get the ibuprofen, it was no where to be found in all the 4 different storage places itcould have should have been for this resident. But wait, that's not all...the ibuprofen in question, when it had been found, in the Walgreeen's bag it was packed in at the pharmacy, sitting on the med storage room table, was accompanied by another vial of pills, Oxycodone. The shift notes and the resident attest that one of those were also given to him which was corroborated by Shadell's initials under the correct date for the Oxycodone. But again, nothing in the PRN recording the time of this dosing, that was noted in the shift report only. And, Oxycodone, as I think even people not in the field likely know, is definitely a controlled med. It's one of the ones I get especially anxious about since it is so rampantly misused across the country these days. This is one I am very careful to log and document immediately and accurately.
So, based on this, I wanted to rectify the total fuck up on the part of a new employee who was apparently left alone to make tough decisions regarding the handling of an incoming med and the correct process needed to enter it into inventory and make it safely available for the resident to get benefit from.
I asked Windy to be my second set of eyes in this process. I fixed the lack of a time stamp for the Oxy dose given by Shadell by making an entry in the PRN record noting the time stated in the shift log. I counted the pills on hand with Windy sitting across from me as a witness. I made up a blank controlled med count sheet, correctly put in the script info on the top, and initiated the record with the full bottle amount then indicated the time the amount had been reduced by one when the med was taken by the resident. I left the staff and resident signature fields blank. I didn't touch the MOR or the PRN record regarding the ibuprofen since I couldn't match up what the resident and the shift notes said about it. I needed more evidence, like I had with the Oxy since Shadell's initials are correctly indicated on the MOR for that med. I verbally told the morning med observer about this incident and the actions I took to square it away. This was also reflected in the entry I wrote in my shift log.
Here's the thing though...it seems this whole undertaking on my part wasn't seen as the action that should have been taken by a senior staff who knew policy and rectified another staff person's error(s) to make lemonade out of these lemons, but they had issue with the fact that:
a.) I saw it as my role to do these corrective measures without consultation of management.
b.) I failed to initiate a med discrepancy and med error form to be submitted to management and
c.) I wrote in and SIGNED the PRN record, not with my initials but Shadell's.
You know, now that I'm typing and reading it...okay, I see their point. It looks like a cover-up attempt or even outright fraud.
I tried to explain my innocent and proactive train of thought about the actions I took to the cabal but their gazes were outright condemning and I was getting more and more freaked out which was not helping me any since it added a strain of acrimony and incredulity to my almost shouting, overly-defensive voice. Apparently, at least one thing I barked at my prosecutors struck a nerve in Jake and this seemingly mild-mannered, laid-back dude, showed his true Alpha dog colors and snapped at me saying "I don't appreciate you being condescending to Charmaine. You have a history of having that attitude towards Charmaine and this behavior will stop as of now!"
This shut my ass up REAL QUICK! My face must have turned a lovely shade of hot pink. I was being scolded like a rude teenager by the CEO of the company. Shit was gettin' real, son!
I was asked to step out and wait in the executive conference room adjoining the office. I looked up at the clock and watched the second hand move. Click. Click. Click. I imagined that the clock had an imaginary pendulum that was slowly swinging back and forth, back and forth. And like the Pit and the Pendulum, it had very sharp edge, getting closer and closer to me. Shwoop. Shwoop. Shwoop!
Then Pam, whose office sits across the hall from where I was sitting was summoned into the office. Holy shit. Am I really getting fired?
They called me back in and I sat in my perp chair, under the imaginary hot light. They weren't smiling. Charmaine said that since they felt that my actions were in violation of policy, mostly based on the false signing of someone else's name, I would be suspended for three days beginning immediately. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, I still thought I'd done mostly the right thing and though I admit I overstepped my bounds in one or two areas, I'd thought it wouldn't have been of such concern, but I was fully aware I'd dodged a bullet. These people have the total say-so in regards to my status of being employed there or not and I've seen way too many cases over the years where people were in fact terminated for apparently even less egregiousness incidents.
So I'm now on early vacation, albeit without PTO, so I should see a pitiful paycheck next period. I report in for my Saturday night shift with Eric and then, after clocking out at 7:15 am Sunday morning, I'll be on my previously planned and approved week-long real vacation.
But I need some theme park action and, of course, a highly over-priced beer or two so I'm off to Universal to plunk down about the same amount of money on an annual pass as I've just been docked in pay. Not exactly ideal, but thankfully I can and will ride this out, not only financially but physically in the form of my arms flailing high above my head and ass firmly squeezed into a soaring seat of The Amazing Hulk.
But wait! Isn't tonight a work night? The true vacation doesn't start 'till Sunday, right?
Well, that's one of the main reasons I really need this therapy. My mind is blown and my faith shattered, yet again, at the ridiculousness of the mess that is my workplace.
I was confronted by the sorrowful-faced cabal of Jake, Jessica and Charmaine (oddly minus Susan) on Wednesday afternoon, diverted to the CEO's office after clocking in for the fire drill inservice. As I sat in Jake's (formerly Helen's) office like a perp under a hot lamp in a smoky interrogation room, I was initially without a fucking clue as to what I could be in here for. This was well coordinated, though, and they were unusually solemn and grave.
