Anyone not making med errors?

confused101 · Jul 20, 2007

oh believe me I'm not. That pharm is notorious for making mistakes. I'm just saying it's alittle easier when I can't remember who is who. I still ask pt. about stuff and I always question why the med is ordered in the first place. There is nothing better than the original order. :) I think it is more for billing myself, but that is just me!

MadisonsMomRN, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2007

I totally agree with everyone else... we all make errors. You just need to learn from the mistake and take care in not letting it happen again.

One thing you should NEVER do is try to cover it up. That can come bite you in the butt later!

I made an error last week. There was an order for Toradol 60mg IM x1 and I gave 30mg. One vial is 30mg and I should have drawn up 2... I had to go stick the patient AGAIN. He was not happy! (EEK!)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2007

I'd like to say I haven't made a med error, but I have. I haven't made one in many years.

It's not mandatory to be a nurse and make a med error. Be afraid, be alert, follow your rights each and every time, don't cut corners and stay focused. The med errors I've made have always been when I was stressed and overwhelmed. That became a red flag to me. Knowing I was stressed caused me to slow down and focus.

Hang in there and good luck. Learning from a near miss is important.

crissrn27, RN · Jul 21, 2007

I remember the first med error I made, it actually was the only one I can remember that was completely not my fault. It was my 3rd day as a brand new LPN, still in school and working part time in a LTC place. While helping my preceptor give out meds to our 32 residents, I did all the things I was supposed to do, went in to give the meds, checked wristband of resident, gave them to her, and walked back to my preceptor. She asked something like "did ms annie take them well, she sometimes just stares out the window and ignores you"..........and I said "out the window, she is on the other side of the room, does she walk over?" or something like that. Well, come to find out, someone had put the wrong band on the patient, and both of them in the room being confused and non-verbal, that didn't help. Thank goodness it was just an aspirin and a vitamin! I have made a few mistakes since then that were my fault, with 32 residents to give meds to when I was doing LTC, I probably have made lots that I don't know about. I would suggest NOT trying to give out 10+ meds to 32 residents in 2 hours, if you don't want to make mistakes. I finally figured this out and changed to newborn nursery-they don't get many meds!

EmmaG, RN · Jul 21, 2007

During RN school, I worked as an LPN. The first place I went was a little private nursing home (150 beds), and I only lasted a few days (maybe a week).

The place scared me to death. It was staffed on day shift with 3 LPNs who divided the halls equally and did all treatments and meds. On my first day of passing meds to 50 little old people, I asked why NO ONE wore an armband. The director of the home felt armbands were undignified, and instead relied on Polaroid shots taken on the person's admission to the home.

I looked at the photos of these little old men and women, and in the shots they're all dressed up nice in their Sunday best, shaven, permed blue hair, etc.

Then I look at the people in front of me.

:stone

I went to the director and told her of my concern, and that I really didn't feel comfortable with how they did things; she was very nice, and we agreed that I'd resign, no notice needed.

GeminiTwinRN, BSN · Jul 21, 2007

I knowingly committed a med error, because I did not administer a p.o. dose of MS Contin since it was not available. Not only did I make this med error with complete awareness, I also wrote it up and placed it in my nurse manager's box. There are other med errors that I have made but, thankfully, they were minor. We are all human, and we become fatigued, overwhelmed, stressed, distracted, overworked, and flustered. These things get in the way of perfection because they are integral aspects of humanness...

I'm curious about this "error". At the hospital where I work, that would not be considered a med error at all. Rather, that would be charted as "med unavailable", and ultimately fall back on pharmacy. Of course, as soon as we realize the dose is unavailable, we send a request to pharmacy to replace the dose ASAP and then chart when it was actually given. In the case of a scheduled med like MS Contin, the pharmacy would input new times based on the time the med was available. (if that makes sense, lol!)

It's hard enough on us nurses who do make errors, gosh I'd hate to have to report the NUMEROUS times a med was unavailable to us as errors!

Here's to an error- free weekend for all of us! :)

time4meRN · Jul 21, 2007

Just the good old law of averages. If nurses tell you they have never made a mistake then they arn't paying attention, too stupid to know or don't work with patients. The thing is , a little fear will lessen your chances of making a mistake. When the fear goes away, then you should worry. A little healthy fear never hurt any of us. Even after nursing for almost 30 years I still have a healthy fear of many things. There's a difference between healthy fear and paralizing fear.

TazziRN, RN · Jul 21, 2007

Thank you for the responses so far. This is the same thing many other nurses have told me as well. My near miss was in drawing up IV push ativan. The ordered dose came up to 1mL but I draw out all 2mLs that were in the vial. Preceptor asked me what the dose was and I immediately knew what I had done. I was horrified and really shaken up about it, but she was wonderfully supportive. I know I was a little "off" all day with a killer headache, but that is absolutely no excuse. I knew what the dose was, I just was not paying close enough attention. It is back to the 5 rights for me! Even though I know that in all likelyhood I will make med errors over the course of my career, I want to do everything I can to minimize them and prevent harm to the pts.

this is a very common error, because the brain says that 2 mg should be in 2 mls.

nurseaboveboard · Jul 21, 2007

Yep, any nurse who claims never to have made a med error either hasn't been a nurse very long or is telling less than the truth. We do so much to minimize making mistakes, yet we ARE human, therefore we err. Thanks.

fronkey bean · Jul 21, 2007

When the Pyxis med cabinets first came out I made the biggest med error I have ever made. Was pullingout meds for pt A, had checked the MAR and everything was right. Just as I was going to go give them someone asked me about pt B and I answered. Then w/o thinking I walked into pt B's room and gave him all of pt A's meds. Totally my fault, I didn't check armbands b/c I had had both pts for two days and knew them both well. I realized what I had done about halfway up the hall and about passed out (synthroid, dig., kcl, htn med, antibiotic, asa, lasix). I started frequency VS and called the MD for orders and, when I had the situation under control I went to chart and started crying and couldn't stop. My manager at the time came in right about then and I told her what I had done and how I had done it and she was very encouraging.

The point is, if you make a mistake acknowledge it, correct it and learn from it, then move on.

Love-A-Nurse · Jul 21, 2007

another point to consider, doctors are human too. "we" have to stop and think about their orders for our patients and if indeed it is the right patient.

granite109 · Jul 21, 2007

Emmanuel-

Very, very valid point, thanks.