Written Assignment - Case Study

Name:

Date:

You are the charge nurse at a nursing home. Your colleague, RN Janet, has been coming into work late more frequently, and has seemed tired and “out of it”. You know she has been having some personal and financial troubles at home. You begin to notice that the patients she is taking care of have more complaints of pain when she is caring for them than when other nurses are. Two of your patients tell you “I don’t think that nurse is giving me the medicine she is supposed to. My pain pills look different, and they never work when she gives them to me”. You suspect that she is diverting their narcotics. You report this to management at the nursing home, and are told “not to make a fuss, we are already short staffed as it is”.

Locate your state nursing board (you can find them through the NCSBN link in the lecture: https://www.ncsbn.org/contactbon.htm). Use the website to answer the following questions:

Type your answers in the boxes below( strong paragraphs, not a few sentences) – the box will expand as you type.

Which of the ANA Standards of Professional Practice are evident in this case? Why?

What course of action are you ethically obligated to take, and why?

What options do you have to report a colleague that you suspect is chemically impaired?

How can the nursing board protect patients from impaired nurses? What is the typical procedure?

How does the nursing board assist nurses who are suffering from chemical dependency issues?

References

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