Charmy starts the ball rolling, pulling "evidence" out of a folder in hand and placing it in front of me. It was a PRN record, a page of MOR and a controlled med count sheet. She points to the PRN record, specifically a line which was clearly in my handwriting and asks "Do you know anything about who wrote this line?" or something to that effect. I think it was worded in a rhetorical fashion like that since she damn well should know what my handwriting looks like and she must have known it was me. I, without any iota of guilt or regret clearly state that it was me. They all seemed to let out a sigh of pity, staring at me as if I had just confessed to a murder.
Let's take you back to the night before...
It was a normal shift like any other. Not much really deviates from the norm on the night shift. Very easy to fall into a routine. Very satisfying. But, when one resident came to the med room requesting a PRN of ibuprofen, I checked in his MORs and in fact there was a new order for ibuprofen 800 mg written in by what looked like a new staff member named Shadell. It didn't have the doctor name, the date of the order or her initials in the left margin indicating her as the person who wrote the order in the MOR. That was minor, in my opinion, Bridget or I could added that in since that info was on the script. But more disturbing, the resident says they had already received a dose of this earlier in the evening but that wasn't corroborated by the MOR, it didn't have Shadell's initials in the body of the MOR entry under that evening's date for that med. She hadn't written the time she'd given the resident the pill on the PRN record either. Luckily, the 3-11 shift leader had reported the exact time it was given in the shift log so with that I knew when he'd last taken it to avoid over medication.
But, that was kinda moot 'cause then when I went to get the ibuprofen, it was no where to be found in all the 4 different storage places it
So, based on this, I wanted to rectify the total fuck up on the part of a new employee who was apparently left alone to make tough decisions regarding the handling of an incoming med and the correct process needed to enter it into inventory and make it safely available for the resident to get benefit from.
I asked Windy to be my second set of eyes in this process. I fixed the lack of a time stamp for the Oxy dose given by Shadell by making an entry in the PRN record noting the time stated in the shift log. I counted the pills on hand with Windy sitting across from me as a witness. I made up a blank controlled med count sheet, correctly put in the script info on the top, and initiated the record with the full bottle amount then indicated the time the amount had been reduced by one when the med was taken by the resident. I left the staff and resident signature fields blank. I didn't touch the MOR or the PRN record regarding the ibuprofen since I couldn't match up what the resident and the shift notes said about it. I needed more evidence, like I had with the Oxy since Shadell's initials are correctly indicated on the MOR for that med. I verbally told the morning med observer about this incident and the actions I took to square it away. This was also reflected in the entry I wrote in my shift log.
Here's the thing though...it seems this whole undertaking on my part wasn't seen as the action that should have been taken by a senior staff who knew policy and rectified another staff person's error(s) to make lemonade out of these lemons, but they had issue with the fact that:
a.) I saw it as my role to do these corrective measures without consultation of management.
b.) I failed to initiate a med discrepancy and med error form to be submitted to management and
c.) I wrote in and SIGNED the PRN record, not with my initials but Shadell's.
You know, now that I'm typing and reading it...okay, I see their point. It looks like a cover-up attempt or even outright fraud.
I tried to explain my innocent and proactive train of thought about the actions I took to the cabal but their gazes were outright condemning and I was getting more and more freaked out which was not helping me any since it added a strain of acrimony and incredulity to my almost shouting, overly-defensive voice. Apparently, at least one thing I barked at my prosecutors struck a nerve in Jake and this seemingly mild-mannered, laid-back dude, showed his true Alpha dog colors and snapped at me saying "I don't appreciate you being condescending to Charmaine. You have a history of having that attitude towards Charmaine and this behavior will stop as of now!"
This shut my ass up REAL QUICK! My face must have turned a lovely shade of hot pink. I was being scolded like a rude teenager by the CEO of the company. Shit was gettin' real, son!
I was asked to step out and wait in the executive conference room adjoining the office. I looked up at the clock and watched the second hand move. Click. Click. Click. I imagined that the clock had an imaginary pendulum that was slowly swinging back and forth, back and forth. And like the Pit and the Pendulum, it had very sharp edge, getting closer and closer to me. Shwoop. Shwoop. Shwoop!
Then Pam, whose office sits across the hall from where I was sitting was summoned into the office. Holy shit. Am I really getting fired?
They called me back in and I sat in my perp chair, under the imaginary hot light. They weren't smiling. Charmaine said that since they felt that my actions were in violation of policy, mostly based on the false signing of someone else's name, I would be suspended for three days beginning immediately. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, I still thought I'd done mostly the right thing and though I admit I overstepped my bounds in one or two areas, I'd thought it wouldn't have been of such concern, but I was fully aware I'd dodged a bullet. These people have the total say-so in regards to my status of being employed there or not and I've seen way too many cases over the years where people were in fact terminated for apparently even less egregiousness incidents.
So I'm now on early vacation, albeit without PTO, so I should see a pitiful paycheck next period. I report in for my Saturday night shift with Eric and then, after clocking out at 7:15 am Sunday morning, I'll be on my previously planned and approved week-long real vacation.
But I need some theme park action and, of course, a highly over-priced beer or two so I'm off to Universal to plunk down about the same amount of money on an annual pass as I've just been docked in pay. Not exactly ideal, but thankfully I can and will ride this out, not only financially but physically in the form of my arms flailing high above my head and ass firmly squeezed into a soaring seat of The Amazing Hulk.