med error already-just a mess

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

I am just beside myself tonight. I can't believe I made a medication error-I feel like such a failure! I am not even licensed yet and already I have tainted myself. I know many many nurses who have NEVER made an error-oh GOD!

It wasn't a HUGE error in the way it could have been, THANK GOD and I am not a dum dum- I was giving a prn morphine, 15mg. I gave my patient her dose. We have to get it out of our pyxis. I didn't even SEE the "other" morphine 15mg. We have FOUR- Morphine 15 mg (MS CONTIN) and Morphine 15 mg (MSIR). Same for the two 30 mg doses. I didn't even realize there was a difference. I know now that the difference is in how long the med takes to work-time released. I made the incident report and informed the patient who said "I don't care-it's a pain med". I didn't feel any better. I wanted so much to say for most of my career that I never made an error. I haven't even gotten my RN plan yet and already this. Please tell me I am not a horrible nurse. I really need some support.:(

Yup... i learned the hard way that you never accept a cup full of meds on someone elses word and then give them to an unlabled nursing home patient. I gave a whole cup of blood pressure meds, ativan, and MS Contin to a little old lady who looked just like her roommate during a clinical in school.... they literally could have been sisters. Same clothes colors and everything. This was a bad one, I got put on a medication suspension in my last semester for my RN. It was infuriating, and dreadful at the same time. That little lady was nearly down to the point they might've had to inject her with a bit of ephedrine to bring her BP back up. She woke up the next day and told the staff that was the best she'd slept since she'd got there. :rolleyes:

Never give a drug you didn't pull from the pack/bottle/syringe and always check your MAR's thrice... :uhoh21:

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

You are not a bad nurse. Period...

Specializes in Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

I am doing great since and let me tell ya-that mistake will not be made again!

I am doing great since and let me tell ya-that mistake will not be made again!

Good for you. I think that hurrying is what causes most med errors. Even when you are very pressured for time, always pause a few moments to read through every word of the order, and make sure you get out the right med, and give it to the right person.

I once gave insulin to the wrong pt. Two pts in the same room, same last name. No name alert was posted on the chart or pt's door. It was noc shift and the room was dark. My fault. I reported it. I felt awful having to explain to the pt what I'd done and waking her up q 1 hr to check her bs. She was nice about it. No harm to the pt, thank God.

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