have you ever "written up" yourself in an incident report?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. have you ever "written up" yourself in an incident report?

    • 196
      yes
    • 89
      No

285 members have participated

especially when you could have swept it under the carpet.......a short while back, l went into the pt room to give an IM inj. Almost always, l draw up meds in the med area, for some reason, that evening l did it in the pt room....l change needles after l draw up the med, so when l re-capped the firs needle, l laid it on the counter, turns out the cap was loose. Next thing l know, a visitor was stuck with this needle...:eek: thankfully it was not contaminated biohazard-wise....pt did not want to see a doc, wasn't upset, and no one else knew....but l wrote it up, didn't feel l had a choice. If anything had come of it later it would have been much worse and the injured could have made false claimes. So l got a "verbal". My NM was great about it but stopped short of commending me for my honesty, which l found dissapointing.

Anyone care to share?:) .........LR

If we can't be honest, we shouldn't be nurses. Every incident is a mistake and every mistake could mean a life. It's a bit heavy but that's the way I feel

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I too am in the "honesty is the best policy" pool!

I am a new employee at a small hospital. I recently wrote myself up on an incident report. I was required to do some sort of assessment on a patient but the nurse that was showing me how to do it, only gave me one part of the form. So I missed the whole other part (which was the actual assessment). The oncoming nurses made such a fuss about the fact that I hadn't done it, that I called the doctor, reported it to him, and then wrote myself up. I was more angry at the other nurses for being so hard on me when I didn't know I had done something wrong. It was no big deal to the doctor so that saved my butt. I've been in nursing too long to know that if you aren't honest about a mistake, someone will find a way to hang you. I have gotten in trouble for being honest in the past, but I would rather be honest than live a lie in my career.

Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

I reported myself 2 weeks ago for a med error, I gave a med to a pt with an allergy. The pt was fine with no reaction, so I called the Dr and wrote myself up. The report went all the way to the DON who called me into a meeting with my NM and risk management. This was not to place blame, but to find ways to prevent future errors. It resulted in a system change that is still ongoing.

Another good thing is I don't have to remember/worry about the error as I would if I swept it under the carpet.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Not only did I write myself up for a minor med error, I came up with my own plan of correction. All my co-workers laughed at me and said they would never write up anything so minor.

:o I just made my 3 rd medication error in 20 years of nursing. Unfortunately it is the 3rd one this year and I am now being given a displinary action for it. That is what I get for being honest and hard work by reporting on myself. I did not harm anyone. What has changed this year is giving meds to 18-20 psych patients and working 2 double shifts a week and driving 2 1/2 hours each day. I am now doing all the meds and have no releif from the other nurses because of the way my shifts fall and they have been there the longest. when you get a written displine I am not sure what that exactly means. Has anyone ever had this problem. Maybe I need to find another job if I am hirable now. I am paranoid now. I would appreciate any help. I have always had excellent reviews until today. Thanks

Even though we have always been told honesty is the best policy. After seeing what I have seen, I would no longer write myself up for something minor that would cause no harm to the pt.

I know an excellent RN who was called before her state board for something that I considered trivial, and felt that is was over-kill to notify the board. (I was a witness to what occurred, and wrote and signed a legal affidavit as to what I observed).

Anyway, her BON somehow got records dating back to the 1970s from another state, of self write-ups for med-errors this nurse had written on herself. They were for things like forgetting to give a pt a colace, giving a colace instead of a pericolace and other minor med errors. The BON used these 30 yr old self-write ups against this nurse, trying to prove a history of unsafe practice.

The BON also found out this nurse had been in psychotherapy in the 1970s. They petitioned to get the private records of her therapy sessions!

They were unable to get them, but only because this nurse spent $thousands$ in lawyer fees to stop them.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

WE all may think colace instead of pericolace is minor, but in this state - Massachusetts - surveyors make a huge deal out of minor things. We had one nurse give a mulitvitamin instead of a multivitamin with minerals. You would have thought that he had given the patient rat poison! At one facility I worked at, each time a nurse made a med error (or each time they were found out) I, the SDC, had to do a 3 page "investigation" and give them a copy of "The Rights and Wrongs of Med Pass"...all in an effort to have something to show the state if they came in. :angryfire

Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

The problem with punishing nurses who report themselves is that it will make other nurses who witness their treatment keep quiet. If a nurse is going to be very badly punished, or lose their license for a small mistake, they will most likely hide that small mistake. And maybe a not so small mistake too.

This means that the hospital/home loses an opportunity to find a potential system flaw in their med dispensing that could harm or kill a pt. A med error should be used as a learning experience.

Even though we have always been told honesty is the best policy. After seeing what I have seen, I would no longer write myself up for something minor that would cause no harm to the pt.

I know an excellent RN who was called before her state board for something that I considered trivial, and felt that is was over-kill to notify the board. (I was a witness to what occurred, and wrote and signed a legal affidavit as to what I observed).

Anyway, her BON somehow got records dating back to the 1970s from another state, of self write-ups for med-errors this nurse had written on herself. They were for things like forgetting to give a pt a colace, giving a colace instead of a pericolace and other minor med errors. The BON used these 30 yr old self-write ups against this nurse, trying to prove a history of unsafe practice.

The BON also found out this nurse had been in psychotherapy in the 1970s. They petitioned to get the private records of her therapy sessions!

They were unable to get them, but only because this nurse spent $thousands$ in lawyer fees to stop them.

I just wanted to say thank you for your imput. I am still bumbed out about the situation and what will happen will happen. I guess it is out of my control now. Thanks

The problem with punishing nurses who report themselves is that it will make other nurses who witness their treatment keep quiet. If a nurse is going to be very badly punished, or lose their license for a small mistake, they will most likely hide that small mistake. And maybe a not so small mistake too.

This means that the hospital/home loses an opportunity to find a potential system flaw in their med dispensing that could harm or kill a pt. A med error should be used as a learning experience.

You are correct. thanks for the imput

Nursing is probably the hardest most stressful job there is right now. We are all going to make mistakes. My license was turned in by a hospital for a couple of things that I didn't even know I had done including something about my medications and passing them. I never made a med error there once! Needless to say, my State Board cleared me of any wrong doing. But it is evident that where you work is causing you to make these mistakes because of lack of staff and having too much responsibilities in one day! If I were you, I would be looking for another job where you don't have to drive as far per day and where you can comfortably administer medications without fearing of making a med error. I feel for you I really do. A write up only means that they have something in your file to turn to if the incidents continue to happen. I know an LPN that got a write up for administering Thorazine instead of Compazine to a psychotic patient (because the generic brands are so close in name). They didn't do anything to her for it, just put it in her file in case there were further problems. Have faith in yourself but do yourself a favor and find a job where you don't have so much on your back all day. Psych patients are a handful without having to do the meds too. I know how that goes too as I was in psych for 16 years. It is no fun doing meds and taking care of them! Hang in there and best of luck. :)

:o I just made my 3 rd medication error in 20 years of nursing. Unfortunately it is the 3rd one this year and I am now being given a displinary action for it. That is what I get for being honest and hard work by reporting on myself. I did not harm anyone. What has changed this year is giving meds to 18-20 psych patients and working 2 double shifts a week and driving 2 1/2 hours each day. I am now doing all the meds and have no releif from the other nurses because of the way my shifts fall and they have been there the longest. when you get a written displine I am not sure what that exactly means. Has anyone ever had this problem. Maybe I need to find another job if I am hirable now. I am paranoid now. I would appreciate any help. I have always had excellent reviews until today. Thanks
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