employee reporting minor errors to boss

[clarkbar]

co-worker in a hospital has been reporting all errors, no matter how minor, e.g. did not mention srcr trending up with no clinical impact, for a new employee.

other employees seem blaise about the issue. what is the etiquette and protocol to deal with this matter, socially in private and escalate to management if necessary or advised.

I've approached the employee, asking for the person to come to me with any issues and if the person was confused by a note or dose created by me. The person has not complied and seems cold.

Thank you

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[deleted480308]

co-worker in a hospital has been reporting all errors, no matter how minor, e.g. did not mention srcr trending up with no clinical impact, for a new employee.

other employees seem blaise about the issue. what is the etiquette and protocol to deal with this matter, socially in private and escalate to management if necessary or advised.

I've approached the employee, asking for the person to come to me with any issues and if the person was confused by a note or dose created by me. The person has not complied and seems cold.

Thank you

Stop making errors. You can’t report someone for reporting errors

 

[Doctorishere12345]

co-worker in a hospital has been reporting all errors, no matter how minor, e.g. did not mention srcr trending up with no clinical impact, for a new employee.

other employees seem blaise about the issue. what is the etiquette and protocol to deal with this matter, socially in private and escalate to management if necessary or advised.

I've approached the employee, asking for the person to come to me with any issues and if the person was confused by a note or dose created by me. The person has not complied and seems cold.

Thank you

It sounds like your workplace is an unfriendly place. If I was you, I will not stay there of knowing that someone can ruin my career one day.
Are the number of errors you can make in a year? But again, stop making errors

 

[owlegrad]

Stop making errors. You can’t report someone for reporting errors

Yeah OP just do the impossible and never make another error! Do what no human before you has even been able to do! This advice is so good we should all follow it.

In all seriousness OP, sb is right in that there is nothing you can do to stop this from happening. What are you going to do, gang up on the person in the parking lot? Tell the boss you don't appreciate this other person reporting your errors? (How dare they behave in a way consistent with good patient care?!)

Now that doesn't mean you have to take it lying down. You can always fight fire with fire. Go behind them for everything and report every uncrossed t and undotted i. Be passive aggressive with this person any chance you get. Or, consider that perhaps they are just following policy and/or doing what they think is right.

 

[Sine Cura]

Stop making errors. You can’t report someone for reporting errors

Wouldn't it be great if all prescribers stopped making errors?

 

[PharmtoCS]

Report all their errors as well.

Make whatever that comes around go around.

 

[projektreverb]

Report all their errors as well. Start looking for alternate employment.

I went to school with someone that matches this description. If I didn’t know that they aren’t in a hospital pharmacy, I would have thought it was them.

 

[Sine Cura]

Can you imagine wasting time on this **** in retail? I could run off basically 8 out of every 10 pharmacists based on the trivial and not-so-trivial errors that prescribers make based on "deviations" from what the script says, lack of internal reporting for trivial errors on OTCs, lack of reporting to VAERS etc

I **** you not there are some ***** out there that will report you for ferrous sulfate regular versus EC, even 324 vs 325 if not "documented"

 

[lane one]

This kind of crap runs rampant in hospitals, mostly from people who see things only in black and white. You just have to ignore them and move on.

 

[Deja]

Can you imagine wasting time on this **** in retail? I could run off basically 8 out of every 10 pharmacists based on the trivial and not-so-trivial errors that prescribers make based on "deviations" from what the script says, lack of internal reporting for trivial errors on OTCs, lack of reporting to VAERS etc

I **** you not there are some ***** out there that will report you for ferrous sulfate regular versus EC, even 324 vs 325 if not "documented"

errrrm a lot of patients care about that stuff... you bet your ass you are going to get reported if someone complained you gave them the wrong salt form

I do agree that working in retail everyone views reporting as a hassle, freaking has to spend time calling the report line and write a report... nobody has time for that ****

 

[Sine Cura]

I'm not even talking about salts. EC tabs have empirically worse bioavailability compared to regular film-coated tabs yet (example) there are officious little ****s out there that will report you for switching it and informing the patient of the switch and the patient consented to it.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

This is how a few dinguses at my first job began their quest in getting me fired. They'd report me for putting in Augmentin q12 instead of BID. Or having omeprazole 20mg appear on the MAR twice by accident.

Working in a toxic environment is a horrible thing.

