allisonj_rn

i'm a new nurse and just wanted to know what the reality is with reporting med errors... my first month off of orientationin med-surg and i accidently gave 2 units rapid acting insulin instead of 2 units fast acting insulin. i got distracted by another (falling) patient while giving meds and saw the sliding scale on the MAR (as far as i knew our hospital only gave the rapid acting sliding scale). anyway, i noticed i had given the wrong drug when i went to sign for having given the med. i was *horrified*. i asked a senior staff nurse and she _basically_ told me not to bother reporting it. i didn't know the nurse (or anyone else on shift) that well. i thought back to everything i learned in school about the importance of reporting errors and safety (and also i felt really guilty and incompetent). i filled out an "incident report" and reported myself. i also rechecked pt's. sugar and monitored him--he was fine. while this was a "minor" error i'm well aware that it could have been worse with a different lapse. i like to think that i'm way more careful with meds now (check, check, check, even when you're stressed), even "routine" ones. now other co-workers have gotten wind of this and said that i was really stupid for reporting such a "minor" error and that i've now put my license in jeopardy. i'm reading the cases on my state board of nurses and i see license suspensions for things like "two medication errors." also, if this is in my personnel file, can i even leave for another job? i'm freaked. i also don't like the idea of a profession that tacitly condones lying or expects humans to be perfect. yuck. am i being pollyanna-ish? do people usually not report these things? for this and other reasons i'm seriously thinking of quiting hospital nursing. too many patients--crazy expectations...