Boy, did I mess up :(

[soon_2Bnurse]

I have been an LPN for quite a few years. Just last May I graduated with my RN. For the last 5 years I have worked in a correctional facility. Once I had my RN I worked at a hospital that was over an hour drive away and was so very grateful to have been given the opportunity for a job 15mins from home. That job is in a youth facility.

I went through training, and was on my 3rd night shift on my own, when I accidentally called the wrong parent about a patient. The parent didn't catch that I said the wrong name on my greeting. I was looking in the MAR's and I had the wrong facesheet up when I called the parent. It wasn't until I began to inform the parent of the patients wellbeing that they said to me how could this be concerning their child, that I realized my mistake. I apologized profusely, and the parent was relieved it wasn't their child. I then contacted the DON and let her know. Now, risk management asked for a statement, which I gave in detail. But boy am I scared. I can't believe I made such a HUGE mistake. I fear for my job and I fear for my license.

Any words of encouragement out ther would be greatly appreciated.

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

You did what you needed to do by apologizing to the parent & contacting the DON; I'm sure they'll consider that heavily. I bet it won't happen again. Be prepared to tell what you'll do in the future to prevent this from occurring again. Now you'll know to verify the parent's name & the child's. Tip: I have had close calls when relying on calling their name out; they anticipate it, so they think they hear it. I have learned that it is important to have them say their name when feasible. Nurses aren't perfect; it helps that you were honest! Good luck.

[merlee]

I can't speak for your job, although this doesn't sound too bad to me. But this is definitely not something the BON would be too concerned about. Nothing happened to anybody, and it's unlikely that the facility would report this.

[tamadrummer]

Not one human being was harmed in this! You have to keep that in perspective! Risk management wants a statement because they always want a statement. It gives them a record so if heaven forbid this situation is brought up, they can mitigate the situation before escalation.

Relax and enjoy being an RN. If you gave the wrong med and injured said child, I could see you totally freaking out but making a call to the wrong person and correcting it before any action could be taken by the wrong parent does not under any circumstance warrant having your license revoked.

[M/B-RN]

You seem like an honest person, I doubt your facility would let you go. It's your job to report mistakes, and now it's just their job to do the proper paperwork, as threatening as it may feel it's only done to be thorough. Best wishes!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

As others have said, no one was harmed though you gave a parent a good scare. It could have been worse.

IMO, in the grand scheme of things, this isn't a horrible mistake. I sincerely doubt that you will lose your license over this. I don't know about your job but I also doubt you'd lose it: you may have to face some disciplinary action, but I can't see them sacking you over this.

Talk to risk management and your manager. Don't look at the incident report as being punitive, but as a way of both you and the facility CYAs as well as helping to ensure you avoid making the same mistake again.

Hang in there!

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

I've done this once. You made an honest mistake. I'm sure you will be just fine.

[RNFiona]

I wouldn't have said anything

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

I wouldn't have said anything

You DEFINITELY did the right thing by bringing it up on your own. If you hadn't, and for some reason the parents of this child decided to complain, you would be in big trouble. Accountability is very important in nursing.

Like others have said, risk management probably wants it to cover their butts. They also use it to teach. If they keep getting incident reports on disclosures to wrong people, they will realize they need to train, figure out ways to avoid this, etc.

So, can you lose your job? Maybe. It doesn't seem likely, but it is in the realm of possibility. I think if you were to get fired, you probably would have already.

Can you lose your licence over this? No. No one was hurt, much less on purpose, you didn't steal, show up to work under the influence. I invite you to take a look at the website for your BON, and take a look at the reasons nurses have had their licences taken away, or had restrictions placed on them. Should make you feel better.

Only thing I can think of would be if you were reported for a HIPAA violation to JCAHO or the powers that be.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Risk Mgmt will probably devise a way to decrease the chances of this ever happening again; such as writing everything out on something like an SBAR form that would include the clients's name and and ID as we'll as the parent's name and phone number and perhaps STRONGLY insist that you have all other information set aside as you 'call report' so-to-speak. In this day in age, it is RARE that someone does something that has never been done before. I know you feel awful but what you did helps Risk Management to head off future occurrences. If anything, they will more than likely shove HIPAA and confidentiality down your throat again. Try not to worry. And oh yeah, don't do that again. (smile)

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Risk Mgmt will probably devise a way to decrease the chances of this ever happening again; such as writing everything out on something like an SBAR form that would include the clients's name and and ID as we'll as the parent's name and phone number and perhaps STRONGLY insist that you have all other information set aside as you 'call report' so-to-speak. In this day in age, it is RARE that someone does something that has never been done before. I know you feel awful but what you did helps Risk Management to head off future occurrences. If anything, they will more than likely shove HIPAA and confidentiality down your throat again. Try not to worry. And oh yeah, don't do that again. (smile)

Sorry about the typos. iPad has a mind of its on with its automatic insertions.......

[soon_2Bnurse]

Thank you all for the kind words! I am so disappointed in myself to have lost focus like that. I was so worried in my head about having all the right answers for the parent, that I didn't realize I was on the wrong facesheet. It's a new job with a totally different amount of paperwork required (due to minors being involved). Regardless of the outcome (excluding BON) I have learned a lesson to slow down.