 

[rxkrafted]

can you provide more specific examples? If you truly believe they are meaningless errors, why don't you talk to your director about it instead of coming to SDN? What do you want us to do for you?

 

[ancienbon]

This is how a few dinguses at my first job began their quest in getting me fired. They'd report me for putting in Augmentin q12 instead of BID. Or having omeprazole 20mg appear on the MAR twice by accident.

Working in a toxic environment is a horrible thing.

Really for putting augmenting q12 instead of Bid.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Really for putting augmenting q12 instead of Bid.

"The order says twice daily!"

Swear to [insert deity]

 

[beautifulrobot]

Think about the challenges, needs, and objectives of this co-worker and think about ways you can be more helpful to them. If you don't know how you can be more helpful, figure out a way to talk to them. If you can't talk to them, try to talk to someone who does have a relationship with them. They may continue reporting you for errors, or they may start to "comply" with your requests to come to you first once you start thinking about them and how you can be more helpful. Either way, you'll be less resentful and stressed out about your relationship with them.

 

[HandsomeVampire]

"The order says twice daily!"

Swear to [insert deity]

Essentially it could mean the same thing. Maybe to other it could mean they that can take it 10-12 hours apart?
But looking at the big picture... It does not really matter.
Patient got their med, right med, taken twice daily. no big deal. I would other better stuff to do than reporting something like that.

WVUPharm, I'm assuming that was a previous hospital gig that you no longer apart of?

 

[nafcillin]

Did you do something to upset that person or are they a bully and targeting you?

 

[bacillus1]

Don't report to boss. Your facility should have an incident reporting process, that would not show the name of the person making the report to your boss. Find out what that process is.

 

[sakigt]

1. Are you the new employee? If the answer I no mind your own business
2. Is the boss listening and taking action on these complaints? No? Just let the jerk hang themselves. No one likes a trouble maker. Yes? Report errors of said employee
3. GTFO if this person has been there for years and your institution has a hx of keeping toxic people around.

 

[farmadiazepine]

Not mentioning SrCr is trending up to a doctor with no clinical impact...

How is this even an error? That's not what a pharmacist does.

 

[owlegrad]

Not mentioning SrCr is trending up to a doctor with no clinical impact...

How is this even an error? That's not what a pharmacist does.

Have you never worked with other pharmacists? I have gotten so many complaints about stuff like that in my progress notes it isn’t even funny. No, I am not going to note that BUN increased marginally when the Vanco trough is stable. Get over it.


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[gwarm01]

This kind of crap runs rampant in hospitals, mostly from people who see things only in black and white. You just have to ignore them and move on.

These people are the worst. I've gotten into arguments over matters of pure clinical judgement, which were discussed with the physician and had a positive clinical outcome, all because it wasn't what they would have done. Some people have trouble understanding that their opinion is not the law.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Essentially it could mean the same thing. Maybe to other it could mean they that can take it 10-12 hours apart?
But looking at the big picture... It does not really matter.
Patient got their med, right med, taken twice daily. no big deal. I would other better stuff to do than reporting something like that.

WVUPharm, I'm assuming that was a previous hospital gig that you no longer apart of?

Did you do something to upset that person or are they a bully and targeting you?

This was 10 years ago at another job. I don't recall doing anything to deserve their ire.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

co-worker in a hospital has been reporting all errors, no matter how minor, e.g. did not mention srcr trending up with no clinical impact, for a new employee.
other employees seem blaise about the issue. what is the etiquette and protocol to deal with this matter, socially in private and escalate to management if necessary or advised.
I've approached the employee, asking for the person to come to me with any issues and if the person was confused by a note or dose created by me. The person has not complied and seems cold.
Thank you

I would go straight to your boss. This person has obviously got it out for you.

 

[projektreverb]

I would go straight to your boss. This person has obviously got it out for you.

But what’s the boss going to do? Say “stop reporting errors”? It’s a culture problem. Report the s**t out of each other. Have everyone else report every little petty thing. Management will eventually get sick of it and intervene.

Petty, but it is what it is.

 

[clarkbar]

This is how a few dinguses at my first job began their quest in getting me fired. They'd report me for putting in Augmentin q12 instead of BID. Or having omeprazole 20mg appear on the MAR twice by accident.

Working in a toxic environment is a horrible thing.

how did you handle this situation?

 

[clarkbar]

Yeah OP just do the impossible and never make another error! Do what no human before you has even been able to do! This advice is so good we should all follow it.

