Forgot to call doc after lab called

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Hi Everyone!

I’m a brand new nurse on a very busy Med surg unit with a 6:1 pt ratio. I’m currently freaking out and worried I’m going to lose my license.

Last week, I had a patient that lab called and said they had MRSA. When they called I was dealing with 3 pts who had Systolic BPs of 180-210. As I was dealing with that, I totally forgot to call the doc about the MRSA and it completely slipped my mind until my next shift which was 2 days later. I didn’t have the pt again so I let the charge nurse know and she said she’d look into it. However, I don’t know if she ever did and the pt was discharged.

I’m freaking out because I don’t know if the doc was aware the pt had MRSA and lab put my name in their report. I don’t want anything bad to happen to the patient but I’m unsure what I can do at this point. Is my license at risk? 

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It's a bad feeling because you want to do your best for patients. But this is not the kind of thing that would typically cause someone to lose their license.

You reported this to your upline/charge nurse which was a good move at that point.

In general not a good situation because there are few things that can be done by individual nurses to decrease incidents like these, besides keeping and referring to a running list of things that must be addressed/prioritized. Other than that, cooperation is really needed from elsewhere. It doesn't matter how much anyone wishes that we could do everything. We can't. They know this and are pretending we should be able to. So...??‍♀️.

Don't accept a pattern of negative thinking. That will really wreck things over time. Constantly thinking of yourself as a failure due to minor imperfections is unhealthy.

Let this go and keep learning! ??

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Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.

  the nurses barely ever call us about positive blood cultures, at least you care enough to let us know. I mean its our responsibility to notice it but hit or miss depending on the floor whether or not they let us know (especially if they are sitting in the ED for days at a time).

Not a big deal on EPIC since its easy to tell if its positive or if one "pops" positive. but at the VA it can be hard on CPRS, but they usually call us at that facility. 

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Specializes in ICU.
On 10/28/2021 at 5:32 PM, Brittney Johnson said:

Hi Everyone!

I’m a brand new nurse on a very busy Med surg unit with a 6:1 pt ratio. I’m currently freaking out and worried I’m going to lose my license.

Last week, I had a patient that lab called and said they had MRSA. When they called I was dealing with 3 pts who had Systolic BPs of 180-210. As I was dealing with that, I totally forgot to call the doc about the MRSA and it completely slipped my mind until my next shift which was 2 days later. I didn’t have the pt again so I let the charge nurse know and she said she’d look into it. However, I don’t know if she ever did and the pt was discharged.

I’m freaking out because I don’t know if the doc was aware the pt had MRSA and lab put my name in their report. I don’t want anything bad to happen to the patient but I’m unsure what I can do at this point. Is my license at risk? 

Water under the bridge. Not a big deal, don't worry about it, try to not let it happen again, life moves on. My suggestion, carry a small notepad with you.  When things like this come up, or something comes up that you need to do, write it down.  Look at it throughout the day, that way you don't forget.

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Someone experienced needs to write a "how nurses lose their licenses" article. New grads consider every little misstep a risk!

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Take your name of your post.  Do NOT post publicly about your errors or near-errors or maybe-errors.

What does your boss say?  What follow-up did she do?  Just curious.  And just because someone was discharged does NOT mean that follow-up should not or cannot be done.

I am 99.9% sure that you will not lose your license for something like this.  But definitely figure out a way to remember all of these things so you don't have problems like this again.  

You can make a late entry to say that you reported the lab result to (name the name of the person to whom you gave report).  

Some people don't like you charting their name.  Too bad.  The Lab charted yours.  You have to chart defensively.  

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On 10/31/2021 at 11:29 AM, Tegridy said:

  the nurses barely ever call us about positive blood cultures, at least you care enough to let us know. I mean its our responsibility to notice it but hit or miss depending on the floor whether or not they let us know (especially if they are sitting in the ED for days at a time).

