Got fired for a medication error

[Sonyab]

Hi everyone

I recently got a job in a private hospital. Now the hospital i work with has different policy and procedures in administering medication. I made two medication error in the first two days. The first one was an error in medication dosage for someone else's patinet . I administered the wrong dose cause the nurse who told me to give it was not clear about the units of measurment and just gave me a number so i administered the med in ml where it should have been mcg. This happened in icu enviroment where nurses are allowed to adjust medication dosage within certain parameters .the second one i gave a medication which was in an incomplete order. This happens alot in where i work and most often the med team come and complete the order later on when doing rounds. I administered this medication for bp according to previous day dosage .

In both accident nothing happened and i acknowledges my mistakes and reported them.

This facility did not organise an orientation for me whwn i commenced working so i went with what i was used to in that enviroment from previous experiance .

My magaer said it will be fine and that i will hopefully get shifts . However after putting many shifts down and not getting any i got the hint that i will no longer get any shifts . Later on in 2 months time i recieved a call that i was fired .

I was thinking about making a complaint firstly bc i was never orientated and secondly they waited 2 months before letting me know .

I apologised to my manager after accidents and filled out an incident form .

Does anyone have any such experiance and should i make a complaint ?

[vanilla bean]

Should you make a complaint? Sounds like you were fired for cause. Take responsibility for your actions and stop blaming others. It's not the other nurse's fault or the 'incomplete order's' fault that you didn't check your medication "rights" and then made med errors. It was your fault, the facility finally made a decision about how they wanted to handle it, and you were terminated. You're not the wronged party here; those patients that experienced the med errors are.

[NurseCard, ADN]

Never, ever give meds unless you have complete, clear, precise

orders that make sense. Not even in ICU. I mean, I've never

worked ICU I admit... but geez.

You've got no complaint.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Never, ever give meds unless you have complete, clear, precise

orders that make sense. Not even in ICU. I mean, I've never

worked ICU I admit... but geez.

You've got no complaint.

I do work in ICU, and this makes my head explode a little. Come on, OP. This is Med Administration 101. You don't have a leg to stand on, just thank your lucky stars nothing happened to either patient.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Please don't take this wrongly, but look at the number of typos in your post. I thought, "If this nurse doesn't do the minimum to check his/her writing before putting it out to the public, does this laissez-faire attitude spill over to to nursing practice?" If you foster a habit of being careful and reviewing your actions, it will serve you well with both your med administration and your writing.

[AliNajaCat]

Are you one of those med techs who can give meds but don't really know why? It surely sounds like you don't know what you're doing.

ccs instead of mcg? Holy Jesus.

[EllaBella1, BSN]

You 100% have NO case to complain about anything. Why on earth would you ever give a med without verifying the dose first?? ESPECIALLY in an ICU, ESPECIALLY with a med that you can titrate/adjust per parameters. I would never in a million years give a med for another nurse without laying eyes on the order.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Are you a nurse? Or a medication aide?

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

You 100% have NO case to complain about anything. Why on earth would you ever give a med without verifying the dose first?? ESPECIALLY in an ICU, ESPECIALLY with a med that you can titrate/adjust per parameters. I would never in a million years give a med for another nurse without laying eyes on the order.

Exactly!

I administered the wrong dose cause the nurse who told me to give it was not clear about the units of measurment and just gave me a number so i administered the med in ml where it should have been mcg.

Seriously?!?! The OP didn't have a unit of measurement, so rather than refer to the order for clarification, just pulls a unit of measurement out of the sky and goes with it? She is lucky she just got fired-she could have killed that patient.

Can this story be real?

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Even if someone reports off a dosage, you should be checking it yourself!

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Are you a nurse? Or a medication aide?

Good question. When I worked ICU, I would not have felt comfortable with anyone but another RN giving my patient medications if for some reason I could not do it.

[Meeshie]

I don't comprehend how this even happens. I give medication for other nurses on my floor all the time but before I do? I look at the order, I double check when the last time that medication was given and if it is due yet (especially if PRN). I pull the medication myself, scan it myself, and administer it after insuring that everything is correct.

How do you not do all that? Didn't you worry that you'd kill someone?