Medication error question

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hello all, question i have is. i'm in the military and occasionally work for a temp agency; well i have been working at one hospital for almost a yr. i've never had a problem until this. i was working night shift and it was very busy. one of the other nurses was busy when her patient called and asked for pain med's. i asked the nurse if she would like me to administer the pt the prn med. she said sure. well we have a med dispense machine so i logged in and withdrew the correct med and gave it to the patient and asked her to chart it in the mar. well 2 wks passed and i was a day away from deploying back to iraq and i got a call from the hospital. they asked me why i gave the med to a patient who was not yours and why it wasent it documented. i told them what had happened and they told me this doesn't look good. i told them that's what happened. well im deployed to iraq right now and my wife told me that i received a letter in the mail stating to keep short that my story didn't match up with the other nurses and i needed to write a statement to the board of nursing and i was no longer allowed to work at that hospital. seeing i don't have the letter here, im going to write the same story i just told you. i'm concerned what will happen to my license. can anyone please let me know what will take place after all this is settled??? thank you all so much.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Hi there...am so sorry this is adding to the stress of your deployment. I would write a letter to the BON but I would emphasize that you are in Iraq, deployed with the military and keep it short and simple.

I'm sure you realize now that you should document any meds you give. Please take care.

Also - although we will provide support, we can't provide legal advice.

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Yes im planning to do this. And Yes you are very right with the documenting, thats what i get for trusting this person. Should I be concerned about loosing my licence??? Its really messing with me as i feel kinda helpless way over here. And thank you very much for replying.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Honesty is usually the best policy. . .

And thank you for your service to our country!

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Specializes in A little of this & a little of that.

Very unlikely you will lose your license. You have to do something REALLY bad to lose your license. Just explain factually what happened. Definitely include the fact you are on deployment. Count this as a lesson learned and try not to stress.

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first i have to thank u for your service to our country i have a son in the marines. i too doubt that u will lose your license but the number one thing i learned as a nurse is to never pass another nurses medication state is particularly hard on that. I wish you well and remember there is always tomorrow keep your head up

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I echo my appreciation for your service to our country. When I decide to offer my services by administering medications for another nurse, I complete each step as if it were my own...meaning I make sure I have the 5 rights, and that includes documentation. I suspect that nurse forgot to document at all, based on your post, and is trying to cover her own behind. Good luck, and we do learn from our mistakes.

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What everyone else said.

And stay safe!

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