Iv orders

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Had a patient last night receive an order for, nss@ 100cc/hr times 2 liters. When I read the 24 hour report,after I had already got report about the order, the off coming nurse proceeded to tell me that the iv was finished!! I said," that isn't so being it would take 10 hours and should still be infusing. Went to check the bag and had no label and 800cc left in the bag. Hence, had to call the nurse who received the order, which stated" oh I though I was only to give 200 cc and it's finished". doctor was called and was ****** and the nurse written up and incident report filed! But if u can't write orders and understand them then u need to be out of the profession because you are a threat to the patients. She has been a nurse for 10 years and just had a refresher course for Iv's. My issue is shouldn't the 11-7 nurse that did the chart check be written up as well. The order was never written on the mar and she acted clueless as well?!? Just baffled about carless nurses who still make mistakes and have a license!

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

I make my worst mistakes, and am brought lowest, when I start feeling superior and holier than thou. I don't know if it's karma, cosmic justice or what. Just when I've dogged my fellow nurse about a stupid mistake they made, I make one bigger.

I've learned to address the mistake without judgement in an effort to not tempt fate. The fact that it usually works may simply be chance. Or not.

I definitely don't call for someone's head, because mine might be next.

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I'm not talking I gave a mvi and should be a mvi w/ min. Her labs were critical and really needed the iv. Wasn't bashing the nurse or nurses to their faces. I'm not like that and did educate them on the situation. Just feel like too much to do in an 8 hour shift and that's why mistakes are made. The only person who was reprimanded them was the Don. I'm not a nurse that puts more butter in the pan to fry them. Just hoping ppl can me more careful when taking off orders:)

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Specializes in retired LTC.
I'm not talking I gave a mvi and should be a mvi w/ min. Her labs were critical and really needed the iv. Wasn't bashing the nurse or nurses to their faces. I'm not like that and did educate them on the situation. Just feel like too much to do in an 8 hour shift and that's why mistakes are made. The only person who was reprimanded them was the Don. I'm not a nurse that puts more butter in the pan to fry them. Just hoping ppl can me more careful when taking off orders:)

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Just to tell you - your original post came across VERY VERY critical of those other nurses. And many of us here on AN have ' been there, done that' so we are all very empathetic, sensitive and protective (we tend to circle around our our fallen peers). However, I did feel a bit better with your redeeming comeback comment about the butter and the frying pan. Please, in the future, just don't be so quick to jump on someone else when they're down.

If you'll notice on your hand, when you point you finger at someone, your other fingers are pointing back at you - think about it.

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Why didn't you just give it as ordered?

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Specializes in Oncology, Medical.
Had a patient last night receive an order for, nss@ 100cc/hr times 2 liters. When I read the 24 hour report,after I had already got report about the order, the off coming nurse proceeded to tell me that the iv was finished!! I said," that isn't so being it would take 10 hours and should still be infusing.

Don't you mean it would take 20 hrs? ;) It's so easy to make a big mistake, even if it was a typo.

It's unfortunate that everyone expects perfection from, well, everyone but because we are all human, we all make mistakes at some point. I've caught many and I'm sure I've made many. We just all gotta cross our fingers, do our best to be diligent, and hope our patients aren't hurt by the end of the shift.

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No, I clarified if with the doctor and continued the iv until it was 2 liters which is total of 20 hours. When i came on it should of been 10 hours infused. And I'm not saying anyone is perfect including myself but the patients sodium was low and needed the fluids.

My thread is merely asking if the other nurse should of been responsible as well. My don is the one who ultimately makes the decision who will be written up. I have made a million mistakes myself. But we are supposed to check, right dose etc and I feel as though this goes back to nursing 101. I like this nurse and wish I didn't even have to write an incident report. The doctor was upset and spoke to the don about the incident.

I know this site isn't for bashing nurses but let's face it. Everyone isn't equipped to be a nurse. Someone who doesn't do a tx all weekend on my patients sacrum which was a St 4. Well that is neglect. So, some nurses I have compassion for and some I wouldn't let them touch me with a stick. Meaning the ones who are neglectful. But, I like this girl and wanted to educate her and show her what's right.

