Do I need a lawyer?

[Bricksoup3]

Welp. I made a med error. 3yrs into ER nursing. Ratios here are 4 patients. A few weeks ago I had 4 patients placed in one room for rabies vaccines. Well over 10 shots total. So that's 7 patients total in my assignment. Ended up that one of the 4 was registered under the wrong patient chart. Same name, same age, just different birth date. We didn't find out until we were about to discharge. Luckily weights and everything were accurate so no harm to the patient. Still very embarrassing. Anyway. We are having a meeting with risk management next week. I've already spoke to my directors about it so this will be a second meeting. They will have the registration employee that made the chart, the charge nurse and triage nurse that saw them before me as well. (Not the provider that charted the whole visit and ordered everything though LOL). Would it be wise to have a lawyer available for contact during this time? Feeling very torn up about all this. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

What you're describing sounds like a root cause analysis or RCA, which is not any kind of a hearing but a way to find where in the system the breakdown occurred and how to prevent a similar mix up from happening in the future.

[JKL33]

Agree w/ @Rose_Queen.

Natural to feel a little apprehensive or anxious about this but try to go in expecting the best, which is just as was described above--they are not there to blame or discipline you but to see if there are things that could be done differently at any parts of the process to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. This is strictly my opinion but I advise against over-discussion (aka nervous talking) about guilt-based emotions at that meeting or in the workplace in general.  If there is something you could have done differently or if you are asked a direct fact-based question then be forthright and pleasant with your input and responses. Otherwise just let the process happen. Try to stay calm and fact-focused.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes if you feel like it.

It'll be okay 👍🏽

[SandraCVRN]

I agree that it's going to be an RCA but in the end the final question (more than once) will be what could have been done differently? To which the answer is LOOK at armband while asking name and DOB. Which we are supposed to do but admittedly don't always do. I've discharged patients before that had wrong info on armband. They want to hear every encounter every time. 
I had a pt fall and kept getting the what could be done differently? For that it was 24/7 one on one because pt didn't do as advised. 
I don't think you need a lawyer but everyone is going to have to do some training. Registration should ask and read while putting on band and we should ask every time. I'm as guilty of not doing it as anyone. 
good luck

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Everytime I am in the hospital, or even on just a phone call.. they always ask me what my date of birth is. It is a major identifier.

[Bricksoup3]

Been there done that, I really appreciate your your useful and informative comment. Thanks for that 👍🏼

[Davey Do]

To answer your question, I'll share a time I sought a lawyer's advice over a suspension back in '98: He advised me to write everything down- date, time, who was there, verbatim statements, and also to ask any questions I believed were pertinent to the situation.

A real time & money saver and I got what I wanted: reimbursement for the time off and change of position. The astute assistant director even said at one point, "I'll speak slowly so you can write everything down for your lawyer" even without informing him I'd spoken to one!

After that, I always took notes with any such encounters.

Good luck, Bricksoup!