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Discussion

How to stop beating yourself up after medication error?

Hi all,

I'm a newly qualified children's nurse in the UK, I've been in my job for 5 months. I'm still settling in and getting used to being a registered nurse rather than a student, but I think I'm getting there!

Yesterday the ward manager told me that two months ago there had been an incident where a nurse was giving an inhaler to a child, and they had been prescribed 100mcg (one puff). The child's mother said that the other nurses had been giving 2 puffs, and one of them was me, and I now have to write a reflection about it.

I initially didn't remember because it was so long ago and we give inhalers to so many children, but now I remember that I definitely did give the 2 puffs instead of 1. I know it had no adverse effects at all, but now I'm starting to doubt myself with other medications, and that I'm not being meticulous enough when checking them. We double check most meds on our ward as well, and the nurse who checked that inhaler with me also has to write a reflection, and now I feel super guilty that she has to do that because of my mistake. I've had to work very hard to gain her respect and now I'm worried I'll have lost it again.

I'm generally an over thinker and this is driving me mad. I couldn't sleep last night and then when I finally dropped off, I dreamt about it. I know I'm overreacting and the mistake was minor and I'm going to make mistakes in my career, but I just don't know how to stop beating myself up about it! Please help! x

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    Everyone makes mistakes; absolutely everyone. If they tell you they've never made a mistake they're either lying or too stupid to know they've made one. Forgiving yourself isn't easy, but it's necessary. By having you write a reflection on it, your manager is actually starting you along the path to healing. Writing has been shown to help staff to start forgiving themselves after sentinel events and bad outcomes. Kudos to your manager!

    Here's a link to a thread about what you do when you've made a mistake -- not IF. WHEN. Because everyone makes them. Every single nurse you work with has made a mistake at one time or another -- I've made some doozies! There was the time I told John Thomason's family that he had died when in reality it was Thomas Johnson who had died -- it took me a long, long time to get over that. (Not the real names, in case anyone is googling). Everyone makes mistakes, and all those nurses you work with have probably already forgiven you and forgotten it.

    https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/what-to-do-531457.html

    I hope this helps.

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    I recently had to write myself up for double dosing an infant on an opioid. I recovered from it fairly quickly and I am grateful that our system for reporting errors is non-punitive. With that said, I realized what I could have done to prevent that error and I trust myself in the future to not do that again. I was terrified the next time I had to give the dose of the med again, fearing I would make the mistake again but I didn't and I pay more attention now for things like that. Time will make the guilty feeling wear off. For goodness' sake, at least it was an inhaled med -- not something that could really cause much harm. It will get better soon! It may not be until well after the reflection has been submitted and this is all but in your rear view, but it will get better faster than you think.

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    Stop. Your human just like everyone else and every nurse makes foolish mistakes it's OK. Nobody was harmed. BeAting yourself up is only going to make you suffer wayyy more than is necessary! It's done that's it move on.

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