Patient died from 8GMs of Dilantin

I recently spoke with a RN who was working in that ER when that happened. She told me that the nurse who gave the dilantin was a know it all and that she and others had noticed her with all those vials!

Evidently they did nothing!

Real Nice.

How very sad for the paitent,,,,,, if staff was watching, that makes them just as bad, even if she was a know it all type,,,,,,,, people learn by mistakes, but that was a big one,,,,,,, someone should of spoken up and questioned it. So now she has lost it all and the patient lost their life. What a sad world. I know i would question it and if that Nurse didn't listen, i would bring it to Doctors attention or hospital supervisior.

and this nurse notified her administrator and BON????????????
Hello........... we're talking deceased patient, preventable death and they allowed this to happen because WHY?????????????

I am an American living in Australia. Here in Australia, all injections, and ivs must be checked by 2 nurses. Including doing the math for special orders. Doesn't matter what area (ECC, ICU, CCU or the wards. Even on nights when there is only 2 RNs, you still have to, if that other RN is busy you can take it across the hall to the next ward. This helps with safe gaurding things like this happening. Here also,,,,,, all peds medications must be double checked from orals to injections.

Here we have RNs, EENs (whom does medications) and ENs (who do not do meds). You must check with either an RN or EEN. Its a pain, but it works to help prevent accidents just like this.

And if 2 nurses can't agree on amount to give, than we get a third person or ring the Doctor to double check orders.

In addition to this fiasco, the doctor is filing a "wrongful termination suit"? Now that's amazing to me! IMO, he can get ready for a medical malpractice suit for which he, the nurse, and the hospital will be named.
I see NO defense in this situation for any party. A terrible, catastrophic mistake.
ebear

I have been reading the posts, and as a current nursing student (3rd semester out of 4). This is just a reinforcement as to why we are told over and over again to check and recheck orders, meds, dosages, patients, et al.

I have been trying to find the original article, however since the incident happened so long ago, the newspaper's website doesn't have access to it anymore.

Does anyone know where I can find the article? I want to bring it in for discussion...
Thanks!

Full text on the first post here: http://www.emrupdate.com/forums/p/8306/62217.aspx

I must disagree with my friend above; that doc did nothing wrong. The nurse, on the other hand...

Sheesh. At what point when you're pulling up 32 vials of anything do you stop to think, "Gee, something just doesn't seem right here..."

I walked in the med room to find one of our nurses pulling up vial after vial of Hepflush. Syringes everywhere. When I asked what the heck was she doing, she said she had a new order for 5000 units of SC heparin. That's when you just wanna

this is unbelievable. i was having an ok day until i read this. i know this is old but my goodness I do know that it is also the nurse's responsibility to double check orders after they are given. That is not even right.

Perhaps the real crime is that a patient can't afford his medication. If he had taken the med, he'd have not been in the ER to begin with.

Shame on America and the money-grubbing vermin who put their own wealth before everyone's health.

So they allowed her to kill a patient in order to teach her a lesson.

They should be prosecuted as accessories to murder.