Demerol 75 mg was given IV instead of IM. Fired!!!

[mirtesen]

Demerol 75 mg was given IV instead of IM. Fired!!!

Is it a misconduct? I was terminated and denied unemployment insurance.

Patient was not harmed. I started practicing under my RN license of Oklahoma 7 month ago. This was my first nursing job and I relocated for it (paid my relocation twice) from Texas to OK and back, when lost the job. The real reason for termination was a snow storm and I could not drive to work from the place I lived. I called the emergency truck to pick me up. My manager was furious and called me to her office few times for another reason. I was so fearful that she is going to fire me and I made an error. The time I found about it was next day in Human Resources, when I was fired. No variance report, no calling doctor for back IV order, no disciplinary, just simply terminated for misconduct.

Word MISCONDUCT bothering me. This is just a human error, which happens every day in hospitals!!! This was a personal issue not a misconduct. So, I filed the appeal for hearing with employer. At least my OK license is still displayed current online.

It is so hard to find an employment with only 7 months of experience! I believe that my 7 months of hard work 84 hours per pay period allow me to be qualified for unemployment insurance. I am just a human who wants to work, I am not asking for welfare.

Please, advise me what to do. If anyone was in similar situation. Thank you!

[Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN]

hate to tell you this but what i am reading is that you are not even accepting that you made a MAJOR med error. Callling a doc for a back order? that is techincally illegal and unethical. Learn from it and move on.

[mirtesen]

yes. I do accept I did make an error. First time incident, I moved on, I payed my move twice. Thank you for your reply.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

But what the above poster is saying is that you need to accept that this was a major med error that could have caused pt harm.

New employers are going to want to know what steps you have taken to rectify this knowledge deficit. Something like a pharmacy course?

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Your manager has called you into the office for other reasons. You couldn't get to work because of a snowstorm. Your employer made you so nervous that you made a mistake.

I see a lot of blame being thrown around and none of it seems to be your fault. I'm not sure what paying for your relocation twice has anything to do with anything. You screwed up, it sounds like in more than one way (the medical error).

Take responsibility for your position. Really reevaluate yourself. What other issues contributed to your unemployment? Something tells me it wasn't a snowstorm.

[ferretface]

your situation is the other side of how hospitals handle med errors. Years ago I worked w/an experienced RN who made 4 major med errors w/serious drugs, but b/c the patients "lived" each time, administration didn't discipline her!! I no longer work w/her; I left b/c I felt she was unsafe & that if administration was going to turn a blind eye to her incompetence, then I didn't want to be affiliated w/a hospital like that. From what I understand since I've left, nothing has improved. Firing for your 1st offense seems a bit harsh- especially for a new grad- probation would have seemed more reasonable. Good luck to you.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

I think your only option for unemployment is to appeal the denial and hope for the best. I wouldn't get my hopes up because if I were the employer I would site misconduct and negligence to get you denied again.

[MomRN0913]

Wow, you guys are harsh. She made a human error. I think being fired for the first offense is wrong. We are human, we error. No one said she didn't acknowledege her error.

I made a pretty bad error a few months in as a float on a busy med-surg floor. I put a demerol PCA Syringe in instead of a Morphine. No adverse event, except the patient was in pain, but was even on the morphine. A doctor caught my mistake. He was OK with it, but said he couldnt turn a blind eye and gave me the chance to self report. And I did. I cried to the nurse manager. She said we are all human and we error and as long as we recognize our mistake and learn from it, we should not be punished.

I'm glad I wasn't fired. I made a few small mistakes since, but I also made some pretty decent catches. I became an ICU nurse and saw a caught a few patients going sour (mine and not mine) before coding and was able to fix these problems before they did code.

I was scared to become a nurse in fear of making a potenially life altering mistake. But I put that fear aside, because this world needs nurses. They do good, and are human at the same time.

[arnie1234]

I am sorry to hear this. My only bit of advice is for you to seriously reflect on what was going on that caused you to make this error. Write everything down that you can remember; the purpose being to identify all the activity going on that would cause you to be so distracted and make such an error.

Accountability is huge, and as others have said Yes you could have killed the patient. As a manager myself, I can honestly state that usually a pattern of events occur before someone gets fired.

Not showing up for work- did you call? What has your attendance pattern been, absences, tardies,etc..

How many other errors have you made, medicine or otherwise?

How has your attitude been at work?

Think about it- and be honest, that's how we all learn from mistakes.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Usually, you get denied unemployment for "willful misconduct." Making a med error isn't usually considered willful misconduct. This makes me think there may be more to the story here.

In any case, as other posters have said, you do need to see how your mistake could have seriously affected the patient and stop making excuses for it. That's the only way you'll be able to move on and learn from this situation.

[Batman25]

You mention you were called to the office a few times prior to the error. How many times and why? Were you written up and how many times? A few times into management office in 7 months prior to an error isn't great news. That said, an error shouldn't have you denied unployment. Find out exactly why your employer is denying you. Unemployment office should inform you. File an appeal. Unemployment can help people they feel have been wronged. They really are pretty fair so give the appeal a shot.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

If you feel you have been wrongly terminated, get a lawyer to clear your name. I don't see any misconduct in what you've described. Were you aware of your error when you made it?