Am I required to report med errors?

[suewolfie08]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this board. I've been a nurse now for less than a year, and this is my most recent burning question. Is med error reporting a state-by-state law, or do hospitals just each have their own policy regarding this? I cannot find my hospital's policy and I don't want to ask anyone. I forgot to halve a pill (demadex), notified the doctor, charted that the incorrect dose was given, charted that the MD was notified, charted that I was monitoring the blood pressure, etc. Nothing adverse happened. Should I fill out a reportable event form and give it to my manager? I really don't want to, but I don't want to make things worse for myself either. Thoughts? On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad of an error was this?

[fultzymom]

Patient was fine so it wasn't a huge deal. But it could have been. At my facility there is an incident form that must be filled out. It is an inner office form. No one else sees it. A copy goes into your file and one is kept by the DON. I would say there would be some kind of form that you have to fill out for your facility to keep track of. I would ask your manager.

Is it your policy to document in the nurse notes a med error? We do not put that it the nurse notes. Everything is kept seperate by the DON. Just currious.

[onyx77]

It scares me that this would even be a question. Why wouldn't you report it and fill out an incident report? You took all the right chanels with notifying the DR and all - why not report it? If anything they can use the reports to see if there is a problem with the med system used at your facility or look into other factors. The fact that the pt is alright doesn't mean that this couldn't have been a detrimental situation. We were always told that any med error needs to be reported. I had to do it the last week of clinicals when I read a BGT wrong and didn't give enough insulin - pt was fine, but if I wouldn't have caught it and been honest about it things could have been different. I was told by the supervisor that the report is used to find trends in errors. Why not just be honest with the report as well? You were honest with everything else, right? If anything to cover your butt. You already have it domumented that you made a med error - won't they question why a report wasn't filled out?

[CHATSDALE]

incident report should have been filled out when error was noted

never a reason when this would not be required that i can think of

[lorilou22RN]

You have to fill out an incident report, and notify your manager. This is the ethical thing to do. Fortunately, nothing happened to the patient, but you are obligated to report this. Never question something like this, your job is to protect and advocate for the patient, despite your fears of remediation. You are not the only one this has happened too, and your manager will appreciate your honesty.

[suewolfie08]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I'm sure it's not too late to fill out the form, so I'm going to go ahead and do it. Now I feel really bad for not knowing this!

[jenn27]

ALL nurses make errors. it sounds like you monitored the pt and notified the MD. You should let your supervisor know.

[Blackcat99]

I work in an assisted living facility as an LPN charge nurse. We have med aides who make frequent errors with meds. I told a med aide to write up an incident report about an antiviral med for shingles she had forgotten to give. She "went over my head" and called the RN supervisor about it.:angryfire The RN supervisor told her she didn't have to fill out an incident report because it wasn't an antibiotic. So now I don't tell anyone to fill out incident reports. Why bother, if the RN supervisor is not going to back me up?