Made a mistake!!

[NurseGarza]

I feel so bad. I found out last week that I made a medication error on an MAR. I reported it to my supervisor and everything but I still feel so bad. This poor man was over medicated for 2 weeks. Luckily it wasn't a medication that would hurt him, but if it were any other of his medication it could have been bad. I will never ever forget how it felt to find that error and know that the staff administer too much medication because of me! I could have died. Please tell me I am not the only one who has goofed up. I know I have learned from this one!

[TazziRN, RN]

Please tell me I am not the only one who has goofed up.

You're kidding, right?

There isn't a single nurse who hasn't made at least one major error in his/her career by the time it's over. As long as you learn from it, then there is a positive to come out of it. You'll never make this mistake again, right?

[calliesue]

Glad there was not a bad out come. I know I have made med errors before. Learn and move on , thats all you can do.

[ann945n, RN]

Know you are not alone. We are human.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

Sure as the sun's going to rise in the morning, there will be med errors made by solid nurses.

[GingerSue]

learn from this, which of the 5 rights was the mistake,

and try so it won't happen again

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Yes I have had it happen as well. My best advice is try to figure out why it happened, Is there something you can personally change or is it a system problem. I fit is a system problem come up with a solution and present it to your manager. I can not tell you how many problems I have solved by looking at flaws in the system. It is OK you will be a better nurse if you learn from it!!!!

[HisTreasure, BSN, RN]

To err is human. To med err when you're coming off your 3rd understaffed 12 hour shift in a row is nursing.:heartbeat

Keep your head up. We've all made med errors and those who push their chests out and boast that they've NEVER are either storytelling or well on their way to their first. Learn from it, embrace it, and move on.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

We've all done it at some stage, do a little search of this site for medication errors and see what pops up, there are lots.

Don't be too hard on yourself, reflect and work out how the error occured and learn from it

[GeminiTwinRN, BSN]

Like all the others have said, we've all made errors. Hopefully, we don't make the same errors twice- that's the best we can hope for!

Cheer up. You're certainly NOT the only one who's goofed up. :)

[bill4745, RN]

Assuming that what you charted was an overdose of this med, then every nurse that gave it was wrong also.

[shellsgogreen]

technically, it's not only your error - others who followed you do a check, and it seems it was missed there also, so don't be too hard on yourself.

easier said than done, i know