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Discussion

Med error..advise please

Last week, I had a patient admitted on the shift before me that was suppose to be started on IV ABT when it arrived from the pharmacy. The meds came in around 10:30p and I didnt notice that my IV came in. I work on a sub acute floor and usually when the meds come in whoever sign for them leave each nurse their meds in their assigned area..no meds were left for me so I assumed they were going to be in the next run. I passed it on to the next nurse to give it as soon as it came in. My mistake was that I didnt call the pharmacy to see about the med. It turned out that the med did come with the 10:30 run and someone (the supervisor that signed for the meds) put the bag UNDER the desk. So the 11-7 nurse didnt see it either and reordered from the pharmacy. The patient didnt end up getting the ABT until the next 7-3 shift...where they found that the ABT was under the desk. In the end, I was forced to resign because of the incident. I was told that if I didnt resign I would be terminated and an investigation would be done and could affect my license. Doesn't an investigation have to be done anyway? It seems a little fishy that they can make it "go away" only if I resign. Are there any actions that I can take?

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    • Featured Replies

    Call your malpractice insurance to get an attorney. To be fired for one mistake? Something hinkey is going on.

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    • Experts

    That's absolutely ridiculous.First of all, it wasn't your fault that the supervisor put it under the desk and failed to tell you it was delivered.Secondly, how could such an incident affect your license? What would an "investigation" reveal?You didn't do anything dangerous or deliberate, the patient wasn't even harmed.It was just a delay in giving a medication.Why was the other person not in trouble? It is maybe for the best that you resigned. I wouldn't want to work at a place where they would treat someone like that.You should sue for wrongful dismissal.

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    • Author

    The funny thing is that they were singing my praises (I was kind of inexperienced and they gave me a chance) until a few weeks ago when I told my supervisor that I was pregnant. She promised to keep it between us for the time being but everything has been going downhill since...one reason I got pulled into the office was because I didnt smile enough and acted like I didnt want to be there 0_o....I asked is that having any affect on my patient care and they said no but...I've been wanting to quit but stayed after finding out I'm pregnant and now this. I requested a copy of my files because they claim that it's more than this incident. My dad said I should've let them terminate me and let the investigation be done because I wouldn't have been the only one in trouble if that was the case. I just was shocked and not sure what to do. It took me a while to find a full time job after graduating in 2010. I've only been there 5 months. I'm becoming so discouraged with this nursing thing.

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    • Author

    I only had insurance through them...

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    I know the laws are a bit different everywhere but by getting you to quit it saves them a lot of hassle. You may have been eligible for unemployment and you can no longer sue for wrongful termination. Many people got stuck in this dilemma and are caught off guard and fear takes over and they QUIT without evaluating the impact and other options available to them b/c once you QUIT you can lose some of your rights. You are correct you should have called the pharmacy and tracked down the med but why in the heck did it go through anther entire shift plus until the med was given? Are you the scapegoat here for a problem that was made complicated b/c of system issues? I think you were made the scapegoat here!

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    You should consult with a lawyer and bring up the your pregnancy, there are laws protecting pregant women in many states.

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