Made my first mistake

[allyyy]

SO I’ve officially made my first mistake and I want to hit myself over the head. The lab called and told me a lab and said whatever it was is in the blood. I wrote it down on a note. I told the MD. Hours later, the MD and med student came up to me and said “was it blood or tissue”. I died inside. I said the lab said blood but I’ll call. I called... and sure enough it’s tissue. I told the MD and they were annoyed. I told my preceptor and she said the doctor is the one to double check, you are the reporter. I still can’t stop thinking about it... any one have similar stories? Word of encouragement? Something. I just don’t want to get fired...

[klone, MSN, RN]

It sounds like the lab made the mistake, not you.

[allyyy]

2 minutes ago, klone said:

It sounds like the lab made the mistake, not you.

Ugh. Idk. There’s just no way to prove it. I couldn’t say it’s the lab because there’s no proof. I just took the responsibility and told the MD sorry. I just feel really stupid.

[klone, MSN, RN]

You're human. You're new. You'll be fine.

[LovingLife123]

Do your results usually not pop up in the EMR? Usually when I call to notify the physician they already know. Or, I can immediately look up the lab result online. I can say, I’m not sure, let me look and I can pull it up right there.

Nobody should be annoyed with you. You double checked and got the correct result and properly notified the physician.

[allyyy]

10 minutes ago, LovingLife123 said:

Do your results usually not pop up in the EMR? Usually when I call to notify the physician they already know. Or, I can immediately look up the lab result online. I can say, I’m not sure, let me look and I can pull it up right there.

Nobody should be annoyed with you. You double checked and got the correct result and properly notified the physician.

I am very new, so I automatically thought that the MD would already know about it because it’s in the patients chart (even a coworker said that its in the lab review online for everyone to see). So that’s why I didn’t give it a second thought. I guess it’s a lesson learned. Double check before I got running to the MD. Thank you! I’m just a worried Nelly. I keep hearing horror stories of people getting let off of orientation and I need to chill. I get so worked up.

[lovingtheunloved, ASN, RN]

Relax. This mistake didn’t hurt anyone, and that’s what’s really important. You learned a lesson. Don’t be so hard on yourself!

[CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN]

That's not a mistake, that's a miscommunication. Learn from it, I'm sure you'll be fine ?

[Waiting for Retirement]

On 7/6/2019 at 8:34 PM, allyyy said:

SO I’ve officially made my first mistake and I want to hit myself over the head. The lab called and told me a lab and said whatever it was is in the blood. I wrote it down on a note. I told the MD. Hours later, the MD and med student came up to me and said “was it blood or tissue”. I died inside. I said the lab said blood but I’ll call. I called... and sure enough it’s tissue. I told the MD and they were annoyed. I told my preceptor and she said the doctor is the one to double check, you are the reporter. I still can’t stop thinking about it... any one have similar stories? Word of encouragement? Something. I just don’t want to get fired...

As I was reading this I was waiting for the part where you said what your mistake was. After reading the entire thing I'm pretty comfortable saying this was a miscommunication, not an error on your part. You were told something and you wrote it down and notified the MD. The MD questions it and you say you will get confirmation from the lab. The lab then says something differently than they said earlier. Which part of this was your mistake? Not checking the computer for the results you were given verbally? That's about it and nothing that any new person wouldn't do the same way. Now that you know the lab can and does make mistakes in a verbal report you will check the computer for the results to confirm. Issue done.

If you were to get fired over this I'd have to say that's some odd management practice wherever you work and completely unreasonable. It's good you are self-critical but this isn't as major as you are thinking.

[AlwaysLearning247, BSN]

You’re not going to lose your job. You are human and sometimes we get so caught up in a rush, it’s hard to remember everything at times! Don’t beat yourself up.

[Gracefully Saved, ADN]

You will not get fired and you are human. That same annoyed doctor has made countless mistakes in her/his career. I use to be like this beating myself up for days and causing unnecessary anxiety over mistakes. My advice..stop. Learn from any mistake to be a better nurse and move on. This won’t be your last and it does not define your competence. Continue to be awesome!

[Forest2]

No biggie. I just visually check labs before I speak with the doc, or I have them pulled up in front of me while I do it. Everyone goofs up, lab people do, nurses do, docs do, everyone.