So Embarrassed! Forgot to remove the saline lock!

[pink2blue1]

I AM SO EMBARRASSED!!!!! I discharged a patient yesterday and forgot to take the saline lock out of her arm before she went home. She was a wacky lady. She basically refused to go to the TCU because she was tired and wanted to go home. She had been in before (Feb 2nd) because she fell and broke her hip at home. Then she went home and came back in because she fell AGAIN at home and broke her humerus! She was supposed to go to TCU. So the Dr. didn't want her to go and said she could go AMA, but then another Dr came and said she could go home (general, not surgeon) Throughout the day we found 3 lovenox injections and correctol in her bedside table (I have no clue how it got found on her last day, she's been admitted for 2 weeks!) so I took it and put it in her med cassette. She already had a home med that was there that had been through pharmacy because pharmacy's label was on it. So she called me last night at 6:30, just before shift change. She said she just noticed that she still had the IV in her hand. I apologized, I felt AWFUL!!! She asked if she could come back in, I said yes, and she said she couldn't come till the next day. My preceptor told me to call her back and see if she wanted me to walk her through taking it out. She agreed to this, but apparently never did it. I got a call today from my supervisor saying that she called to say she was missing meds. Pharmacy has NO RECORD of the meds she is speaking of and the med was something I had never heard of but my supervisor said it was arthritis?? Then she mentioned the IV. She told me not to worry about that, but I feel AWFUL!!!!!! It's my 9th week of orientation, I am off next week. I feel awful.

Please tell me I am not the only one this has happened too, the IV thing. My supervisor is not worried about the meds.

[pwp1289]

yup ==we've all done it--called a pt and he replied "don't worry my daughter works in a hospital and she took it out"---she works in dietary !!!!!!!!!!

[PANurseRN1]

I once discharged a patient WITHOUT MD ORDERS!!! The doc had been in that morning to see the patient and told me she was planning to D/C her, but Stupidhead here took it as a verbal order, got all the paperwork ready, took out the SL, and sent the patient home.

So the MD came back after lunch and asked "Where's Mrs. So and So? I'm discharging her this afternoon, here's her scripts and her follow-up appointments."

Well, of course I was horrified, and I immediately 'fessed up to what I had done. The doctor was NOT amused---not that I blamed her!---and feeling that I needed to make it right, I went out to the patient's house after I got off work, which was like 15 miles out of my way. The patient actually thought it was funny, and she was very appreciative of the fact that I'd driven all that way out there to deliver her discharge paperwork and meds. But it took that doctor a year to trust me again........and even after that, she'd occasionally lift an eyebrow my way and remind me not to send a patient home before she wrote the orders.

Sounds like she has "issues."

[EarthChild1130]

If that's the worst thing you do, then you're good to go! lol I almost left one in on a LOL going back to her assisted living facility...the wheelchair van driver noticed and said 'Hey, shouldn't you take that thing out?' lol I was SO embarassed...but I ALWAYS check now to make sure nobody has 'souvenirs' going home with them!

[JBudd, MSN]

'sokay, I once went into rm. 18 with 17's DC orders, sent them out prescription and all. They seemed to think I was giving the wrong instructions, but it was close enough. AHEM!

I had to call the pharmacy and tell them not to give that script to the one who brought it in, but wait for the actual patient to come! And call the original one who wasn't actually ready for DC, call HIS script in somewhere else, etc etc etc.:imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar :imbar