Been a nurse for 5 years... now 2 med errors in one week. Help.

[jen42]

I am a wreck, and feeling pretty wretched. I'm in my last week of a job in an outpatient clinic, administering injectable meds (doing other things too, but this is what I screwed up on.) My first error, two patients of the same name, gave one a shot she didn't need (but luckily didn't hurt her.) Second error, gave an allergy patient the wrong mix- someone else's- and luckily no harm was done. I am so thankful neither error had a negative impact on the patient's health, or I would be beating my head against the wall right now. I offered my manager to cancel my remaining 2-3 shifts, but she declined and said I need to learn from the experience. I'm glad she has faith in me.

My upcoming job does NOT involve administering meds, it's mostly patient education with a little phone triage. This is somewhat of a relief- but I do have a few shifts left at the old job.

Is my license at risk? I have terrible visions of being sanctioned, or losing my license altogether. I looked up the WA state nursing sanction guidelines... you can be sanctioned for even one med error. I so love nursing, I have no clue what I would do.

I have put a plan into place for my next shift, with the help of nurse and QA friends, to make sure I am religiously sticking to the "5 rights", am arranging to have another RN check my allergy shot setup before I give them, and I also am taking 3 CEUs in safe medication administration before my next shift. I don't know what else to do. I'm so worried and upset and feeling like an awful nurse, I've been crying for days.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Please be constructive, you don't need to tell me how terrible this could have been, or how terrible I have been, I've been telling myself for days.

[hotnurse84]

Don't beat yourself up...it's human to make errors. And the people are okay so you ok. I'm pretty sure the sanctions that would be taken for med errors would be reallllyy baddd med errors where the patient was harmed or killed. Yes you should do your 5 rights and it is nice to have someone double check ur meds...However, you have to be comfortable enough and more sure of yourself in the future because you might not always have that other person to double check you or they may grow tired of having to do so. you want others to be comfortable with your nursing skills and trust you. You've been a nurse for 5 yrs...is this your first med errors? if so that's not bad. maybe you just had a lot on your mind lately with your new job coming up....Anyways good luck!! people make mistakes, we learn from them.

[rayhay]

i think that as long as you have learned from these mistakes you will be ok...actually, you will probably be a better nurse now!! (of course im not reccomending doing this, but we DO learn from our mistakes)....

you already know this, but maybe you need to hear it again.

im sure u remember a time when you were in grade school and you spelled a word wrong on a spelling test and beat yourself up about it... i bet you've never misspelled that word again, and probably took extra time to check all other words after that test.

this situation is understandably difficult, but tell yourself that you have taken time to think and learn from it, and will now be a better nurse

it will all work out in the end- everything happens for a reason

[twinpumpkin]

Everyone makes med errors but not everyone admits them. Good for you for being proactive and taking responsibility for your actions. Great idea to take the CE course. Don't let this ruin your confidence. Good luck in your next job!

[katkonk, BSN, RN]

Just as a side note, I usually find that when errors are made it is because the person is (a) trying to rush too much (b) overly tired and not getting enough sleep and/or © overly stressed about something that is acting as a distraction or (d) there is too much chaos and noise in the work environment to allow concentration. Advice, slow down, be deliberate and "in the moment" in everything you do. Don't be thinking about blah, blah, blah (-fill in the blank-) when you are drawing up injections and getting ready to medicate someone.

If you aren't getting enough sleep, tackle that. And, yes, we all make mistakes, but the allergy one was potentially a big one. You just learn and go on, but carefully. It is a very, very good lesson.

[RubyRaven]

Yeah, I wouldnt worry too much about that. Its your first mistake, and thankfully no harm was done. Ive seen mistakes much worse, and harmless mistakes. I accidentally gave a patient colace when it wasnt ordered. No harm done, and in the end the doctor ended up signing an order of colace for the patient. No corrective action was taken, my RN just told me to more alert, and I was. I've seen Lovenox given to the wrong patient and in the arm. I've seen wrong IV fluids hung. people make mistakes all the time. Really, if your going to beat yourself up about it, beat yourself up about serious mistakes, like narcotics. My RN gave scheduled Demerol to her patient, but forgot to sign off on it, and during the change of shift, it wasn't mentioned, so the following RN gave the patient another dose of Demerol within 10 mins. It wasn't caught until two hours later when the previous RN came back in and said she forgot to sign off the demerol. An incident report was filed, both nurses were given a counseling statement, and in services on medication error had to be given by them. Another RN of mine, gave a patient an overdose of morphine because the doctor was new and worse the order wrong.

[nursel56]

I don't think anyone would criticize you- no nurse is perfect! You are being pro-active! Are you a traveler? (mentioned "last few shifts" and "next job") I wonder if Travel Nurses find lack of familiarity ever stressful enough to cause a more frequent lapse in focus. Those allergy serums are extra-dicey, that's for sure!! Personally, I am far more inclined to remember in vivid detail a miss or near-miss to the point it probably makes me a safer nurse, overall.

[tewdles, RN]

You are okay...take a deep breath...and remember that most errors are made because of distraction, so adjust to decrease distractions and interruptions where possible.

Good luck.

[NocturneNrse]

Ok Dear.. so you're human.. and it sounds to me that your supervisor sees this too.

Don't be so freaked out over it (yeah, I know that's tough), but it's true.. you will learn from it!

Those are the lessons that truly stick with us! And stop beating yourself up over it, no harm was done, a lesson was learned, and you're still a wonderful caring nurse who does a damn good job!! :redbeathe :heartbeat :redbeathe

[mamamerlee, LPN]

You won't get sanctioned if no one reports you to the board, and that doesn't seem likely. Same name things are vexing, especially if you are not aware that there is someone else with that name. Check birthdates/SSN.

You are going to be okay, we are all human.

Go get some Haagen Daz Chocolate Chocolate Chip, put a romantic movie on, and relax for a while. Take care of yourself. You are obviously a caring, concerned person.

[horrorxgirl]

Don't beat yourself up. You realize that you have made errors and you are doing what you can to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's all you can do. I don't see your license being in trouble. People are human and mistakes happen.

My son is 4 1/2 years old and has never had any real injuries, and has never needed hospitalized for anything and I'm super cautious with him all of the time. But one day when he was 2, I had to call Poison Control on him twice in one day. Twice! Once for finding an ant trap behind the fridge and trying to play it like a harmonica. And once because I picked up a bottle of my synthroid 100mcg with four tabs left in it off of my counter and set it down on the kitchen table so I could call in a refill. I turned my back for less than a minute and turned around to find him standing there with my bottle in one hand and the cap in the other and all the pills gone. So much for child safety caps. What the hell are the chances of that? I had never had to call before then or since. I was terrified that CYS was going to come knocking on my door after that incident. Everyone makes mistakes. You are lucky nothing bad happened, just as I was lucky my son didn't end up hurting himself that day.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

EVERY nurse I've worked with has made a med error. We're not stupid, we're just human.