First Medication Error.....feeling horrible!!

Nurses Safety

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I have been an RN since May of this year, and work on a general surgical unit. Last night, I had 8 pts, and was working with an LPN who had 8 as well, so had to cover all her IVP meds and other parts of her charting. We had 1 CNA. At the very end of my shift, I gave 50 of lantus insulin to a patient without looking at the MAR BuT verifying the amount with my supervisor because I was way behind on EVERYTHING and was used to giving her insulin in the am. I realilzed it about 10 min later when going back to chart on the MAR. The BS was 112, and I immediately told the supervisor and called the dr. He didn't seem concerned, just said to monitor her BS and give her D50 if less than 70. It was end of shift so I had to pass the pt on to day nurse and I felt AWFuL!!! I cried, and everyone was so supportive, telling me she'd be just fine, and she'd be closely monitored and treated if she wasn't. She was a knee replacement, and was due to go home today. I didn't get to eat anything all shift, and its now 830am and feel nauseated from my stupid mistake! This is my first EVER med error. How do I get over it? And how do I get myself to go back to work tonight??? I just want to quit and run away! I know I SHOuLD feel awful, and I KNOW I'll learn from this, but I'm feeling very alone through it all. HELP!!! :cry:

Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.

  • everyone makes mistakes, and any nurse who says he/she has never made a med error either hasn't made one yet, is lying about it, or is too stupid to realize they've made a med error.
  • given that everyone makes mistakes, the best you can do is work really hard not to repeat that particular mistake. i'm sure that you'll do that, judging from your post here. that isn't to say that you aren't going to make some other doozies of med errors over the course of your career. just remember: the bigger the error, the better the story you can tell some other newbie who makes her first med error a few years down the road. (how do you think i get such great stories?)
  • the absolute best thing you do when you make a med error is to recognize it as soon as possible, admit it the moment you recognize it, and immediately set about to mitigate the damage. you've done that. you didn't lie or attempt to cover it up. that means you have integrity, and i'd let you take care of me or my mother any time.
  • congratulations -- you've passed a milestone. not a very fun one, but a milestone all the same. please take the time to reassure the next newbie you meet who has just made a med error that everyone makes mistakes, they won't make the same one again, and that recognition and mitigation are signs of integrity.

my thoughts, exactly, ruby!! that is what i was thinking in my post earlier, but you said it so much better!! one of my instructors said as much, that if you say you've never made a med error, a lot of the time one is either not wanting to admit it or hasn't even realized she/he even made it, which is scary a lot of the times.

thanks, ruby!! anne, rnc

i hope by admitting to some of my doozies maybe a student or newbie will be spared that mistake!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
my thoughts, exactly, ruby!! that is what i was thinking in my post earlier, but you said it so much better!! one of my instructors said as much, that if you say you've never made a med error, a lot of the time one is either not wanting to admit it or hasn't even realized she/he even made it, which is scary a lot of the times.

thanks, ruby!! anne, rnc

i hope by admitting to some of my doozies maybe a student or newbie will be spared that mistake!

maybe we should start a new thread describing some of our "doozies" and what happened!

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Specializes in Cardiac, Acute Stroke Unit, Surgical.

how is that a med error? the bg was within normal range, preprandial, and you gave basal insulin, lantus.

everyone makes mistakes, and any nurse who says he/she has never made a med error either hasn't made one yet, is lying about it, or is too stupid to realize they've made a med error.

i totally aggree with both these contributers! i don't think you did anything wrong. hoever its important to know that every one makes mistakes. otherwise you wouldn't be human. the thing to do is to admit you've made a mistake, report it and make sure the patient is ok. you did this even with your "little" experience of almost a year. i know of many much more "experienced" nurses who would cover it up for fear of reprisal to themself. this is not the best thing for the patient and probably not good for the nurse either!

on a personal note, i know just how you feel. when i make a mistake (and yes their have been more than one) i usually can't sleep. i toss and turn all night and often have to get up and ring the ward to make sure the patient is ok before i can go to sleep, and then when i do get to sleep i often dream about the patient and the error!

the good news is you will get over it and you can face another shift, because you have learned from your experience. i think that when we stop learning we might as well stop nursing because we are no use to our patients if we think we know it all.

