WI,RN

Well, we got a 2 fl oz bottle of shower gel from B&B Works & coupons from there. We used to go out to dinner but had to pay for our own meal. Morale quite low.....

Thanks for your response, especially being the NICU RN that you are. That is one thing we hear in this day & age of our litigous society; people are less apt to persue legal action & polls indicate honesty will get you everywhere! People want to be informed. I don't know the relationship of the med error in re: to baby's death. Difficult to determine too since she was on a vent. I believe the day of the error was the same day she had to be brought to surgery for a central line placement; she never seemed to bounce back after that. Of course, we still did not know of the error until 2 months after death. Since there was no father involvement, staying in the NICU was difficult 24/7 since my daughter was trying to recuperate postpartum/ post-eclampsia too. Sometimes, as a nurse, I feel I failed to 'save'/advocate enough for my granddaughter. Bless you for being such compassionate NICU nurse.

And that is part of my psyche that I am dealing with; I know life could have been quite difficult for my granddaughter, I am thankful she is not suffering. But I still miss having her. Thanks for the advice for my daughter; yes, she has consulted with the Perinatologists re: future pregnancies. Lots of food for thought there! We don't know the influence of the med error, it looks like it occurred 2 days b/4 her death. We have not followed up w/the hospital/staff re: preventive measures taken. I guess we need to be proactive....

I do have a copy of baby's chart. I did find where the Vit A was ordered, given w/no mention of route given, if it was in error (which we are taught not to state "error"), the med DC'd, or if pt/family/dr notified. If there would be legal action, that is what my daughter wants to have as an outcome, patient rights to include informing of errors. In response to TraumaRUs, I do not know when the error was discovered! Yes, nurses are human, most (if not all) have made errors; I guess I feel that if I was that nurse, working with a common med given in the NICU, I would expect consequences if the result is/could be so serious. My psychologist is wondering if any nurses have experienced similar situations with a med error that have resulted in severe consequences....any input from anyone? And to all, thanks for listening. The short life of my dear granddaughter has certainly impacted my life....not sure if I know in what direction yet.

Greetings to all fellow nurses! My first time here so please bear with me. Looking for some input re: a life altering situation for me. I had a granddaughter born @ 24 weeks d/t my daughter having eclampsia. She weighed in @ 12 ozs. She seemed to be doing fairly well, all things considered; even gained up over 1#. We lost her @ 12 days old. Two months later, my daughter & I were notified to come to the hospital for the baby's "preliminary" autopsy report. At that time, the dr. informed us of a medication error; Vitamin A was administered IV instead of IM. He tried to reassure us that "there was no high levels of Vit.A found". First of all, we were shocked at just then being informed of the error. Secondly, referring to several resources, Vitamin A given IV "will cause anaphylactic shock and/or death." You can imagine how I feel, hoping for some sort of closure yet realizing what may have happened! Multiple questions in my heart & mind. Shouldn't families/pts be informed of med errors & by whom, the RN or MD? Should some sort of consequence be expected, possible depending on the severity of the error? Yes, I am a nurse & have made errors, which I feel horrible about & continue to learn from, but never with that type of consequence. Is this type of error "expected" to happen in a NICU? Aren't the nurses more specialized there? Should we consider legal action? It won't bring our little one back but could promote some patient rights issues? I will look forward to hearing from ya'll. Help this Grandma/nurse to heal. __________________________________________ Do not fear death but of unlived life.