So Embarrassed! Forgot to remove the saline lock!

Nurses General Nursing

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I AM SO EMBARRASSED!!!!! I discharged a patient yesterday and forgot to take the saline lock out of her arm before she went home. She was a wacky lady. She basically refused to go to the TCU because she was tired and wanted to go home. She had been in before (Feb 2nd) because she fell and broke her hip at home. Then she went home and came back in because she fell AGAIN at home and broke her humerus! She was supposed to go to TCU. So the Dr. didn't want her to go and said she could go AMA, but then another Dr came and said she could go home (general, not surgeon) Throughout the day we found 3 lovenox injections and correctol in her bedside table (I have no clue how it got found on her last day, she's been admitted for 2 weeks!) so I took it and put it in her med cassette. She already had a home med that was there that had been through pharmacy because pharmacy's label was on it. So she called me last night at 6:30, just before shift change. She said she just noticed that she still had the IV in her hand. I apologized, I felt AWFUL!!! She asked if she could come back in, I said yes, and she said she couldn't come till the next day. My preceptor told me to call her back and see if she wanted me to walk her through taking it out. She agreed to this, but apparently never did it. I got a call today from my supervisor saying that she called to say she was missing meds. Pharmacy has NO RECORD of the meds she is speaking of and the med was something I had never heard of but my supervisor said it was arthritis?? Then she mentioned the IV. She told me not to worry about that, but I feel AWFUL!!!!!! It's my 9th week of orientation, I am off next week. I feel awful.

Please tell me I am not the only one this has happened too, the IV thing. My supervisor is not worried about the meds.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

I've done it. I wish that was the worst mistake I've ever made!

Specializes in Med-Surg, ER.

Please don't feel bad - I 'm an RN and actually went home with one myself once! Had been an awful day, had an outpatient CT for gall bladder problems and I was hurting so much when I left the hospital that I didn't even think about it. Got home, realized it was there and I was too embarassed to go back to have someone take it out. Managed to get it out of my RAC with my left hand somehow. What a dork! So, don't worry too much - at least you didn't take one home yourself!

It's ok! I'm sure it's not the worse thing that has happend

I haven't left one anyone, but on the other side of the table when as a patient, have been scolded for removing my own before :sofahider

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Ive done the same. Forgot to get the lock out and ended up going to the patients house after work to remove it. Not the end of the world, it happens.

I did the same thing once during a busy shift. After I realized what I had done I notified the charge RN and then called the pt. She had not even noticed it!! I told her I would be happy to go to her home and remove it but ended up just walking a family member through the removal and documented it in nurses notes. Things like this are emarrassing but not the end of the world. So don't worry. You haven't done anything that hasn't been done 100 times before by harried nurses with way too much on their plates. :smilecoffeecup:

Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

Oh don't be embarrest! Many a time I almost did that, and a paramedic reminded me to take it out...and I would feel so stupid. But then I would remember, I am a very busy person...and can forget some things from time to time like this...oh well, at least someone reminded me! (heck, half the time a pt reminds you..and if they don't...we both obviously are thinking of getting them home as top goal..LOL!).

I had a fellow nurse accidently leave a monitor and pads on a pt...expensive oops! (the pt heart monitors that are compact and carried by the person). The pt called back and actually wanted a nurse to come out to his home and remove it...we told him to peal the pads off, keep the monitor safe, and leave it with his MD on his next office visit...he was so terrified to peal those pads with leads on them..he thought they were wired actually IN his skin! LOL!

But think about it...we leave them in till D/C just in case...they are easy to forget when not attached to an IV pole!

Yeah ... I did that as a student. Everybody had a good laugh at my expense.

Turns out, some of them had done it too. I wouldn't feel too bad.

:typing

I've done it too. Worked tele for years and sent a very sweet elderly lady home with her saline lock. I never did realize that I had done it, but about 2 hours after she was discharged this sweet lady came back onto the unit and discreetly came up to me in the hallway. It was the middle of winter and she had a heavy coat on. I remember thinking "what in the world is she doing?" as she pulled up her coat sleeve to expose the saline lock. I was MORTIFIED!!! I apologized and she said "its our little secret". That was the only time I ever made that mistake. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I once discharged a patient WITHOUT MD ORDERS!!! The doc had been in that morning to see the patient and told me she was planning to D/C her, but Stupidhead here took it as a verbal order, got all the paperwork ready, took out the SL, and sent the patient home.

So the MD came back after lunch and asked "Where's Mrs. So and So? I'm discharging her this afternoon, here's her scripts and her follow-up appointments."

Well, of course I was horrified, and I immediately 'fessed up to what I had done. The doctor was NOT amused---not that I blamed her!---and feeling that I needed to make it right, I went out to the patient's house after I got off work, which was like 15 miles out of my way. The patient actually thought it was funny, and she was very appreciative of the fact that I'd driven all that way out there to deliver her discharge paperwork and meds. But it took that doctor a year to trust me again........and even after that, she'd occasionally lift an eyebrow my way and remind me not to send a patient home before she wrote the orders.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.
Don't be embarrased. I am a paramedic (also a nursing student) and we have to go to peoples houses occationally to take out IV's that were accidently left in. If it happens again you can try calling the local ambulance company who may be able to send an ambulance crew over to do it. Just a thought, not sure how your EMS system is though.

Swtooth

Yeah, I'm also a paramedic/nursing student who goes and pulls saline locks every now and then. You're certainly not the first to forget.

Only problem with calling EMS to go remove it is that some services might charge the patient some fee (e.g. $50) for going over and pulling the lock. So I'd check the service's fee policy first.

Specializes in CVICU, MICU, CCRN-CSC.

:rotfl: :smiley_aa :yeah: I read that and thought I was going to choke on my Diet Dr. Pepper....how funny....

But, to the OP, if any nurse tells you they have not done something STUPID (maybe not dangerous) they are lying. We are human.

A coworker of mine discharged a patient with a central line.

Don't feel bad. :)

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