med errors

[nurse16love]

Yesterday I made a med error for the first time. I was distraught. I gave the right med and dose in the wrong route. Nobody was hurt thank God, but my mind keeps going back to it and how it was handled. First I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to monitor my patient and not make him anxious. When I found out he was okay I went to the doctor and charge nurse and told them what happened the charge nurse went in and checked on the patient too and saw everything was okay. Afterwards I was waiting to go in with the doctor so he could be there as support. Instead of getting with me he went in alone and I was unaware and said what happened. Instead of telling me so I could be prepared I went in and got ambushed. All I could do was apologize and leave and granted I was already on the verge of tears and shook up so you can imagine that by then I was a mess after I left the room and angry at the doctor for not going with me or warning me that he just went in and said something. Long story short another nurse took over and my manager talked with them, but they didn't want to here any of it. She did come back to talk with me and said if that is the mistake you are going to make and remember it is one of the least harmful due to the med I gave, but I am still shook up about it. My biggest fear is what if I run into this family in public...will they chop me down in front of people to make me look incompetent when I am very competent? I'm sure we all know we are help to the highest standard, but we all know mistakes happen, but how do you explain this to an irate individual? So what do you do if you run into them in public? I want to be able to properly apoligize if I run into them again, but also fear that situation and fear them harming my reputation in this community. I cannot find any advice on this subject. I know I just have to find a way to forgive myself and eventually this pit in my stomach will go away, but I can't help but seize up every time I walked into a store today thinking what will I say or what will they do if I run into them in public. Anyone else been in this situation or have advice?

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

First off, sorry to hear you made a mistake. You learned that you have to even check the route of the drug. Now you are going to have even more of a heightened awareness. Most nurse's have made a medication mistake at some point in their career. Some major, others minor.

As for if you see the family in public, you do NOTHING, do not approach them, do not speak to them. You would not have approached them had you not known them from the hospitalization. There is no reason to speak with them about the situation outside of work, no reason at all. It would be crossing boundaries with the patient-provider relationship.

I understand that YOU want to feel better, but that will just happen with time. Going up to them will not serve a purpose for them, only you. I am not trying to be overly harsh, but if you see them outside of work, you have to just not do anything.

[nurse16love]

I was not going to approach them I meant what if they approach me? I don't know if the patient himself would, but the mother may definitely be the type of person to try to create a scene in public that is my fear. Everyone around her is my potential patient as I work in an ED and I do not know what to do if she is trying to harm my character in public.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

You will have to just walk away, or say I do not want to talk about this here. Anything you say outside of work could be misconstrued or an admission or omission of information. You cannot control her reaction or her actions, but you can control yours. You will just have to walk away. I know easier said than done.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

It hurts and is very upsetting for other reasons when you make a mistake. I do not know one nurse who hasn't. It sounds like you did all the correct things in response to it. As far as the running into the patient and family, if they see you, nod and smile, but keep on going. If they approach you, say in the kindest way possible, "I am sorry, but I cannot discuss this with you here.". It is a shame that our society is so litigious these days that we can't even behave in a way that is normal human behavior and say again, I apologize. I am just so happy you're okay and were not harmed. But, as another said, don't speak to them about this in any way. Your reputation.....just remember that you know who you are. You know how much you care and what your strengths and weaknesses are. People who know you understand this. I wouldn't put much more thought into this aspect of the situation. You are human. We make mistakes. You did not deliberately try to harm your patient. You learned a big, hard lesson and you will never make that mistake again.

[CardiacDork, MSN, RN]

I'm gonna go ahead and ask - what was given via the wrong route? I'm admittedly curious.

Medicarion errors happen. Some laughable and some serious. But they happen to all of us. Relax! :)

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

Sorry...never mind.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

During one of my clinical rotations, a helpful patient my good friend had grabbed the med cup with his spiriva capsule in it and swallowed e it down. She got a critical for a med error and when she called the md to update him, he laughed and said if he had a dime for every time someone did that he'd be retired.

I'm gonna go ahead and ask - what was given via the wrong route? I'm admittedly curious.

Medicarion errors happen. Some laughable and some serious. But they happen to all of us. Relax! :)

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Your patient wasn't harmed, that's the most important thing! Everyone will make a med error at some point in their careers, you got yours out of the way. :). If this family approaches you outside of the facility, remain professional and don't engage.

[loriangel14, RN]

During one of my clinical rotations, a helpful patient my good friend had grabbed the med cup with his spiriva capsule in it and swallowed e it down. She got a critical for a med error and when she called the md to update him, he laughed and said if he had a dime for every time someone did that he'd be retired.

That is soo funny! I've had a patient swallow their Spiriva twice! Apparently it does no harm!

[AceOfHearts<3]

That is soo funny! I've had a patient swallow their Spiriva twice! Apparently it does no harm!

That must be why the RTs all administer Spiriva in my facility! I've administered all sorts of other inhalers- advair, dulera, combivent, asmanex, etc.- but never Spiriva. I work on a pulmonary unit, so lots of patients have Spiriva ordered and in their patient specific bins too, so it's not like it's a rare med on my unit.