Medication Errors

It happens. Don't sweat it. It was caught, and surely the night nurse gave it. You are not an "incompetent nurse"--you are only human. This is a minor med error!

Hey Mel. Thanks for the post...things seem to be going better. I talked to my boss about this and she said just do not get in a hurry. She said to make medications my priority right now and slow down and take time for them. I agree and it seems to be helping. I missed one thing the other night, and ended up catching it and retiming the schedule.

ADD? I don't know...it seems like medications for that upset all sorts of neurohormonal processes in a body.

So many days are busy...that is the norm now. Management wants us to do it all--and get out on time. Just not possible!

slooow it down. and just take your time.

Hi,
I can understand where you are coming from. I have been a nurse for 3 years and i made my first med error on Friday and I have only been working there for about a month. Its like my heart dropped to the bottom of my feet. The patient wasn't harmed but she could have easily been harmed. Right after it happened, I did not even want to be at work anymore. I just wanted to quit right then and there. I asked all the whys, hows, whats. After i talked to my family and friends and my supervisor, I feel much better. Tomorrow I go back to work and I am nervous that fingers will be pointed at me as the new nurse that made a med error.

Anyway, hang in there. I am trying to do the same.

No matter what others soothe me to get me out of the misery, I keep blaming myself for any med error or mistakes I've made. I know this kind of attitude is not helping me at all. But I sometimes think that I have no right to eat good food, enjoy life, or laugh. I feel so rewarded when I see my patients smiling and getting well. I always thought nursing was my career. Now I'm really doubtful. I don't know whether I can survive if I make a critical mistake.
I can, of course, say "You can never be too careful". But errors and mistakes happen. This thought makes me depressed and paranoid.
I hope you overcome your stress and become strong. I will also do my best.

I feel I am far too busy to be as careful as I really should be. A lot of these posts say, slow down, but I really cannot, with my load.

The load has increased so much since I first started 2 years ago, that I often have to prioritize, and just not do certain things, like changing linen, care plan documentation, etc. We are chronically short staffed, and whereas we used to close beds when we were short, there is no such thing now (translation: hospital greed). Some days, in fact most days, all I can do is get the meds out, with the quickest of assessments, and get pts fed who need it. It is rare that everything is on time, really rare. This is a recipe for error if ever there was one!

You have been given good advice. One of your biggest enemies in administering medications as a nurse is a busy schedule. The nurse who feels pressured to hurry through ANY part of the process is at great risk to make a mistake. So, at the risk of being redundant, slow down, take the time that you need to insure that you are safely administering meds, follow the basic rules...right patient, right med, right time, right route, right dose.

My philosophy is I can't achieve perfection but can aim for excellency. That being said, I'm surprised we don't have more errors when use one computor to look up the MAR (that computer isn't in the med room with the Pyxxis) so we write the meds down. Then we go to the med room to remove them from the Pyxxis. Then we go to the room and scan the nameband and the medication. This procedure does help to not give wrong meds but I think it contributes to missed and late meds.