Am i fully to blame for this or did my mentor act complacement.

[tinkerbell419]

I would be so grateful for anyone who answers this, because making me very stressed.

On my last placement in a childrens hospital, i made a medication error.

The child takes two meds both of which are the same colour. However one of them is actually for oral thrush and is to be given into the mouth on a foam stick. The other is by NG tube.

Now my mentor never bothered to tell me which one is which. In fact i didnt even know until i made the error, which i think is quite bad. Ive onyl ever seen the child have the ng tube medication, i didnt even know she had one which went in her mouth.

Anyway, i was pushin the oral thursh medication down the ng tube and her mom looked up at me and said "hang on a minute, that doesnt go down her tube, its for her mouth"

I stood there and said "oh no!, your got to be kidding me, im sorry i didnt even know what this stuff is, however its only for mouth thrush, it wont hurt her and it will just pass out of her, and she is due more later. I didnt tell my emtnor, i was frightened to death.

My mentor found out and was questioning me, i said im sorry i should have told you, but i was frightened, i dont want to be chucked off the course.

I now realise i must get over my fears and tell my mentor no matter what. I have learnt from what happened, and next time im only giving meds in the presence of another nurse.

But do you think my mentor is to blame in some respect???????

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I think its a fake now.

I'm not sure because the OP seems very invested in this thread. Usually trolls post a few times and move on.

Though if the OP is real, the knowledge deficit they're showing regarding medications is very frightening.

[psu_213, BSN, RN]

There are some people on here who over and over again try and point out how nursing and healthcare are much better in England/Britain. If this how "good" nursing students are trained on that side of pond, then I hope I am never a patient over there.

Also, in England, do they capitalize a lone "I" and use apostrophes in contractions?

[Sparrowhawk]

Yeah...I know a lot of British and European folk....they type correctly. It's not that...something's just not right here, brah. And another thing, even on an Iphone one *can* type correctly, my girl does it all the time....so. *hijackingthread*

[wooh, BSN, RN]

There are some people on here who over and over again try and point out how nursing and healthcare are much better in England/Britain. If this how "good" nursing students are trained on that side of pond, then I hope I am never a patient over there.

If we judged entire healthcare systems based on a few AN posts, I'd have to say the U.S. system is going to lose.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

There are some people on here who over and over again try and point out how nursing and healthcare are much better in England/Britain. If this how "good" nursing students are trained on that side of pond, then I hope I am never a patient over there.

Also, in England, do they capitalize a lone "I" and use apostrophes in contractions?

Ok now I am going to jump in, please don't judge a system you know little about.

To the OP if your a student in the UK (I am guessing so since you mention the BNF) what on earth were you doing giving medications unsupervised, this is NOT allowed. In which case yes your mentor is absolutely responsible as he should have been monitoring your practice and administration. That said, you will also know your limitations and should have refused, so you are also accountable by your act

Can I suggest you visit the NMC website and look at the code, standards for administration of medicines and then read through some of the conduct hearings.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

Here are some links for you

Guidance for students | Nursing and Midwifery Council

Standards | Nursing and Midwifery Council

You'll find the standards for medicines management in that link.

Hearings | Nursing and Midwifery Council

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

I've moved this to the UK forum as I believe your a UK student so will get more appropriate responses here.

If this is not the case let me know and I'll pop it back

[kgh31386, BSN, MSN, RN]

We aren't here to make you cry. But we are just wanting to stress to you the importance of what you did. I think you do realize what happened and may need to have a to do list in the future to avoid confusion and mistakes of this sort. This way you can concentrate on things better when they come up. I take back my negative comments because I can't judge you or your ability from an online forum. good luck with the criticism you have given yourself and I hope it turns around for you. I do apologize for my words earlier.

[tinkerbell419]

Its fine, and thankyou to everyone, i really mean that.

I dont want this to be moved to a UK forum, i just want closure on the whole thing. I would like this thread to now be closed.

I dont know what else can be said that hasnt already been said to me in way of advice and criticism, and i need to try and just move forward from this, otherwise my studies will get affected and i will just get ill from all the stress.

I have thought about this carefully in my head, and i will be seeking academic support and clinical support when i go back out onto placement. I will make my next mentor aware of my wekanesses and i am also aware of what work i need to do between now and the next time i have my clinical placement.

I would like to be able to move on now, to calm myself down, and focus on my studies.

I know i cant change the past but i am in control of my future, and how to make my placements work for me.

Ive really learnt a lot now on how to conduct myself on placement, and that you must take action for your own learning.

I did say that i felt abandoned on placement and this is something that happens all too often, students end up feeling alone and in the deep end as a result. I do feel my mentor should have been around more, thats just my honest opinion though.

As i say id like to be able to move on and keep a clear head, i cant ruin my health as i wont be good to anybody.

Thankyou.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Closing this thread as requested by the OP