I like my job. I really do. I like my coworkers. I like my ward. I even like the hospital; it’s a great organization to work for. My current employer definitely has many redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, their medication administration system is not one of them. I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT with a passion. There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not curse the entire system. It’s a source of constant frustration; just thinking about it makes my blood boil. It’s incredibly outdated and unsafe - a handwritten sheet filled with scribbles, cross-outs, and barely legible writing. No pharmacy pre-checks or official computer printouts. Nope – any doctor is free to come along and prescribe or discontinue any medication he or she sees fit, with little more than a slash here or a sloppy notation there. The result is a nursing nightmare and a medication error waiting to happen. I wish I could take a picture, as the image would make anyone cringe. Trust me, any sane nurse would be appalled. Medications get written in twice, simply because the team physicians don’t communicate and are too lazy to review the med chart. Other times, the docs can’t be bothered to write in correct dosages, leaving us to interpret the order for ourselves. The list goes on and on. Like I said, it’s a nightmare. And when I complain, my coworkers stare at me blankly, as if I’m whining like a spoiled brat. I can tell they are not actually listening to me. My words are falling upon deaf ears. They don’t seem to see the inherent danger in such an unregulated system. To them, this is just the way things are done. What’s a girl to do? I can’t change the entire system and I certainly don’t want to be seen as an angry, negative person. So, I try to keep my frustrations to myself, only allowing them bubble over when something is particularly appalling or unsafe. Otherwise, I just have to remind myself that this is all a part of the foreign nursing experience.
(Oh - and don’t even get me started on how we go about procuring the patients’ medications. That deserves it’s own, individual rant.)
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