possible corrective action????

thanks for the quick reply. my manager did ask if we did chart audits on nights and as of right now, we have not been asked to. I am assuming that will change to prevent this problem. I am wondering if any adverse even could happen in terms of the renal arteries by me pulling the irrigation foley?? NO clots or excessive bleeding happened at the time, but I wonder???

has anyone had a "verbal or written warning" on their record??? and if so, was there any fallout to it???

It would appear that you're being forced to take responsibility for someone else's error. Your usual practice is for the HUC to transcribe the orders and an RN to verify them. The RN who verifies the transcription is supposed to be verifying that what is entered into the electronic orders is indeed what was ordered by the physician. Is it then the expectation that every single nurse who provides care for that patient is to go back all the way to the admission orders and make sure that every single subsequent electronic order is correct and complete? That would seem to be a waste of resources.

Here is my .

I think the argument that they are going to make is not that nurses have to back to the original chart and verify every order. However, the OP had a concern about whether or not the order, as transcribed, was correct or not.

They are going to say if she had doubts about the order, that she should have verified them with the original chart.

There is no question that the RN that signed off on the orders should be held accountable as well, as it's her job to make sure that the transcription is correct.

So after talking to my manager about the situation, I have to sign a verbal warning since in my 1st year of nursing there were two other instances of other people making errors and me not catching them "early enough". the two examples are that 1. someone restarted a heparin drip on a patient who came back postop without orders to, and I noted a few hours into my shift (i work nights so I did not see that the piggyback had fluid in it since it was dark in the room) 2. the previous nurse had recieved orders to change a PCA from morphine to dilaudid and neglected to do so while marking in the chart that it was correct. I didn't see the problem into an hour or so into my shift as well.

So as I know as a nurse it is my job to note all lines when I come into a room, but I think it is completely unfair that I have to be officially sanctioned for other's mistakes. It is like I am being set up. Totally frustrates me. I am good nurse and others mistakes are getting me set up to fail.

So after talking to my manager about the situation, I have to sign a verbal warning since in my 1st year of nursing there were two other instances of other people making errors and me not catching them "early enough". the two examples are that 1. someone restarted a heparin drip on a patient who came back postop without orders to, and I noted a few hours into my shift (i work nights so I did not see that the piggyback had fluid in it since it was dark in the room) 2. the previous nurse had recieved orders to change a PCA from morphine to dilaudid and neglected to do so while marking in the chart that it was correct. I didn't see the problem into an hour or so into my shift as well.

So as I know as a nurse it is my job to note all lines when I come into a room, but I think it is completely unfair that I have to be officially sanctioned for other's mistakes. It is like I am being set up. Totally frustrates me. I am good nurse and others mistakes are getting me set up to fail.

So as I know as a nurse it is my job to note all lines when I come into a room, but I think it is completely unfair that I have to be officially sanctioned for other's mistakes. It is like I am being set up. Totally frustrates me. I am good nurse and others mistakes are getting me set up to fail.

Bark,

I understand your frustration but this portion of your post concerns me. It leaves me with the impression that you are not taking responsibility for your role in these errors. One thing we learn in nursing is that most major errors that result in patient harm or death are processes with multiple points at which the error could have been prevented or detected sooner by basic safety measures such as comparing hanging IVs to written orders regardless of the time of night. If we hold fast to the idea that we are only responsible for our own actions, we miss the opportunities to prevent these serious incidents that harm and kill patients. (Please read case studies of heparin-overdose NICU deaths for a good example.) Please remember that you are part of a team entrusted with the care of a fragile human life. Your contributions to patient safety are important. But you do not work in isolation. Have you ever had the experience of receiving a phone call from the nurse following you informing you of an error of yours that could have harmed a patient had s/he not promptly corrected it? If you haven't yet, you will. And whe it happens, that person will have your undying gratitude that his/her conscientiousness saved your patient from harm and you from a court of law and the BON.

I would like to add that you have not written anything that indicates that others have not been counseled for their roles in patient errors. Given the legal climate, I strongly suspect that they have.

Bark,

I understand your frustration but this portion of your post concerns me. It leaves me with the impression that you are not taking responsibility for your role in these errors. One thing we learn in nursing is that most major errors that result in patient harm or death are processes with multiple points at which the error could have been prevented or detected sooner by basic safety measures such as comparing hanging IVs to written orders regardless of the time of night. If we hold fast to the idea that we are only responsible for our own actions, we miss the opportunities to prevent these serious incidents that harm and kill patients. (Please read case studies of heparin-overdose NICU deaths for a good example.) Please remember that you are part of a team entrusted with the care of a fragile human life. Your contributions to patient safety are important. But you do not work in isolation. Have you ever had the experience of receiving a phone call from the nurse following you informing you of an error of yours that could have harmed a patient had s/he not promptly corrected it? If you haven't yet, you will. And whe it happens, that person will have your undying gratitude that his/her conscientiousness saved your patient from harm and you from a court of law and the BON.

I would like to add that you have not written anything that indicates that others have not been counseled for their roles in patient errors. Given the legal climate, I strongly suspect that they have.