The Law Offices of Brian E. Quinn
  • Home
  • About The Firm
    • Sample Cases
    • Resources
  • Practice Areas
    • Professional License Defense
    • Criminal Defense
    • Family Law
    • Personal Injury
    • Social Security Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • FAQs
  • Contact
Select Page

HOW DOES A HOSPITAL’S INCREASED RELIANCE ON DATA FROM A PYXIS MACHINE AFFECT A NURSE?

On behalf of The Law Offices of Brian E. Quinn | Nov 29, 2016 | Medical Licensing

Many hospitals use a Pyxis machine to dispense medication and use the information from the Pyxis to spot trends in the medication of patient as well as diversion of narcotics. Over the past several years, I often get telephone calls from nurses accused of diversion when their dispensing of medication to patients exceeded the norms of other nurses. Nurses’ medication habits differ. Some nurses tell me that they aggressively dispense pain mediation in accordance with doctor’s orders as they do not want their patients to suffer from pain.

If a complaint is filed against a nurse, it seems that the hospital’s first course of action is to check the Pyxis machine to see if the nurse’s medication habits are consistent with other nurses in whatever unit the nurse is assigned to. For instance, if the average nurse dispenses four milligrams of dilaudid per shift and you dispense 10 milligrams of dilaudid per shift, you actions may be scrutinized more thoroughly.

I recently had a case where a nurse from a hospital in a rural area was dispensing significantly higher amounts of pain medication than the other nurses in his unit. My client was administering the medication in accordance with doctor’s orders; however, the trend in the unit he was assigned to was for a nurse to administer a portion of the vial of pain medication, and retain the remainder of that vial to be dispensed later in the shift. My client would administer the medication, and waste the remainder of the vial. The Pyxis machine picked up on the fact that my client was pulling significantly more vials of pain medication than the other nurses. When a nursing supervisor who had a disagreement with my client saw this, my client was accused of diversion. He was called into a meeting with several supervisors and risk management and asked to explain why he administered significantly more vials of pain medication that the other nurses. Often when this happens, the nurse is not shown the patient charts. They are asked to defend their actions without the benefit of reviewing patient charts. When dispensing pain medication, it is important that you note pain levels for the patient and it is extremely important that you waste any narcotics with a witness and follow hospital protocol for this procedure.

If you have been accused of diversion, it is important to contact an attorney right away who is familiar with the disciplinary process for nurses.

Recent Posts

  • What qualifies as insurance fraud?
  • Opioid dependency, diversion and your nursing license
  • Those with a suspended RN license still have employment options
  • Can you lose your Pennsylvania nursing license because of a DUI?
  • Must you report your conviction to the Medical Board?

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013

Categories

  • blog
  • Firm News
  • Injuries
  • Medical Licensing
  • OSHA

RSS Feed

Subscribe To This Blog’s Feed

FindLaw Network

Reach Out To Us For Representation

Get a confidential assessment of your case.

Law Offices of Brian E. Quinn Logo
Review Us

Toll Free Phone

866-657-7318

Local Phone

215-268-7241

Fax

215-557-0087

Address

1420 Walnut Street
Suite 1200
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Map & Directions

Social Media

  • Follow
  • Follow
United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit Logo
Pennsylvania Bar Association Logo
United States District Court District of Pennsylvania Logo
United States District Court District of New Jersey Logo
New Jersey State Bar Association Logo

© 2021 The Law Offices of Brian E. Quinn. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Business Development Solutions by FindLaw, part of Thomson Reuters