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Specializes in Ortho and Tele med/surg.

You know what, I don't think it was your fault completely. The facility that you work for doesn't care about the welfare of their patients and employees. You had way too many patients to start with. The eight patients that you had was already too much, plus you had to help the LPN too with one 1 CNA for all 16 patients? I don't know. I understand that people can't just leave their jobs, but it doesn't sound like a safe environment. Is it worth your hard earn license? By the way, you did the right thing! Don't beat yourself up.

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
How is that a med error? The BG was within normal range, preprandial, and you gave basal insulin, Lantus.QUOTE]

she gave it twice.

OP, listen to Ruby Vee...as usual she's soooo right!!

Now go and nurse again!!

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OP: I posted this recently to someone else. It may make you feel better.

" That reminds me of when one day the nurse who was taking care of my mom, called me. By that time my mom had been in a nursing home a few years. She said she called to tell me that she made a med error, and accidentally gave her an Ativan. I said: "Well she'll probably get a good nights sleep. And thank you for being the nurse I now trust the most. It looks like the first med error in all this time, and we know that's not true." She was not new and evidently kept her values."

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I meant hope it makes you feel beeter.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Mental Health.

The fact that it gets to you is a good sign. I have worked with nurses that could care less. Only piece of advice is to learn from it. I help with a lot of the newer nurses and the thing I see the most is the 'overwhelmed' look. It's not that they don't know, it's just overwhelming to them.

I have seen a few med errors on the insulin. I am also diabetic, so I am very alert to the insulin both type and amount. On our floor, they try to stick to only two different insulin. We also have to check each others dosage and sign it.

Also, the nurses on your floor seem to have been very supportive. Congrats on working with people that care.

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Med error are a fact of life in nursing. Believe me I have seen worse. Lantus is slow acting so she will be okay. They will just hold her am dose. If you ever meet a nurse that says she have never made a med error. Beware she is lying and she is dangerous. Everyone has made a med error. It makes you feel like crap when it happens.

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Specializes in paediatric and trauma.
I have been an RN since May of this year, and work on a general surgical unit. Last night, I had 8 pts, and was working with an LPN who had 8 as well, so had to cover all her IVP meds and other parts of her charting. We had 1 CNA. At the very end of my shift, I gave 50 of lantus insulin to a patient without looking at the MAR BuT verifying the amount with my supervisor because I was way behind on EVERYTHING and was used to giving her insulin in the am. I realilzed it about 10 min later when going back to chart on the MAR. The BS was 112, and I immediately told the supervisor and called the dr. He didn't seem concerned, just said to monitor her BS and give her D50 if less than 70. It was end of shift so I had to pass the pt on to day nurse and I felt AWFuL!!! I cried, and everyone was so supportive, telling me she'd be just fine, and she'd be closely monitored and treated if she wasn't. She was a knee replacement, and was due to go home today. I didn't get to eat anything all shift, and its now 830am and feel nauseated from my stupid mistake! This is my first EVER med error. How do I get over it? And how do I get myself to go back to work tonight??? I just want to quit and run away! I know I SHOuLD feel awful, and I KNOW I'll learn from this, but I'm feeling very alone through it all. HELP!!! :cry:

Don't worry if the dr didn't seem worried then that means that you didn't make that much of a mistake

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Specializes in Cardiac, Acute Stroke Unit, Surgical.

document.png Re: First Medication Error.....feeling horrible!!

How is that a med error? The BG was within normal range, preprandial, and you gave basal insulin, Lantus.QUOTE]

she gave it twice.

Oops, sorry, I didn't read Rach's 2nd post.

Anyway, the rest of my post stands. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to recognise it, own up to it and LEARN from it.

Rach You did all the right things. Congratulations!

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Specializes in General Surgical, Ortho, Cardiac ICU.

Well its been a few days since the med error, and I want to thank EVERYONE who responded. You all helped me get back to work and do what I love to do: be a nurse!!! The pt was fine, went home that day, and dr wasn't upset or worried. It was hard to go back, but everyone was supportive. We were sent an extra nurse the next night and I only had 5 pts. Again, thank you all!!!

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