Almost fired for med error

[mellybelly27]

I've been a nurse for nearly 9 years now, working in ER, Urgent care and NICU. A couple days ago I was working my shift in the ER and I accidentally gave a patient oxy/acetaminophen instead of hydro/acetaminophen. I told the charge nurse and the Dr right away. The Dr made no big deal and changed the order. The patient was fine, thankfully. I did an incident report and talked to my director. This went up to the CNO and she wanted me fired! My director went to bat for me and I'm now on probation for 90 days. I have no history of write ups, unprofessional behavior, NOTHING. I'm so upset over this and just don't want to go to work anymore. Feel like I'm walking on eggshells now and that's not good when you're working in the ER. I'm looking for a new job but that might look even worse. Any input would be appreciated. I don't know what to do.

[ponymom]

Your CNO dislikes you personally for some reason. I can't imagine any

other reason why she would want to make such a huge deal of one

med error that you reported right away and no one was injured.

Either that, or it isn't anything personal, she would just love to replace

someone with so much experience, for a newer nurse."

Or a lower paid new nurse.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Exactly Sour Lemon

I believe that you are experiencing unfair treatment and certainly know what it's like to feel as if you have a target on your back =. Best thing to do is hold your head high and get back in there. Don't let them see you in defeat. Certain people will gain a new respect for you.

hppy

[Jolie, BSN]

I believe the only way to get to the bottom of this is to request a meeting with the CNO. If you do so, please have a witness present who supports you, such as your manager, and/or the physician who assisted you in resolving the issue.

If you don't wish to do this, I completely understand, but then recommend that you put it behind you, which of course is easier said than done.

Best wishes to you.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Watch self reporting go the way of the tan M&M, if this is what happens. Most people can't be expected to risk their livelihood for an incident report. I'm so sorry this happened to you!

[Ben_Dover]

Time heals all wounds and what ever distaste you may have with your current employer will fade away.

And yes, go ahead and make an appointment with your CNO but with a representative from your Union or a witness. But before meeting with them, review your policy and guidelines regarding "near" miss vs full blown med. errors.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

I have witnessed this before. The CNO was one of those straight through to MSN/MBA people who never worked as a nurse. She was clueless about what the job actually entailed. You just cannot teach what being a nurse is LIKE from books. Hang in there.

[oldpsychnurse]

Most hospitals I've worked at in the past 15-20 years have gone to anonymous incident reports to encourage the reporting of med errors and other issues so administration can work towards eliminating them. Then I came to my most recent employer. They require the name of the person making the incident report and the nurse manager of that unit is required to investigate. This particular hospital would rather punish nurses by giving them a "level" than look at any kind of mistake as a teachable moment. It's been a long, long time since I've seen such puntative management. Unless a patient almost died, I would be very reluctant to write an incident report if I made a med error, or found one made by another nurse. And that's a shame, because I've always been very upfront the few times I did make a med error. But that's what happens when punishment is more important than patient safety.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

The only benefit I can think of is that if it influenced her pay in anyway or if she wanted you fired over the change in medications.

[VANurse2010]

Why did you write it up if the doctor changed the order? Why do people insist on hanging themselves?

[scoope23]

My sentiments exactly! Who would want to report med errors under fear of this type of retaliation. Poor environment to learn from mistakes.

It's lovely stories like these that make me reluctant to write up any medication error where a patient is not harmed or in danger of being harmed.

[emmaespanola]

That is such an easy mistake to make when you are time pressured as the names are so similiar. You were honest straight away which I don't think should be penalised, the patient was fine. Ok so it's not great that it happened but your track record is good. You've been there for 9 years surely that should count for something. Also if it's something they are worried about perhaps they should put a special coloured label on it to make sure it can't happen again. Also perhaps you could set up a meeting explaining how you feel with some sort of independant medical professional present so that at least it's out in the open. You might feel better explaining how bad you feel about things and that you want to ensure it never happens again, I wish you all the best!

[Libby1987]

That's so outrageous that I'm suspect. How do you know that the CNO wants you fired? Could the CNO actually be leaning on the director for a series of something?