Major Med Error

[keynurse]

Today I gave my pt. 2mg IV Ativan for anticipatory anxiety for a MRI. Her order was for 1mg, I obviously read the order wrong.

Later in the day, she was difficult to arouse, but her VSS. The following RN elected not to give any form of pharmacology reversal (Narcan), and called the SUP.

The pt. was sent to the ICU and now is vented.

I'm so sick thinking of what I may have done to this woman. Can anyone please tell me of my rights as a RN? I spoke to my SUP and admitted "I read the order wrong". Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've a stellar Nursing record, and I can't even think of the worse case scenario.

Thank you.

[keynurse]

Thank you so much, easier said then done, right?!

Yes, actually that is exactly the steps I took. Filled out the incident report, contacted MD, monitored pt., SUP notified.

Thank you for your support.

[keynurse]

Thank you. This has been a learning experience for sure. great idea about the cheat sheet!

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Yes, her VSS and her ABG's were fine. She was only alert to self on admit, so it's hard to say. I'm on tomorrow, so I'll get to follow up. Thank you for your time.

What was the rationale for intubating a stable patient with good ABG's? Was there a CRN student that needed practice? How long was she on the vent for?

Ativan really probably wasn't a great med to sedate a patient already only oriented to person with in the first place, on the prescriber's part.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

We give ativan 2 mg IVP all the time. It probably was not the reason why she ended up intubated. They probably will be more upset about the narcotic and no waste. Unless she took other medications, the ativan probably did not cause her to get intubated.

[Karou]

Keynurse, no one has any clue which individuals you are responding to. You can hit the "quote" option to reply to each post and that will let that user know you are replying to them.