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Specializes in Cardiac,Progressive,Med-Surg,Hospice&Pal.

Just culture and let's not be critical with each other.everybody make mistakes if it is not really bad I try to fix it and let the person responsible aware so she won't make the same mistake and she will be more keen next time that's how u learn.Nursing has a lot of gray areas that is why we need to take care and support each other we All do want better for our patients.

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Specializes in Oncology, Medical.
No, I clarified if with the doctor and continued the iv until it was 2 liters which is total of 20 hours. When i came on it should of been 10 hours infused. And I'm not saying anyone is perfect including myself but the patients sodium was low and needed the fluids.

My thread is merely asking if the other nurse should of been responsible as well. My don is the one who ultimately makes the decision who will be written up. I have made a million mistakes myself. But we are supposed to check, right dose etc and I feel as though this goes back to nursing 101. I like this nurse and wish I didn't even have to write an incident report. The doctor was upset and spoke to the don about the incident.

I know this site isn't for bashing nurses but let's face it. Everyone isn't equipped to be a nurse. Someone who doesn't do a tx all weekend on my patients sacrum which was a St 4. Well that is neglect. So, some nurses I have compassion for and some I wouldn't let them touch me with a stick. Meaning the ones who are neglectful. But, I like this girl and wanted to educate her and show her what's right.

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Ah, I see. From your original post, I thought you meant that it was only supposed to run for a total of 10 hrs.

However, I think people are critical of your first post because you are implying that for one mistake, a nurse should have her license taken away. I agree that there are some nurses who I cannot sympathize with, but there is a difference between neglect and an honest mistake. If this nurse continuously makes mistakes with IV orders, then perhaps suggest she double-check any IV orders with another nurse until she gets the hang of it?

As for your unanswered question about the person doing the chart checks, I think they should at the very least be made aware of what they missed so that they can learn, too. I've faced a similar problem, where the day shift nurse missed an order to infuse IvIg daily (the patient had already received the first dose in ER that day), and the night shift nurse doing the 24-hour checks missed it, too. It was by pure chance that I found it in the morning, so fortunately the patient did not miss any doses of that critically needed IvIg. At shift change, I pulled the night shift nurse to the side, showed her the order, and informed her that she missed it in her chart checks. She was very apologetic and realized she needed to take more time doing her chart checks to be more thorough. No drama, no pointing fingers.

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I had to call the nurse to clarify the orders at home. Cause according to the night nurse the 3-11 nurse said the iv was finished. She only gave 200 cc vs the total 2 liters. She was educated and the don did whatever she did with the nurse.

I walked in the room and notices the bag not labeled and still hanging. So I questioned it right away. I make rounds in the morning. That's what I'm saying. If the night shift girl made rounds she would of noticed the bag and hopefully figured it out.

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Agree with you "imintrouble" and thank you for the reminder.

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I had to call the nurse to clarify the orders at home. Cause according to the night nurse the 3-11 nurse said the iv was finished. She only gave 200 cc vs the total 2 liters. She was educated and the don did whatever she did with the nurse.

I walked in the room and notices the bag not labeled and still hanging. So I questioned it right away. I make rounds in the morning. That's what I'm saying. If the night shift girl made rounds she would of noticed the bag and hopefully figured it out.

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I'm sorry but if you called me at home to tell me about a mistake that you already fixed and I was already getting written up for I'd be furious with both you and the DON that you called me and not her. I'm clearly missing something here, but my response would have been "Crap, missed that. Did you fix it? Yeah? Then why are you calling me?" If you aren't the boss, then why did you call? Or do you mean you called the doctor?

This whole thing is coming off as very holier than thou, no matter how you try to explain it. No, heads shouldn't roll. Bottom line--be glad that you caught the error and no harm was done. I kinda have the feeling that you instigated trouble, just from your original post.

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