[Town & Country]

I like the way you think! :hatparty:

[closatssl1]

Originally Posted by Lawnurse

The plaintiff also has to prove causation. He would have to prove that it was the Teg. and not any other drug that caused his dizziness. This would be extremely hard to prove in a court of law - however, this case is not going to court. No (defendant malpractice insurer) would spend tens of thousands of dollars to defend a week of dizziness, even if it was per se negligence (and I'm not saying it was). I'm not exagerating when I say tens of thousands.

there has to be:

bad medicine -> which causes -> a bad outcome

to have a sucessful suit.

Keep us posted on what happens.

When I said $100, I didn't mean that's what the settlement would be, I meant that's about what its worth in a jury award. You can actually reserach these things. For example, I once had to research how much the loss of a toe is worth in Ohio (in jury awards).

Lawnurse, I was wondering whether the nurse (southern_rn_brat) that prescribed the wrong medication can lose her license for this? I am currently in my last semester of nursing school, passing meds has been one of my biggest worries that I have for when I graduate. You work so hard to get through nursing school, and it is so easy to lose your license. What is your take on this? Thanks.

[Jolie]

Originally Posted by closatssl1

Lawnurse, I was wondering whether the nurse (southern_rn_brat) that prescribed the wrong medication can lose her license for this? I am currently in my last semester of nursing school, passing meds has been one of my biggest worries that I have for when I graduate. You work so hard to get through nursing school, and it is so easy to lose your license. What is your take on this? Thanks.

One can never say for sure, but I doubt that this would result in disciplinary action that harsh. The original poster made a mistake in transcribing orders. I think it would be a huge stretch to claim that she was prescribing medication without a medical license. She acted in an appropriate manner when the error was discovered. The patient suffered no significant or lasting problems as a result of her honest mistake.

In order for action to be considered against the poster's license, the matter would have to be reported to the BON. I doubt that the poster's employer would do this, as she seems to have a good relationship with her employer, and has taken steps along with her employer to correct the situation with this patient, as well as prevent future errors. The patient, his family, and attorney certainly have the option of making a report to the BON, which would then be investigated. I doubt that would happen, as these people seem far more interested in making a quick buck than actually contributing to improved patient safety. My guess is that once they realize that there is no money to be had (due to lack of damages), they will go away.

Even if they did report the incident to the BON, I believe that the actions already taken by the poster and her employer would go a long way toward convincing the BON that this nurse is able to practice nursing safely, and thus no action against her license is warranted.

This case is a perfect example of why it is necessary to allow staff members (nurses, doctors, pharmacists, etc) to self-report errors in a non-punitive manner. By acknowledging the error and acting promptly, the nurse was able to minimize risk to her patient, as well as identify a problem with the DC paperwork that could potentially lead to future, serious errors. By correcting this "systems" error, the poster and her employer may prevent something far more serious in the future.

If she feared for her job or license, and thus failed to self-report such an error, the system might never have been changed, and someone may have suffered far greater harm in the future. That is the kind of thing that happens in facilities that handle med errors with punitive action. The same problems happen over and over because everyone is afraid to acknowledge errors and make the necessary changes to prevent them from occurring again.

[NoCrumping]

Originally Posted by Crumbwannabe

I quit carrying malpractice years ago. I don't keep cars until they're paid off, the house is in her name prior to marraige, minimal savings, and pay the bills from my account. Other accounts are seperate or nonexistant, and no law prevents me from giving 'presents' to the family. Retirement fund is off limits even to the IRS, and the guns and jewelry and such aren't mine....
(But what about divorce?) Do I trust her? Absolutely. And even if my trust were misplaced, money is just a necessary evil to me anyhow, so long as I get my sentimental belongings like photos, childhood toys, a couple antiques. I'm not real attatched to objects, and I've started over before. If sued, my final position would not be that much different unless someone wants an old Monopoly collection, my lifelong yard jockey, and Dad's watch.

Hence the name of the post. The sharks go where the money is. They aren't going after me because they can't get blood from a turnip, after doing the investigative work of finding how much I do or don't have. Generally as I'm told when the questions start about 'do you have malpractice insurance?', a 'no' usually sends them looking somewhere else. I'm much less attractive than the docs and the facility. Never been sued yet, but even if I did get a judgement against me, collecting it is another matter, and they can't take my livelihood away.