In all seriousness OP, sb is right in that there is nothing you can do to stop this from happening. What are you going to do, gang up on the person in the parking lot? Tell the boss you don't appreciate this other person reporting your errors? (How dare they behave in a way consistent with good patient care?!)

Now that doesn't mean you have to take it lying down. You can always fight fire with fire. Go behind them for everything and report every uncrossed t and undotted i. Be passive aggressive with this person any chance you get. Or, consider that perhaps they are just following policy and/or doing what they think is right.

person seems to be paying attention to me and is cold. also, reporting on them, what is the point? If private, they will not know, I suppose. If public, would that be advised? Meaning, should I show the person their errors and be friendly about it and not report it to show a point?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

how did you handle this situation?

I ignored it. Didn't realize they were building evidence to get rid of me. Half of the staff pharmacists told me that if I ever needed a reference, I could call them. One told me they've seen the two pharmacists digging up the dirt do it before to people they don't like. It was a weird, toxic environment.

I'm never working in a office pharmacy atmosphere again.

Retail sucks, but at least there is camaraderie.

 

[Pharmacy Kid]

I never understood why this happens at institutional settings. Is there too much free time that people need to find something (even unconstructive) to do? Or is it these settings that attract these type of people?

 

[Chrish]

Nothing you can do other than being extra careful and making lot less errors. And if you see other person making any errors, just report it. If you think something reported isn’t an actual error, argue against it with your boss. “I don’t think anything is wrong here and I am not sure why it was reported”.

In fact this experience might make you a better pharmacist..

 

[clarkbar]

I found the person make a dumb, harmless error (stop date on a med) I was thinking of approaching the person, gauging response and asking what she recommends is the next step. I don't see the point of reporting the person's errors clandestinely. I just want the person's behavior to stop. I have a life.

 

[Lnsean]

Only in hospital dispensing do you have time for this bs

 

[projektreverb]

Only in hospital dispensing do you have time for this bs

In my limited experience at one, 4 hospital system during rotations, the level of petty at a hospital pharmacy is pretty damn high.

 

[Lnsean]

In my limited experience at one, 4 hospital system during rotations, the level of petty at a hospital pharmacy is pretty damn high.

Same actually....as soon as one guy goes on lunch the rest of the pack talks sht behind his back.

 

[projektreverb]

Same actually....as soon as one guy goes on lunch the rest of the pack talks sht behind his back.

Exactly. My first question was “What makes you think these people aren’t doing this about you when you step out?”

 

[Idk17]

I work in a place where this is kind of the status quo. Instead of letting somebody know they did something wrong, somebody will wait and show the manager.

The twist is that you can't really fight fire with fire because the people who do it the most do almost no work - their productivity is nonexistent. It's hard to catch their errors when they verify almost nothing and everyone else regularly verifies 4-6x as many orders, trying to make up for it. Or, to put it another way.. it's easy to make no mistakes if all you do in 8 hours is verify about 30 orders.

So far this hasn't been an issue with me, but they've been trying to use fairly petty mistakes to drive out somebody else.

 

[beautifulrobot]

I work in a place where this is kind of the status quo. Instead of letting somebody know they did something wrong, somebody will wait and show the manager.

The twist is that you can't really fight fire with fire because the people who do it the most do almost no work - their productivity is nonexistent. It's hard to catch their errors when they verify almost nothing and everyone else regularly verifies 4-6x as many orders, trying to make up for it. Or, to put it another way.. it's easy to make no mistakes if all you do in 8 hours is verify about 30 orders.

So far this hasn't been an issue with me, but they've been trying to use fairly petty mistakes to drive out somebody else.

I've been fortunate enough to not experience this kind of work environment firsthand, but to me this sounds a lot like a problem with management. If the people reporting all of these trivial errors are also not productive, why the heck aren't they experiencing any backlash from management for not prioritizing their work appropriately?

 

[owlegrad]

I've been fortunate enough to not experience this kind of work environment firsthand, but to me this sounds a lot like a problem with management. If the people reporting all of these trivial errors are also not productive, why the heck aren't they experiencing any backlash from management for not prioritizing their work appropriately?

Because as long as the work is getting done it isn’t a high enough priority for management to care. Even worse, management might appreciate how deliberate that pharmacist is in their work/checking and think that other pharmacists should learn from them. I have had numerous bosses that seem to think that way.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I've been fortunate enough to not experience this kind of work environment firsthand, but to me this sounds a lot like a problem with management. If the people reporting all of these trivial errors are also not productive, why the heck aren't they experiencing any backlash from management for not prioritizing their work appropriately?

