i need info

[Lateefa]

what happens when a nurse makes a med error? like ghives a med to the wrong patient? the patient was given norvasc, folic acid, levaquin, and lasix. nothing went wrong duruing the shift, he had a normal bp and no adverse reactions. does a person get their licensed revoked because of that? also, how long should u wait after the error occured to safely declair the patient ok?

[talaxandra]

The law is different everywhere, so I can only say what would happen in Victoria. There wouldn't be any question of reporting the incident to the Nurses' Board if this was the first drug error.

The nurse who made the error would write an incident report, describing what happened and why. The report forms we use include tick-the-box sections asking about factors that contributed to the incident (including inadequate staffing and inadequate education) and factors that minimised adverse outcomes (including quick detection and good luck).

A resident is notified, reviews the patient and documents anything else on the incident report, which is then signed (and expanded up on if needed) by the nurse in charge. It the goes to the oversight committee, who look at contributing factors to critical incidents, in an effort to alter system-wide issues.

The error would be documented in the patient notes, and the patient would be notified and monitored.

Determining appropriate action regarding the nurse depends on a number of factors: her (or his) experience, how serious the error was, adverse outcome, track record of making mistakes, what contributed to the error, and how she (or he) responded (how quickly they picked up that an error had been made, how quickly it was reported etc).

An example: A graduate nurse on my ward recently changed an infusion pump, because the old one had a flat battery and the patient was sleeping in the corridor, away from any power points. She didn't change the rate on the new pump, and the patient received an overdose, resulting in a transfer to coronary care for cardiac monitoring.

The grad reported the incident as soon as she became aware of it. She has been taken off nights so her practice can be more closely supervised, and she's scheduled for a remedial medication administration session.

Hope this helps :)

[nursemary9, BSN, RN]

Hi

I work in Chicago, at a large hospital.

The procedure for a med error here is almost exactly the same as in the previous writer's note. However our manager reviews all incident reports before they go to risk managmnet; she makes recommendations; Also there is a scoring system for mistakes; so many points for various types of errors--PO, IV, IVF, how long before the error was found. The total is then noted on your performance review & what happens to you depends on the higher that number is--sometimes you may have to review procedure sometimes go to a class, some times just get counciled.

Good Luck

Mary Ann

[krickitrn]

Most hospitals use mistakes in medications to find ways to decrease events. We are no longer labeled "idiots" or dangerous. Always report your med errors on the occurence sheets your hospital uses and keep a copy in your personal file at home. The pt should be clear within 24 hrs. But sooner depending on half life of drugs. That you can look up in the PDR. The Board only gets involved if your hospital or someone else reports issues. Things like med errors without bad outcomes are not usually something significant enought to lose a license. Watch documentation on the chart in reguards to these events. I would talk to the Risk Manager or go to a seminar on Legal Documentation and ask how to best document something like that.

Good luck and hang in there. Nursing is a wonderful profession but it is nerve wreaking!