Medication Error...KINDA.

[nursedreamjob]

ok well i am going to take full responsibility for this .....i have been an LVN for three months now at an Assisted Living and i did my first med error yesterday.

The resident went out for an appt, i was not on the shift when she left for her appt. She came back and i was passing out medication so i gave her all her daily meds that were on the MAR because shes a diabetic and was trying to get her meds in that 1 hour window..........20 minutes later after she was eating she claimed she forgot to tell me that she was not supposed to have taken the glucophage and asked if i have given it to her.....of course i did. So i opened up her Dr. Consultation report and it said to not give glucophage for 2 days ......she had just gotten back from a pelvic ct scan and they injected her with contrast....i checked in today and shes ok but im still afraid something will happen to her and i dont know how to live with that. I told on myself ,and that it was a total procedural error i should have asked her if the doctor ordered anything new. the ADON said its fine.

I am having terrible anxiety.......i dont know if nursing is for me anymore.

[merlee]

I have a good friend who took her glucophage before and after her scans. Not a good idea, but nothing happened.

Was this resident sent back with written orders? Someone should have checked them.

Please please please do not beat yourself up about this. If every nurse who made an error quit because of it, well, no one would be working. Now you will remember to ask anyone who goes out for an appt if anything is new, and to check for new orders.

No one is perfect. Think of the hundreds of things that you do right, day in and day out.

Best wishes!

[livvymk3]

Please don't give up on nursing!! I think it's safe to say that almost every nurse has made a med error or two in their career! Don't beat yourself up over it; and I have no doubt you will check orders right away before doing anything else from now on :) We all learn from our mistakes! Good luck!

[nursel56]

Don't give up on nursing. The patient will be OK, and you learned where you went wrong that led to the error and determined how to avoid it in the future. Believe me, as horrible as med errors make you feel, you will never forget what led to it.

Best wishes. :)

[cav5]

Everyone makes med errors, good nurses recognize they have done so, make it as right as possilbe, and learn from it. You have done all of those things. I know it is hard but really learn and let it go-you both will be OK.

Ever wonder why someone is a stickler for something-well, now you know. Years from now you are going to be known as the nurse who has asked every patient coming in from a procedure if there is a med change...and that is good.

Personally, I was the nurse who checked the refill bags from pharmacy ten times to make sure they didn't change the dilution ratio on the med-almost quit nursing that night! I cried for two days, thought nursing wasn't for me and got the same advice you are getting now. I am glad I did because 12 years after that night I love being a nurse.