Med Error!!!!

suzanne4, RN · Sep 12, 2005

What time was written on her medication profile?

AMARTIN1 · Sep 12, 2005

What time was written on her medication profile?

Her lipitor was scheduled for 9pm and i gave it at 9 am.

NurseforPreggers · Sep 12, 2005

I think every nurse who has been in the field for any reasonable amount of time has made one med error or another. I have completely forgotten to give a med before. Oddly enough, the nights that I am not busy at all are usually the nights where I forget to do something. It doesn't make sense I know, but thats what usually happens to me. So on those nights I know that I have to pay extra attention to the time and to the things I need to do.

tiffanycmt · Sep 12, 2005

I'm just a CMT but i have made a med error i forgot to give a scheduled siniment @ midnoc I caught it @ 3am and just wrote myself up for a med error. I think it's normal to make a error were only human. whats nice about our med cart it's set up by time so it would be hard to mix up a 9a and 9p not to say it would be impossible though. Don't be to hard on yourself just remember to dbl check yourself.God Bless Tiffany

mamallama · Sep 12, 2005

I don't think I know a single nurse who has never made a med error. When it happens, the most important things are to admit that it happened (NEVER cover up an error) and to take a look at what happened so you can try to prevent it next time. It sounds like yours was a pretty benign error -- be grateful that it was and take it as a good wake-up call.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Sep 12, 2005

Some errors are certainly worse than others.

A nurse I know mixed two incompatible meds--fortunately (for some reason, i forgot why) she never administered it. One of them had to be witnessed to be wasted, which is how I found out about it.

In this case, I think the larger--and less fixable--error was that she didn't care. When I pointed it out, she just shrugged her shoulders. Thinking she didn't understand the potential risks to the patient, I explained that. Again with the shoulders.....

I think you are way ahead of the game--you care! You're trying! And you'll never make that error again, because you'll figure out a way to catch yourself.

We are mostly on electronic MAR, but we also can download and print a MAR which shows which meds are due when, with the times in the columns of the shifts when the meds are to be administered. When using the paper kind, I use different colored highlighters to keep them organized.

AMARTIN1 · Sep 13, 2005

I'm just a CMT but i have made a med error i forgot to give a scheduled siniment @ midnoc I caught it @ 3am and just wrote myself up for a med error. I think it's normal to make a error were only human. whats nice about our med cart it's set up by time so it would be hard to mix up a 9a and 9p not to say it would be impossible though. Don't be to hard on yourself just remember to dbl check yourself.God Bless Tiffany

Well the bad thing is that it was on an emar and i had scanned it but i let her take them first, and then i i finished the charting. It let me scan it but when i went to verify pt and let it update, i caught the time.

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Sep 13, 2005

Well the bad thing is that it was on an emar and i had scanned it but i let her take them first, and then i i finished the charting. It let me scan it but when i went to verify pt and let it update, i caught the time.

Yeah, that is one stupid thing about the eMAR, it doesn't let you know you're outside the acceptable time until the end of the process.

I've gotten so I check those little asterisks to make sure the bottom one is for the right time, then I know all the ones above it are too, since they stay in order.

You'd think they'd fix that timing thing so it would beep as soon as you scanned it.

At least you scanned it before you gave it. I've seen some geniuses save those little papers and scan after giving the meds, or enter it as a full document and say it would not scan. So hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes!

LOL

AMARTIN1 · Sep 13, 2005

Yeah, that is one stupid thing about the eMAR, it doesn't let you know you're outside the acceptable time until the end of the process.
I've gotten so I check those little asterisks to make sure the bottom one is for the right time, then I know all the ones above it are too, since they stay in order.
You'd think they'd fix that timing thing so it would beep as soon as you scanned it.
At least you scanned it before you gave it. I've seen some geniuses save those little papers and scan after giving the meds, or enter it as a full document and say it would not scan. So hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes!
LOL

Thanks!!!:), it wasn't as bad as i thought the next day. A you better believe I'm extra careful now with that emar.

doodlemom · Sep 13, 2005

If that's the worst error that you've ever made, you're way ahead of the game. Don't beat yourself up!

chris_at_lucas_RN, RN · Sep 13, 2005

If that's the worst error that you've ever made, you're way ahead of the game. Don't beat yourself up!

No kidding! Point well made.