This is a tremendous overreach by the Police/DA, this is purely an unfortunate medication error which sadly in these trying times of short staff, compelled overtime, too much assigned responsibility & care, any Nurse could make this type of error and this type of response to the error will adversely affect Nurse retention particularly @ that Facility but at many others as well as this story gains traction in the Media, it will adversely affect recruitment into Nursing Schools (why set yourself up for a potential murder rap when you can take a MSW or a MOTt or enter Phc. Program & have no worries plus better working conditions & pay! The point was raised what would happen if an MD had made the error? The answer is simple, there’d be none of this discussion as no one would ever had been notified. It is our transparency & our compulsion to report that we open ourselves to censure, we don’t know when to stop! The idea of reporting errors was to allow an internal review to assure any required changes in practice could be implemented by the individual Nursing Staff or Department wide where necessary. This process is both integral & necessary to the proper function of any Nursing Department & Hospital. It serves as a feedback loop. A component of the Quality Management Circle, no Nsg Service is ever that good, that highly polished that they never make any medication errors. If Staff feel they are going to possibly be charged by the Police, possibly lose their Nsg licenses, lose their jobs & ability to support their families, they are simply going to cover up their mistakes, falsify theMedication Record & fail to report the errors, they’re going to play the long shot odds after all they have nothing worse to lose-their job is on the line already, and the overall risk to patients shoots through the roof! This is an extremely shortsighted approach to patient management & overall greatly increases risks to patients, immediately through the increased unreported & therefore untreated medication errors and the overall adverse staffing affects that will transpire, decreased recruitment, decreased retention, & decreased willingness to do medication assignment.