Yup. I've seen situations where extreme disparities in efficiency are actually perceived as doing "less work" or "not taking it as seriously"

 

[Ximilara]

I work in a place where this is kind of the status quo. Instead of letting somebody know they did something wrong, somebody will wait and show the manager.

The twist is that you can't really fight fire with fire because the people who do it the most do almost no work - their productivity is nonexistent. It's hard to catch their errors when they verify almost nothing and everyone else regularly verifies 4-6x as many orders, trying to make up for it. Or, to put it another way.. it's easy to make no mistakes if all you do in 8 hours is verify about 30 orders.

So far this hasn't been an issue with me, but they've been trying to use fairly petty mistakes to drive out somebody else.

That’s so damn stupid. They drove out the hardworking people then who’s gonna cover their ****ing lazy ass?


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[PharmDBro2017]

I work in a place where this is kind of the status quo. Instead of letting somebody know they did something wrong, somebody will wait and show the manager.

The twist is that you can't really fight fire with fire because the people who do it the most do almost no work - their productivity is nonexistent. It's hard to catch their errors when they verify almost nothing and everyone else regularly verifies 4-6x as many orders, trying to make up for it. Or, to put it another way.. it's easy to make no mistakes if all you do in 8 hours is verify about 30 orders.

So far this hasn't been an issue with me, but they've been trying to use fairly petty mistakes to drive out somebody else.

Does no one run the report to see how many orders each person is verifying throughout their shift? Doing that for 1-2 weeks would show a clear trend of who is productive and not.

Also, what kind of mistakes are we talking about here? Petty things, or harming patient type mistakes? Need examples.

 

[Idk17]

Everyone knows who is productive and who isn't, people can view the numbers daily. It's just a favoritism thing.

And nah PharmD, many of the errors are things like.. you should've printed 2 labels when you verified this order instead of 1, so the tech was confused about whether to pack it in 1 card (QD) or 2 (BID). Or there are a lot of rules specific to individual nursing homes (preferences of those nurses or that DON) that people slip up on. Things totally different than wrong drug/wrong patient types of errors.

Because as long as the work is getting done it isn’t a high enough priority for management to care.

Oh, and this is EXACTLY right. Certain things aren't a concern to management until it hits some breaking point and things really fall apart. Example: tech A being useless and unproductive wasn't an issue until tech B, who did all the work, found another job and quit.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

I guess I should be happy I'm judged on the interventions I make and patients I counsel.

 

[JustFillIt]

I would just return the favor. Monitor them and document violations. If it really is a frivolous situation as you say this would stop the behavior right away.

If you are messing up more than what the bell curve says is normal, then this reaction would just cause you more issues

 

[Amicable Angora]

Want to add that there's a danger in trying to fight fire with fire. They're dragging you down to their level and you'll be dancing to their rhythm. These kinds of people spend all their energy in trying to backstab and undermine you. You, likely are not that kind of person. Therefore, you're inherently fighting from a disadvantage by trying to turn it into a mudfight which they will happily indulge in.

 

[owlegrad]

Want to add that there's a danger in trying to fight fire with fire. They're dragging you down to their level and you'll be dancing to their rhythm. These kinds of people spend all their energy in trying to backstab and undermine you. You, likely are not that kind of person. Therefore, you're inherently fighting from a disadvantage by trying to turn it into a mudfight which they will happily indulge in.

There is so much wisdom in this post. Reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: never argue with a fool they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.


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[owlegrad]

That’s so damn stupid. They drove out the hardworking people then who’s gonna cover their ****ing lazy ass?


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I have often wondered this too. Like shouldn’t the overachievers be the lazy people’s favorite coworkers?


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[Deja]

so for all the ppl in this thread that says everyone in the office knows who the toxic person was and who they tried to get rid of... how come the rest of you guys didn't stand up for the victim? why are you guys allowing such toxic person "ruling" the office?

 

[JustFillIt]

Want to add that there's a danger in trying to fight fire with fire. They're dragging you down to their level and you'll be dancing to their rhythm. These kinds of people spend all their energy in trying to backstab and undermine you. You, likely are not that kind of person. Therefore, you're inherently fighting from a disadvantage by trying to turn it into a mudfight which they will happily indulge in.

Yeah... good point.