Have you ever made a medication error- yes, no or almost.

[Yiggs]

Nurses, how many of you have ever made a medication error. I don't know if the system will allow us to answer yes - no, almost or never.

[mb1949]

Yes of course, gave med at wrong time, told on myself, and was shaken to my core, but thankfully no harm done.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

Yup. Even with the 5 rights and triple checking..I became sidetracked (looked into the next room across from the med cart to see my VERY unstable, very demented, post hip fx pt trying to get out of bed with no one else around but me to stop her) prior to putting the catapress patch on my resident. I threw the patch into the cart to lock it up and when I came back, I was paged to take a call..took the call..and then totally forgot about the patch! Euughhh!

Thankfully the next shift noticed the patch in the cart, called me and asked...and most importantly, the resident was fine. But I'll always remember it. Always!

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

Yes... involved a supplement or bowel med, but forgot the specifics. Recall there was no harm.

Have also given meds after our one-hour window.

Tip To Facility Managers: Overseers (DOH, DPW, JCAHO, etc.) are leery of those not self-reporting med errors. These occur everywhere I've worked or heard about from friends, colleagues, and other interdisciplinary staff.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

yes I have. Two minor ones but still errors.

[OkieeRN]

There are three kinds of nurses:

Those who have made mistakes, those that haven't done so (yet), and those who don't realize they are making mistakes.

The last group is the scariest.

We are all at risk to err. The trick is to learn from our mistakes, including identifying what internal & external factors put us at risk.

There is one other kind of nurse... The one who makes mistakes and then covers it up.

[OkieeRN]

Yes I have had a med error. Thankfully it did not harm the patient. I work in peds and gave 10X less of a med than I should have. It sticks with me to this day. I am so thankful it was 10X less instead of 10X more!

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

Yup. Even with the 5 rights and triple checking..I became sidetracked (looked into the next room across from the med cart to see my VERY unstable, very demented, post hip fx pt trying to get out of bed with no one else around but me to stop her) prior to putting the catapress patch on my resident. I threw the patch into the cart to lock it up and when I came back, I was paged to take a call..took the call..and then totally forgot about the patch! Euughhh!

Thankfully the next shift noticed the patch in the cart, called me and asked...and most importantly, the resident was fine. But I'll always remember it. Always!

Yep, Distraction is probably one of the biggest critical factors in making errors. We are so very busy, and are getting pulled in 10 directions at once.

I always try to make it a point to not engage my nurses in any conversations while at the pyxis or passing meds. I can usually wait till their done, or between patients.

[whereslilly]

Yes I did. My first med-surg position. One of my first weekends. Heavy meds to give. This was back in the day when the RN's mixed all there own IV bags, except for chemo. We had to give out the 12 noon and 2pm meds at the same time, start at 12:30. This day we were very short staffed, I had to give meds for the whole side. 24 pts. Most on triple IV antibiotics, not too mention 3 ventilators. My mistake did no harm, but haunts me to this day. 24 yrs later I still remember how I felt. Thankfully I never made another med error. not cause Im super nurse, cause Im lucky. Also, I developed a very annoying checking compulsion that I have to this very day.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Almost. I haven't been in the profession long enough, but it almost happened to me! Had a 600mg tablet ready to give until I checked the EMAR again in front of me and saw that the dose ordered was 300mg...hopefully whenever I *do* make a mistake it isn't a bad one where it results in patient harm!

[Polly Dipcya]

hell yes..we're human. the key is not to make the same mistake again. I hooked up an IV piggy back of cipro and forgot to unlock or open the port and the patient did not get the abt until next shift. no excuse. felt awful for a week. i always double check the piggy back at the time and before i report off the the next ****. learned my lesson.

[swoods72]

Yes - medication error

[abakrn819]

Yes, and I have to tell ya, as a new nurse it was horrifying. But seeing this thread actually makes me feel somewhat better, knowing how common it really is to get errors, and that I am not a bad nurse, just HUMAN!