What kind of error puts a license at risk?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am new to all this and I have seen a lot of posts about med errors. I know it happens alot, but what kind of med error would cause a facility to present it to the board? I was once told if you make an error and someone gets hurt as a result your license will be under review. Thats obvious, but what else?

[quote=wantobern;2206846

what happens if a nurse is caught with dui? do they have to go through rehab program?

they may. the problem is the nurse will probably not be able to prove it was a one-time thing. the bon has to assume, for public safety, that there is a chemical dependency problem.

in ca, if an applicant has had a dui within three years previous, the applicant will be granted a license but will be placed on probation just like a licensed rn who is caught under the influence/diverting/popped for dui, etc. this is not punitive, this is to make sure the applicant is safe to practice. everything is about public safety.

in one case a nurse was floated to well baby nursery. she claimed she had not been oriented, but went anyways. she lost her license when she admitted to fabricating vital signs, she claimed she was 'overwhelmed' and 'not oriented'.

er.....sorry.....what does lack of orientation have to do with ability to take vs?????

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Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.

I knew a nurse whose license was placed on restrictions after calling in medication for herself to a pharmacy.

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Stealing the control substances.

[mouse]Good to know, good to know....[/mouse]

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Here are a few real cases that I can think of...

3. A mother's BP was 70/40 after giving birth. She was bleeding heavily, but the doctor and nurse did nothing. She died, and the nurse lost her license.

And the doctor?

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Er.....sorry.....what does lack of orientation have to do with ability to take VS?????

Whoa, Tazzi! You took the words right out of my mouth!

(That's eerie....) :monkeydance:

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Specializes in Med-Surg,BH,Geriatric,Cardiac/Tele.

Hey There

Something that will put your license under review

PEOPLE WHO LIE!!! As nurse we really need to watch our behinds

I have been in a situation where nurses lied because they were lazy and

burned out.

Came upon a nurse who decided to commit a SLOW CODE I really didnt know they existed AND THEY DONT that is the way these nurses deal with someone who they think should live a certain way. Anyway I questioned the ethics of these nurses to the DON and she told me to keep my mouth shut. Well I didnt I asked the SBofN and off we were, all of a

sudden I was making all sorts of mistakes and people were complaining, being I worked in a behavioral facility with vunerable adults they could not bring these residents to court and this place of course believes it residents (dont ask)

Long story short DON goes somewhere else, ADON carries on and I well...

I am in counseling for it all just to make sure I was not the mean cruel nurse they made me out to be.

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Came upon a nurse who decided to commit a SLOW CODE I really didnt know they existed AND THEY DONT that is the way these nurses deal with someone who they think should live a certain way.

I have never known a nurse to decide on a slow code, it's always been the doc who decided that. They are never done because docs or nurses think a pt should live a certain way.

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-hitting a patient or threatening harm.

-hitting a fellow worker or threatening harm

-falsifying a report

-caught coming to work under the influence (drugs or alcohol)

- giving a medication that only a physician can give. . (i.e. giving propofol for conscious sedation and the pt suffers permanent injury or death)

- making a major error that was against hospital policy. (i.e if it says put a medication drip on a IVAC pump in the policy and the nurse does not and a medication flushes through like nitro,or cardizem resulting in permanent injury or death)

-patient abandonment

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Specializes in CCU,ICU,ER retired.

wrong dosage of med that results in death, like giving 1000mg of Lidocaine instead of 100mg

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

As we all understand, there can be many variables to a nurse losing her/his license. Things that prevent this from happening are:

1. Owning up to mistakes, doing the incident report, reporting to the supervisor.

2. Take responsibility for your own actions. Don't play the blame game. If you do something, admit it. This goes back to basic integrity.

3. Have a reputation of being a stand-up kinda gal or guy: come to work on time, don't complain all the time, help your co-workers. Another words while at work, work in a manner so that you are a good co-worker.

4. The thing that has save me time and time again is my documentation. Don't lay blame, just the facts! This will always be your back-up if you document well. Will save you much heartache.

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Some nurses around here lost their licenses several years ago when a prisoner was admitted for psychosis. He died 3 days later. During an investigation, it was found that he died from dehydration, had no po intake and the nurses did not record any intake/output.

Other ways include falsifying records, stealing narcotics, performing outside the scope of practice, failing to initiate CPR, and abandonment.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
they may. the problem is the nurse will probably not be able to prove it was a one-time thing. the bon has to assume, for public safety, that there is a chemical dependency problem.

in ca, if an applicant has had a dui within three years previous, the applicant will be granted a license but will be placed on probation just like a licensed rn who is caught under the influence/diverting/popped for dui, etc. this is not punitive, this is to make sure the applicant is safe to practice. everything is about public safety.

i worked with a nurse who was in jail for his umpteenth dui. the charge nurse called the jail 2 hours before his shift was supposed to start to get him released. his wife and his girlfriend took turns picking him up and the jail and driving him to work. the charge nurse called the jail when he left work, and he got driven back to jail. (a 90 minute commute each way.) he had a six month jail sentence, and he worked all the overtime he could get during those six months! plus he was very flexible for switches!

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