quit nursing after med errors?

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Will you quit nursing after making 5 med errors in the first 7 months of being an RN?

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

As a nursing student, I've already made three med errors in a hour, if you count each med separately. It was a "right time" error on my first week of having more than one patient on my med/surg rotation. Obviously, I learned that when you're starting out, there are so many balls juggling that you need to take the time to keep an eye on the one lead ball that could whack someone upside the head and kill 'em. Good learning experience for me.

As all the experienced nurses have said, licensed nurses will make errors and any nurse who hasn't is lying. I'm pretty sure the same thing goes for nursing students--we just get our med errors caught by our CI so we never categorize them as such.

I never once thought of quitting nursing school due to that error. It's great that you, the OP, are thinking long and hard about it and trying to make it right. I hope you find what the issue is and correct it as soon as possible.

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Specializes in ICU, PICU, School Nursing, Case Mgt.

Finally, a nursing student who gets it!

Much luck and success to you...with your attitude and your grasp on the real world you should be a great nurse......

AND able to handle the times that aren't so great without crashing and burning because you had unrealistic expectations!

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I don't think i would quit. If i was dealing with a peds client or meds that is life threatening, i would talk to a manger or someone who can help me with this problem. Or take a medication review class. To help prevent this from occurring again. My advise is to check, check and recheck when giving meds. That is what my professor's tell me. It is best to give the meds a little late than give it wrong. But don't be discouraged, we all make mistakes. :)

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Oh, good heavens, no. Some people act as though med errors are the worse thing you can do, right up there with murder, even. I'm not saying they're okay, but I can think of much worse errors.

You need to do what they call a root cause analysis. Find out what exactly is causing you to make the errors. Are you being distracted? Are you going to fast? Whatever the cause is, fix that, and your error rate will diminish.

You're still a rookie. Rookies make mistakes. Be patient, and time and experience will work wonders. Good luck to you.

hello guys.. i am a rn in a longterm facility with a bed capacity of 110 and im passing meds to almost 30 residents... im kinda worried because i made a dossage error last two weeks ago.. instead of giving 45mg of morphine i just gave 30mg. i didnt realize that 45mg of morphine will come from two bubble packs..from 30mg and 15mg = 45mg... i just want to ask you guys if im gonna be on trouble if they found out that mistake...? there was no any adverse reaction noted ... please advice.. thanks

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hello guys.. i am a rn in a longterm facility with a bed capacity of 110 and im passing meds to almost 30 residents... im kinda worried because i made a dossage error last two weeks ago.. instead of giving 45mg of morphine i just gave 30mg. i didnt realize that 45mg of morphine will come from two bubble packs..from 30mg and 15mg = 45mg... i just want to ask you guys if im gonna be on trouble if they found out that mistake...? there was no any adverse reaction noted ... please advice.. thanks

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.
hello guys.. i am a rn in a longterm facility with a bed capacity of 110 and im passing meds to almost 30 residents... im kinda worried because i made a dossage error last two weeks ago.. instead of giving 45mg of morphine i just gave 30mg. i didnt realize that 45mg of morphine will come from two bubble packs..from 30mg and 15mg = 45mg... i just want to ask you guys if im gonna be on trouble if they found out that mistake...? there was no any adverse reaction noted ... please advice.. thanks

I know this seems similar to the OP, but you will much more help if you start your own thread as it may get missed here. This is a narcotic mistake, which most likely will be a documented discussion. Deep breath, you now are going to be more aware of this.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

OP, I can't imagine 8 or 9 to pass meds for. Your first year it's so unfortunately natural to just want to quit PERIOD. Throw in med mistakes and your confidence can be in the gutter. Short of an emergency situation, do not break your med pass. I mean completely finish the 5 rights and administer to that patient prior to getting pulled in another direction.

-Ask the family to wait 15 minutes

-Ask the caller to call back at such and such time

-Have someone ask a doc on the phone to wait just a minute more

-Pull an aid to fill the water

I frequently say "excuse me, I"m in the middle of passing meds and this requires my full attention, I"ll be back to speak with you... get blah blah for you shortly". I wish you well. In a few years you will be supporting a new nurse... telling them that it does get easier and you learn from these errors. HUGS

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