Mulitple Med Errors

[naynay6802]

I have been an LPN for 9 mths and have had 6 med errors, 3 of which happened in one day. Thankfully no one was harmed but I have no self confidence anymore in my nursing ability. I wish I could go back to being a CNA. I am considering finding a job not in a skilled unit in hopes of not having so many meds to pass. I honestly don't know what my problem is. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[chrisrn24]

May I ask what the med errors were?

[nurseladybug12]

Do your 5 rights and take out 1 pt's medication at a time.

[lovinmymac]

I will tell you one thing, being overwhelmed at work can make a person nervous and cause errors itself. I know because I have truly been there. I have had multiple errors too, but not all at once. I worked as LPN for over 5 years and so yeah, errors happen. The sad thing is some don't get reported and most get swept under the rug or lied about. But it's important to admit your mistakes and to fill out a medical error report. I agree with nurseladybug12, always know your 5 rights and only take out one patients medication at a time. And never leave them sitting anywhere. Always check 3 times against the mar, etc, before you give the med. When in doubt, always check it out, if the the orders are unclear on the MAR or medical order sheet records, then call for clarification. Sometimes its the ones before you who may have in fact done the same error or they wrote the order wrong causing you to make the error.

[Drummond]

My hospital is working on installing a system called MedEye. It is a scanner that recognizes drugs and compares them to the prescription at bedside, seconds before administration. It does not require bar codes and scans all the medication at once. It is super easy to use and my ward (geriatrics) will be one of the first to get it. We have had our fair share of medication accidents in the past and are all excited to start using the system.

We nurses are the last check before administration, and are supposed to prevent all mistakes made in the delivery of the medications in addition to not making any mistakes ourselves. The problem is that we simply do not have the tools to do so efficiently when you factor in the time pressure and the complexity of our environment.

[HAYNURSE]

WoW its been a while since I had a med air. It makes me feel real bad. It seems the entier week-end shift was involved. The meds were transcribed wrong and we all did what they said without checking the DR orders after the admit. No harm to the patient missed giving meds at the time the dr had prescribed. Not to sure what will happen yet.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

It is difficult when there's multiple residents, multiple medications, and a time limit. And the residents are all over the unit, so you have to track them down.

Step back for a moment and look at your MAR. Make sure the resident is correct. Make sure what you pour from is the correct med. Pour, crush/not crush, medium of choice, sign off. Then to resident #2. Stay as focused as you can. Not sure if there's a "card" system, prepour from same containters, what it is that you dispense from. But one resident at a time. Mistakes happen when you have a bunch of prepours at the same time, you are thinking a resident is someone that they are not, or you are rushing as there's a time limit. It does seem overwhelming. And it can be.

Just remember, focus, and breathe.