Med error

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Specializes in ER.

Ok maybe I am being a freak about htis but I made a med error yesterday (my first), that could have potentially harmed the patient( but did'nt she went home after 4 hours). But now I am just sick about the whole thing, all my coworkers were trying to make me feel better and telling me that it has happened to them etc... I almost walked out but I did'nt, I talked to the house supervisor about it and filled out the proper incident reports, she told me that the only reason she had not made a med error in 17 years was because she had not given meds for the last 17 years!! I asked her if I would get fired and she said no you are human and we make mistakes, but I still cant help but worry about it, and I dont go back there for 3 days and know the gossip train will have reached everyone by then!!! I did manage to make it through the rest of the shift but I am still very weirded out by the whole thing. Any advice????

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Don't beat yourself up ! As someone who tends to microanalyze her shift, I *know* this can be hard to not to do, but please try to live,learn and move on. I *totally* misread an order the other day and was prepared to give a med IV and it said IM....another nurse just happened to catch me or I would have been filling out the same paperwork as you.

Hugs to you and hang in there.

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Everyone makes mistakes, of course some are greater than others.

When I first qualified, I gave actrapid instead of insulin to a patient, despite this being checked by a senior RN.

This week one of our newly qualified ED nurses gave 75mg of morphine IM to the wrong patient. Needless to say, we are all suffering for it. Thankfully that patient was fine, he actually had the audacity to still complain of pain after administration!

Just learn from it and remember you took the correct actions after.

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Specializes in CCRN, CNRN, Flight Nurse.
This week one of our newly qualified ED nurses gave 75mg of morphine IM to the wrong patient.
And he didn't go into resp arrest or have a severe hypotension event?
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And he didn't go into resp arrest or have a severe hypotension event?

Amazingly not, which really surprised me. I wonder what that patient had been using analgesia wise at home and not telling us, personally 10mg would send me off the wall!

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Specializes in Emergency.

How many cc's would she have given him!... I am new but have never seen a concentration greater than 10mg/ml, how often do you draw up a dose of anything using 7 containers! And you would have to give it in at least 2 shots since you should never give more than 3-4 mls in a shot and wouldn't you question that...

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

(Quote) This week one of our newly qualified ED nurses gave 75mg of morphine IM to the wrong patient.(Quote)

I just can't imagine this being accurate. Maybe you misunderstood. Can you verify that you have the correct info??

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How many cc's would she have given him!... I am new but have never seen a concentration greater than 10mg/ml, how often do you draw up a dose of anything using 7 containers! And you would have to give it in at least 2 shots since you should never give more than 3-4 mls in a shot and wouldn't you question that...

That patient wasn't supposed to get any at all!!! We have many sickle cell patients in our hospital and because Diamorphine hasn't been available since December, they recieve Morphine instead, which is calculated at 1.5 times the Diamorphine dose. We have 60mg vials, so it only ends up being just over 1ml for a 75mg dose.

The nurse who gave it qualified just four weeks earlier, so shouldn't have been giving anything without supervision. I find it crazy that we take on newly quals in our ED to start with, puts so much pressure on the senior nurses.

I guess all the juniors will have to go back to square one now - right drug, right patient, right time etc! You'd think that'd be the first thing they remember when giving an injection *sigh*

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(Quote) This week one of our newly qualified ED nurses gave 75mg of morphine IM to the wrong patient.(Quote)

I just can't imagine this being accurate. Maybe you misunderstood. Can you verify that you have the correct info??

Yup, see above...

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.
Yup, see above...

Gotcha!! Hard to believe this patient was not supposed to get anything and did not have resp arrest. Like you said, must have been using something at home to have a tolerance like that.

Thanks for clarifying this.

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I am sure most of us have made them, some worse than others. Just take a breath and learn from your mistakes that is the biggest thing. Take everything as a learning experience and move on with a smile!!! :) :)

Ok maybe I am being a freak about htis but I made a med error yesterday (my first), that could have potentially harmed the patient( but did'nt she went home after 4 hours). But now I am just sick about the whole thing, all my coworkers were trying to make me feel better and telling me that it has happened to them etc... I almost walked out but I did'nt, I talked to the house supervisor about it and filled out the proper incident reports, she told me that the only reason she had not made a med error in 17 years was because she had not given meds for the last 17 years!! I asked her if I would get fired and she said no you are human and we make mistakes, but I still cant help but worry about it, and I dont go back there for 3 days and know the gossip train will have reached everyone by then!!! I did manage to make it through the rest of the shift but I am still very weirded out by the whole thing. Any advice????
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