Re: Nurses with ADD/ADHD? Originally Posted by button2cute Hello, All
Chris, how does dyslexia makes a nurse dangerous? Please explain to me? Because I am dyslexia and I am not dangerous at all. I do not dispense medications that does not have an order or have a med error that killed someone? SO explained your theory about dyslexics are dangerous as a nurse?
Chris, I am listening....
I see that this has already been addressed by others, but since you asked....
Dyslexia causes one to turn letters and numbers around, or jumble them in other ways. It makes life very difficult--street signs don't make sense, written directions of any sort become impossible to follow, and don't even try to read for enjoyment, it's incredibly hard work!
Many medications have spellings similar to other medications. Dyslexia jumbling the letters can cause one to see one med when in fact a different one was ordered.
Ditto on dosages. If you are moving digits around, especially if the "new" order of the digits includes moving a decimal point, then it will be impossible to
know whether you have the right dosage. (For example, the order might be written 0.125 mg but one might see 21.50 or 1.250.)
None of this is purposeful, of course. Dyslexia is a
disability: what you see is not what is there. It is not about giving meds without an order, or not giving meds if there is an order. It is about not getting the exact detail because you cannot be sure that what you are seeing is what is written.
Anyone can make this sort of mistake, that's why we countersign transcribed orders (assuming they are actually read before they are countersigned) and why we actually read back verbal and telephone orders.
Anyone can make a mistake. For persons with dyslexia the probability is just way, way higher.
Med errors do not have to kill someone to be a bad thing. Med errors, all med errors, are bad in that the patient is being given a substance that either was not ordered, or in a dosage that was not ordered, essentially without the patient's consent. (No one says, "can I have your permission to give you something the doctor didn't order?" Of course not.) Viewed strictly, giving the wrong med or the wrong dosage could be considered assault on the patient.
And that's how dyslexia can make a nurse dangerous, IMHO.
!!!!!!!!!
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