forgetting to chart before end of shift

Two questions for you:

Did you sign off the Tylenol on the MAR?

Did you do a discharge note on the patient?

I woke up from a dead sleep at 10:30 am one morning after getting home from night shift. I sat bolt-upright in bed, and remembered that I had not given the first dose of an antibiotic that the PM nurse had told me about as an after thought. I immediately called the day shift supervisor and she said not to worry that she would take care of it, which she did. I never heard anything else about this. If it is something that should have been done, or an important piece of info, I would call. If it is something that you can't take care of until you come in again, like charting, I would just take care of it when I came back in. At least you are conscientious enough to care.

Got it. Well this isn't going to help you for this time but if it happens again in the case of not charting a medication as soon as you remember you need to immediately call the floor and tell them. While the Tylenol probably isn't a huge deal as you can imagine if medications aren't charted and double doses are given it could be fatal. Do you have to sign the medication out of a Pixus etc.? Is there a record of it being taken out of stock?

I write all PRNs down on my scrap paper because that way I have the dose/administration time handy in case a Doc asks and for when I chart on the patient. That is a good way to double check yourself before you leave the unit. The good news is that I found that the longer I worked as a nurse the more able I was to remember the meds I've given without much problem.