Med errors

Not sure what you specifically would like to know...? They happen. Often r/t rushing on the part of he nurse, interruptions while preparing meds, and sometimes "system" problems. All the research I have done on the subject boils down to a systems problem in most cases, one way or another. Short-staffing leads to rushing, interuptions by patient needs, feeling pressured and the like. Misreading the drug name and choosing the wrong one, not checking for new orders before giving meds, (Dose changes, d/cing a med), giving an expired med, missing a dose, late doses, and I've read a lot of wrong route issues. I think you need to be more specific on your question.

Errors do happen, and as nurses we must take responsibility for our actions. If an error is made, we have to take it as a learning experience. I've administered incorrect medications, stopped infusions at incorrect times, and given incorrect doses of meds (despite ordered by MD and approved by pharm).

Nursing is a human profession, and so mistakes are made - but by recognizing our errors and receiving feedback, we become more aware of ourselves and our actions in medication administration!

A little extra Ativan never hurt anyone!!

In all seriousness though, it depends on what you mean by med error. The pt received someone else's meds, or the patient got a wrong dose are two totally different things. Accidents happen, learn from mistake and don't do it again!!

I m relatively new to the nursing field ( 2 years) clinic, rehab, and LTC experience. I have witnessed a variety of med errors and made a few myself. I am interested in any feedback concerning med errors from other nurses. I don't want to narrow the response by setting more specific parameters.

Is this a homework assignment?

I've failed to stop IVF at the correct time, which is a med error. Another coworker made the same mistake on another patient the same day. I think that speaks for staffing and system errors, but our unit has now made a new policy regarding continuous medications.

I have also prevented at least 2 medication errors that I know of in just under 1 year of nursing. The first one a pharmacist had profiled the timing of a medication incorrectly which I questioned- a once daily IV abx was profiled to be given again less than 2 hours after the previous dose. The second one I was asking a pharmacist if there were any special precautions on administering a medication I was unfamiliar with that had very little info in Lexi-comp for the ordered route. The pharmacist then realized it was a different route than what she thought, so we spoke with the doctor who also hadn't realized she'd ordered the wrong route and it was corrected- it was ordered as an IM injection when an IV infusion was wanted.