A sobering story-------

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2015

This article is so poorly written that I couldn't force myself to read the entire thing.

Much better article here:

Nurse's suicide highlights twin tragedies of errors - Health - Health care | NBC News

cindy_rn456 · Nov 28, 2015

I'm not suggesting that there be no consequences. I guess from my early experience I've seen nurses (literally) get away with murder and go on with their careers without a mark! And I'm sure there are plenty of other mistakes that get swept under the rug. It seems getting caught is a matter of luck or favoritism or damn good lawyer. That's why I feel the med error system isn't effective. It only works when mistakes are actually reported, otherwise, truly egregious sins go under the BON radar..

elkpark · Nov 28, 2015

This article is so poorly written that I couldn't force myself to read the entire thing.
Much better article here:
Nurse's suicide highlights twin tragedies of errors - Health - Health care | NBC News

You're right, that's a much better article. And it mentions that additional concerns about the nurse besides just the one error came out in the investigation.

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2015

There is usually more to the story.

lunchboxRN · Nov 28, 2015

my point exactly!! It could have been anyone. She was a 25 year veteran and it happened to her. (That should be a lesson to all the 'nurses who like to eat their young'). New grads are the only ones who make mistakes. It could have been any of us. Although there should be a matching consequences I don't think nurses should automatically striped of their libidinous and sanity. We're human beings and life can happen.

This is a sad event for everyone. Including the nurse's family who is now suffering.

Not sure why you bring up NETY here. No one claimed they have never or would never make a mistake. Most of us know that if we haven't yet, we will at some point. This nurse made a basic mistake of not paying attention when drawing up a med.

(As a newer nurse, I have yet to meet these "old" nurses who are foaming at the mouth to exert their dominance over me.)

NursesRmofun, ASN, RN · Nov 28, 2015

Of course I feel for this woman...and the family of the baby, as they have to ask themselves "what if the nurse had not made that mistake, would she be alive", and we all make mistakes. I do think it is sobering...and we all need to remember to pay attention to what we are doing. That is what I get out of the article and post.

cindy_rn456 · Nov 28, 2015

This is a sad event for everyone. Including the nurse's family who is now suffering.
Not sure why you bring up NETY here. No one claimed they have never or would never make a mistake. Most of us know that if we haven't yet, we will at some point. This nurse made a basic mistake of not paying attention when drawing up a med.
(As a newer nurse, I have yet to meet these "old" nurses who are foaming at the mouth to exert their dominance over me.)

i brought it up because a lot of veteran nurses thumb there nose at new grads for not knowing things that only Come with experience and act as though they've made it into nursing 20+ years by never making a mistake

brownbook · Nov 28, 2015

A child dies, lives are saved.

An experienced nurse miscalculated a medication dose resulting in the death of an 8 month old child.

The nurse immediately reported the mistake. The events leading up to the mistake were analyzed while fresh in her mind. She was then escorted to a counselor for support and therapy. Mandatory weekly appts were arranged with the counselor. She was placed on admimstrative leave. She returned to part time work in the education dept.teaching a class on medication errors. Eventually she returned to full time work in a different department.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2015

Tones like this are what make it so hard for nurses to come forward after a mistake and openly admit it without everyone judging. Once a mistake is made don't you think we beat ourselves up enough without outside scrutiny? This article is so relevant! The amount of pressure (sanctions on your license or jail time or costly lawsuits) put on you for one mistake. There are cops out here killing people for nothing and walking away scotch free, but nurses are held accountable for being human and making mistakes?? This just shows the problem with our thinking and the system. No matter how good of a nurse you are all that suddenly goes away because you made a mistake and now you must wear the scarlet letter (no future employment as a nurse)?? She felt bad enough for the manslaughter of the child so much so that she took her own...smh

Of course nurses will be held accountable for killing someone with a med error. Are you suggesting otherwise? Now, we can debate about what the consequences should be, but there is no way that making an error of that magnitude such that it kills someone should not draw "outside scrutiny" and accountability.

I think if a med error resulted in the death of any of our own children, we'd be asking for accountability.

It's a sad tale, and when things like this happen, the whole system has to be examined to see if there are factors present which can contribute to an error like that. But the nurse in question admitted that she was talking to someone while drawing up a medication. That's simply not appropriate when dealing with IV medications, and in particular, when dealing with that specific population.

Even if she'd faced no sanctions from her facility or the BON, she would have been sued by the family. There was no way she was going to walk away from that unscathed, even as she was punishing herself internally as well. The article says that the family said they didn't want to pursue the matter, but in my experience working for a PI lawyer (before I became a nurse), families often change their minds before the statute of limitations expires. After they have time to think about it, they often take action.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2015

I don't think nurses should automatically striped of their libidinous and sanity. We're human beings and life can happen.

I don't think you actually meant to say that.

cindy_rn456 · Nov 28, 2015

I don't think you actually meant to say that.

*livilihood and sanity

and yes I do think that we need to rethink and revamp or med error system.

elkpark · Nov 28, 2015

A child dies, lives are saved.
An experienced nurse miscalculated a medication dose resulting in the death of an 8 month old child.
The nurse immediately reported the mistake. The events leading up to the mistake were analyzed while fresh in her mind. She was then escorted to a counselor for support and therapy. Mandatory weekly appts were arranged with the counselor. She was placed on admimstrative leave. She returned to part time work in the education dept.teaching a class on medication errors. Eventually she returned to full time work in a different department.

It's not clear to me what you're saying here. Are you saying this is a situation you personally witnessed? An example of how you would like to see serious med errors handled?