LPN Med Error

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I'm a new LPN at this facility. It's my 3rd week on job training. Did 2 weeks 7am-3pm. Started my 11p-7am shift the first night and made a med error. gave 60mg phenobarb 1 tablet. instead of 2 tablets = 120mg...I signed for it not my preceptor..Supervisor told me not to worry about it..they did pharmacy incident report which will be forwarded to the DON most likely will go to my record..Is it gonna affect my license?? How many chances of med error till you get your license revoked? I'm really worried....I have 2weeks left of orientation. My self esteem & confidence went down to the zero level....Please let me know if you have any thoughts about it..Thank you very much.. :no::no::no:

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Specializes in Maternal/Child, Med/Surg, Psych.

Welcome to the HUMAN side of nursing, we all make mistakes..Should not cause problem with your boards...Just take a deep breath and learn from it, no matter how much of a hurry you are in take the time to review the wrights of administration each time.

:saint::saint::saint:

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No one is perfect we all make mistakes. Like 3Angles said we learn from our mistakes. So next time you will be more prepared for whatever comes your way. Everything will be fine.

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thank you both for the comments..i will learn from my mistake and move on. I guess I was still getting used to the graveyard shift.. but next time i will take my time to review everything..:up:

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Were the instructions well written to let you know to give 2 tabs=120 mg dose? Sometime mistakes like this are made because order is written unclearly. If you made this mistake someone else might make it also. Maybe it needs to be rewritten. Look around at everyone of your coworkers, everyone of them is capable of making a mistake. No one is perfect. If the patients allright, your allright.

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Specializes in Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

I have had to write numerous incident reports on others for mistakes and have made a few myself (many I blow the whistle on myself). As long as you understand and accept responsibility then it is okay. I have cried HARD over one, been bewildered by one and felt stupid for not paying better attention on two. I have been an LPN for 2 years. The things you have to worry about is not documenting or calling the doc on call, letting the DON or charge nurse know or whatever. I read the probation and revoked stories in my NB newsletter and most are usage of narcs, being under the influence and then simply not documenting errors or taking responsibility. You'll know by your facility first if you are in trouble. If you don't hear directly from them, your state board probably isn't even involved. I mean, the state board is the last resort, ya know? CYA-cover your ass (can I say that?) that is my motto as a nurse. I should get that on my license plate :) I take errors hard btw and if you don't and don't take them to heart-you may find yourself in your board's newsletter.....that is my take on it anyway.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

As my hiring manager told me at the LTC facility where I was just hired as a casual LPN "we fill out incident reports to learn from our mistakes, not punish people".

Although I'm sure if med errors were constant and the person was coming across as careless and non accountable, a licenese could be on the line, but one med error does not a bad nurse make.

:nurse:

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