I was in the middle of my 8pm med pass and everything that is anything was going on, call bells ringing, people falling you name it. Just as I was about to go into a patients room to give him his pills, another resident rang their call bell, well I must have had the other resident on my mind and grabbed his pills by mistake! I ended up give patient 1 another patients pills. I immediately knew I did it and freaked out. The thought crossed my mind of just not saying anything...but I could never live with myself if something were to happen to the patient because of my error. I confessed what I did to the charge nurse (im a pca) and she freaked out on me, told me i was irresponsible and not paying attention. Well, she was even more mad because she had to call the doctor at 9pm, I told her I would call him if shed like, but apparently doctors, dont communicate with little pcas. All in all the doctor said it would be OK and the pills I gave the resident wouldnt harm him. i had to fill out an incident report and now EVERYONE knows Im the pca who is the idiot and gave the wrong pills...I know everyone knows because the charge nurse told 2 cnas and of course it will get around. Now, an inservice is ordered for "med errors and how to prevent them" on account of me. I am just very upset, because I know fellow PCAs who have done stuff like this and never reported it. It will probably go 'in my file' and now everyone will look at me like a dumb ass. Part of me wishes I just would have NOT reported it, but I think I am overall happy that I got the drs OK, because I would have been worried for days. I know a lot of my coworkers who miss doses, or have given night pills instead of day pills, etc! Nothing like this happens to them! UGHHHH. Thanks for listening to my vent hah.