Not a big deal on EPIC since its easy to tell if its positive or if one "pops" positive. but at the VA it can be hard on CPRS, but they usually call us at that facility. 

Interesting remark as to whose responsibility it is to follow up on these things.  Sounds really laissez faire.  Usually they call you?  Hit or miss?  Barely ever? 

So does anybody really get treated?  Or treated timely?  Or???

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11 minutes ago, Kooky Korky said:

Interesting remark as to whose responsibility it is to follow up on these things.  Sounds really laissez faire.  Usually they call you?  Hit or miss?  Barely ever? 

[...]

At my facility the lab will contact the nurse with critical values, and by policy we are required to notify the physician.  If I notice abnormal labs (e.g., positive culture) I will notify the physician.  Ultimately, it's the physician's responsibility to follow up.

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Specializes in Former NP now Internal medicine PGY-3.
1 hour ago, Kooky Korky said:

Interesting remark as to whose responsibility it is to follow up on these things.  Sounds really laissez faire.  Usually they call you?  Hit or miss?  Barely ever? 

So does anybody really get treated?  Or treated timely?  Or???

It is ours and we do follow up but the nurses are supposed to call it but they barely ever do.  yes people do get treated appropriately, but obviously we have too many patients to check blood cultures continually and the lab does not notify us directly. But it would be helpful for them to call at night when we cross cover patients since obv we aren't going to be looking through every patient's chart ever hour to see if a blood culture results positive and a timely notification would be helpful. I mean it is a nurses job to notify a physician of important lab callbacks correct? Since we aren't gazing over each patient's labs continually (since we also have to admit and discharge which takes time).

1 hour ago, chare said:

At my facility the lab will contact the nurse with critical values, and by policy we are required to notify the physician.  If I notice abnormal labs (e.g., positive culture) I will notify the physician.  Ultimately, it's the physician's responsibility to follow up.

They are here also but seems like with covid we have an influx of new grads who got an abbreviated orientation who are unable to prioritize urgency from stuff that can wait until morning.

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3 minutes ago, Tegridy said:

[...]

They are here also but seems like with covid we have an influx of new grads who got an abbreviated orientation who are unable to prioritize urgency from stuff that can wait until morning.

Yes, this seems to be a universal problem.

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Specializes in Hospice, LPN.

If this is your real name you need to remove it. You may not lose your license for a mistake but you could definitely end up in a world of trouble, if a current or future employer tracks down posts of you talking about your mistakes on a public forum, which they will. And there's a lot of people on this site that are not nurses, but are here to cause trouble, and you're handing them the keys to your life. If you have any doubts, try googling yourself now.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
On 10/28/2021 at 7:32 PM, Brittney Johnson said:

Hi Everyone!

I’m a brand new nurse on a very busy Med surg unit with a 6:1 pt ratio. I’m currently freaking out and worried I’m going to lose my license.

Last week, I had a patient that lab called and said they had MRSA. When they called I was dealing with 3 pts who had Systolic BPs of 180-210. As I was dealing with that, I totally forgot to call the doc about the MRSA and it completely slipped my mind until my next shift which was 2 days later. I didn’t have the pt again so I let the charge nurse know and she said she’d look into it. However, I don’t know if she ever did and the pt was discharged.

I’m freaking out because I don’t know if the doc was aware the pt had MRSA and lab put my name in their report. I don’t want anything bad to happen to the patient but I’m unsure what I can do at this point. Is my license at risk? 

No, you won't lose your license. Simple and honest mistake.

In my long career these are the things I have seen nurses lose their license for:

stealing drugs

taking drugs

accepting care for patients while impaired (drunk, high, etc)

Felony and certain misdemeanor convictions

Physically or sexually abusing patients

murdering patients

practicing medicine without a (medical) license

Severe gross negligence

patient abandonment (the only licensed nurse in the facility left in the middle of the night to enjoy a quickie with his girlfriend)

stealing from patients

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