Will I get kicked out of nursing school?

jennylee321 · Apr 15, 2017

You've clearly learned from this and shouldn't be kicked out of the program. I doubt there will be an adverse outcome from this mistake. The school could fail you for the course and make you repeat it if they thought that was the fair thing to do, but removing a student from the program for one med error that was also the fault of the supervising nurse, that's exteme.

tyvin, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2017

Would it matter if she asked the nurse: because the nurse believed she drew up the right medication? My question is why did you not draw up the meds. I've never heard of a med error in clinical. I was involved in a mistake about a sliding scale, but it was my instructor who got in trouble. Third semester of what kind of program?

BedsideNurse · Apr 15, 2017

Thank you everyone for your comments and insight. I have passed meds all last semester and always did the 7 rights however for some reason I did not this time and put my full trust in the nurse who pulled the bottle up. I am aware that this is also my mistake and I am devastated that this happened. I learned a great lesson that day and I'm sure my peers did also. I will NEVER make this mistake again.

Hopefully it works out. What an emotional and difficult situation, espeicially as a student. That being said, it could certainly be worse with a much worse outcome, and sometimes we learn the hard way. :/ The only other thing I would say, is that it is surprising the nurse wasn't "super careful" seeing how you are a student and the patient was a baby. I've always worked with adults, but I worked at a hospital where a couple of times they had recoveries of kids that had ended up having to stay over so they'd keep them in the ICU. I would be a nutcase checking over their meds repeatedly, calling pharmacy, double checking with my co worker. Checking, double checking, checking again. Totally paranoid with kids. You have to be extra careful with kids. Along these lines, a friend I worked with: her baby was given 10x the ordered dose of a pain med. Another nurse had drawn up the wrong dose and handed it to the administering nurse. Her baby died of circulatory collapse within minutes. So, like I said, your situation is stressful and bad, and you have to face the school and deal with the parents, and deal with your own guilt, etc...but there are worse things. "Grieve it," learn from it, and let it go.

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2017

If they do there is something seriously wrong with this profession? Believe me I understand the huge responsibility nurses have and I have been at the bedside and couchside and chairside (home care) for 36 years.I really am sick about nurses having to be perfect saints that never make mistakes.Its about time a just culture is making its way into the profession but many have not got onboard.The punative nature and awfulizing of minor mistakes still exists in nursing and I really hate it!

cyc0sys · Apr 15, 2017

There are two kinds of nurses:

1. Those who have made med errors.

2. Those who will make med errors.

If anyone tells you otherwise, they're a liar.

Scottishtape · Apr 15, 2017

There are two kinds of nurses:
1. Those who have made med errors.
2. Those who will make med errors.
If anyone tells you otherwise, they're a liar.

Truth. I made a meds error my first year out of nursing school. It wrecked me emotionally. Thankfully, no patients were harmed, but it's something you'll never forget and it makes you more vigilant.

Semper_Gumby · Apr 15, 2017

I used to work newborn nursery and can recall an incident where a baby was accidentally vaccinated twice for hepatitis B. I believe one or other of the nurses who gave it did not scan it before giving and the second nurse didn't realize it was already given (we were supposed to chart it both in the eMAR and on a paper MAR). An incident report was written and parents were notified, baby was fine, thankfully. I am sure the involved nurses were more careful after that!

I was always paranoid about giving it so I always verified parental consent and double-triple checked to make sure it had not been given yet before drawing it up (it could be hard to tell, the way our eMAR worked, and if the nurse forgot to write it on the paper MAR). I also tried never to give it if I wasn't the one to draw it up!

RNrhythm, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2017

Thank you for posting this sobering reminder to always be vigilant. I had a similar experience in my first clinical, years ago. It resulted in a rift between my school and the hospital but there was no fall out to me.

Some advice I was given then: Write-up everything you remember and hang on to all documentation. If the incident becomes widely known, you do not need to identify yourself as the party involved. (My incident immediately became hot gossip but did not identify me. When I was told what some "stupid student" had done, I did not volunteer that it was me and it was more complicated than that.) Also, as an older student with some assets, like a home, I was advised to get my own Liability Insurance in case the school chooses to sue me, because the school-provided insurance would not cover that.

My incident occurred with the RN and my instructor supervising me, literally at my side. No one thought to confirm the order and, yep, my patient, whom I had cared for all day, was the wrong patient. I was devastated and felt terrible for months. You have my sympathies, friend.

SaltySarcasticSally, LPN, RN · Apr 15, 2017

You learned and are taking full responsibility, that is a great sign. I'm surprised she had you administer something she drew up, that's nursing 101. Hopefully with your attitude, your school will see how serious your taking this, and let ya go with a warning.

Happymango · Apr 15, 2017

This is exactly what had happened to me! I'm glad everything worked out for you. I'm sitting around waiting to see what will happen to me. And yes, just like you I will feel terrible for months to come

Lossea, RN · Apr 19, 2017

I'm sorry about what happened to you. No one is perfect and sooner or later we all make a mistake one way or another. The most important thing is to recognize the mistake, ensure patient safety, report the mistake, and to learn from it.

It is highly unlikely to be expelled from the program in this case...Like someone said, honesty goes a long way. People are people and will generally work with you when you are honest and show that you take the incident seriously, as opposed to if you tried to cover it up. My instructors all emphasize the value of honesty because, when we go on to be RNs, they want us to be honest for the safety of the patients. This will likely result in a warning of some sort, and getting a warning doesn't mean that you will be a "bad" nurse (just wanted to say it in case you may feel discouraged). My school issues a probation for an incident and it generally would take a few probations with unsatisfactory clinical performance for dismissal. They would look at the whole picture, how responsible you are and how you have been doing. I got a probation (warning) once for doing a pretty simple procedure with just the nurse guiding me, without my instructor there. It was discouraging but...You learn to be more careful and double-check things. Let us know how it goes. I hope that your school will show you compassion.

Lossea, RN · Apr 19, 2017

This is exactly what had happened to me! I'm glad everything worked out for you. I'm sitting around waiting to see what will happen to me. And yes, just like you I will feel terrible for months to come

I was thinking, have you checked out your program's student policy manual? I just looked at my program's manual, and it describes specific guidelines and policies. It may be helpful to get more information if you feel like it could alleviate some of the anxiety and the unknown. Just a thought.