Good for you.... your what the lawyers call "judgement proof"

[been there]

Originally Posted by southern_rn_brat

I work in a SNF facility. I am one of the nursing supervisors. About one month ago I discharged a patient to home. On the discharge meds I transcribed Tegretol as Toprol. I also listed Toprol, so he did get that med but also got Tegretol.

One week later I recvd a call from his dialysis clinic asking why he had been started on that med in our facility. When I pulled his chart from medical records I discovered that I had made the error on discharge. I immediately notified our doctor, who was in our facility on rounds, and showed her the chart. I notified my DON. I called the dialysis clinic and notified them so they could dc the med and then I called the patients sister at home and told her I had made an error.

Today my administrator recvd papers from a lawyer. they are suing us over my med error.

I remember when I talked to his sister to tell her of the error that she said he had been dizzy that week but otherwise no adverse effects of the med. But of course I am birthing a cow here.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

I felt horrible when I found out I had made the error. There was nothing else I could do. What irks me is this sue happy mentality of the general public. Every day I see commercials on TV that say "let us sue the nursing home for you". I'm not blaming anyone but myself, *I* made the error. But why do people have to sue?

I also question how the patient received the Toprol without a script. Of course dizziness is an early side effect and goes away when the med is stopped. BUT how did he also get Tegretol if it was not on the med list? The dialysis unit usually has an MD who decides which meds his patient needs....so.....who wrote the script???? A lawsuit may not occur from this but you do need to write down every conversation you had with everyone during the sequence of events just in case. No one can fault you for being honest with the dialysis unit, the family, your DON and the MD. You took immediate action when you learned of the problem and no one can question that. We have all make med errors and have learned from our mistakes so don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and keep on being the responsible person you are. ( and c..y..a..)!!

[Crumbwannabe]

Originally Posted by been there

keep on being the responsible person you are. ( and c..y..a..)!!

They make the most marvelous little digital recorders these days that can be easily hidden on your person when you go in to see DONs and such. If you are recording a conversation and one party knows it is being recorded, it's legal. And you happen to be that one person, by law. Chances are, they are doing the same thing.

[Jolie]

Originally Posted by Crumbwannabe

They make the most marvelous little digital recorders these days that can be easily hidden on your person when you go in to see DONs and such. If you are recording a conversation and one party knows it is being recorded, it's legal. And you happen to be that one person, by law. Chances are, they are doing the same thing.

Recording laws vary from state to state.

[xrockstheheart]

medication error rate is about 25%. The hospital should inform the patients that this is so when they come into the hospital, it is a risk they take. You need to read, "Nursing as a Function of Time" , www.Nursewise.com and you need to go to the Medication Error people, i forget what their name is. And get your facts straight. You know I take that med and nothing happens to me. the standard of proof here is did the patient suffer any consequences, the ans is probably no. Now you know not to call the family. the biggest thing here is that you are a supervisor and you shouldn't be doing this, that's probably where they will catch you. My pharmacy send me the med, twice, once labeled with bid and the other labeled 1/2 bid. well i didn't look and took the 25mg and i was woozy for a couple of days. So I guess i made a med error on myself, the rx sure made one. Just to let you know I always mark my med sheets, with a code if there is short staffing, etc because this increases the probability of error and adverse events, like people dying.

[CapeCodMermaid]

We had an order for Zestril. The card came from the pharmacy with Zestril on the label....once a day..a 30 day supply...check the card against the order...Zestril. THEN...one of the nurses who hadn't worked that side comes up to me with the card in her hand and said, "These don't look like Zestril, have the changed the formula?" I looked closely at the pills....OOPS..it was Zyprexa!! Not only did the woman get an antipsychotic she didn't need, she didn't get her Zestril! By the way, her blood pressure was perfect the whole time and she was as happy as a clam. We called the doc and told the woman what had happened...told the pharmacy of course. They said it must have been the nurses' fault...think again. I xeroxed the card which clearly showed the label and the pills. The woman was fine.
We are HUMAN...mistakes happen and everyone makes med errors. Just hope the one you make is minor and causes no harm.

[ldkrn]

We make mistakes. Fortunately, most of them don't kill people! Your physician needs immediately to take responsibility for writing her own orders completely and you need immediately to stop doing it for her.