I had an incident recently at work. I've was supposed to give
75 mg dose of methadone to a pt which was 8 small 10 mg pills with one cut in half. I ended up giving all 80 mg and later told an another RN during a medication waste that I gave the entire dose and signed me off anyway.
The problem is I didn't waste until about 6 hours later and it raised suspicion the next day and was asked about it a few days later which I confessed about what really happened. My manager told me that we would have an investigatory meeting and to bring my union rep with me.
I'm worried about getting fired but even more worried about having this reported to the BRN. My question is if this would count as something reportable. I'm in California.
I agree. I think the lying and trying to cover it up is the bigger issue. Had you given th 80mg of Methadone, realized it. You could have documented that 80mg were given, written an incident report. But the waste 6 hours later and trying to cover up your error is the bigger concern.
Is this a med error? By definition, "error" implies a mistake.
The OP doesn't mention a mistake, only that he gave 80 mg in place of 75.
OP- any chance of clarification? Maybe what you did is common practice in your unit, etc... Just curious how this all went down.
Is this a med error? By definition, "error" implies a mistake.
The OP doesn't mention a mistake, only that he gave 80 mg in place of 75.
OP- any chance of clarification? Maybe what you did is common practice in your unit, etc... Just curious how this all went down.
Giving 80 mg when the order is for 75 mg constitutes a med error, does it not? The right dose wasn't given, hence it was an error. The correct thing to do would be to document that the dose administered was 80 mg and file an incident report. Probably nothing more than a conversation would have come out of that.
Administering 80 mg and then fake wasting 5 mg to make it look like the correct dose of 75 mg was given is the problem.
Is this a med error? By definition, "error" implies a mistake.
The OP doesn't mention a mistake, only that he gave 80 mg in place of 75.
OP- any chance of clarification? Maybe what you did is common practice in your unit, etc... Just curious how this all went down.
Why would it matter whether it was deliberate or not? Giving the wrong dose, period, is a med error. You can't just make an executive decision to change the dose, but because it was on purpose it's not considered an error in the eyes of the hospital...
My guess is OP forgot to split the one pill before giving them to the patient.
This would have been a great time to develop a lax conscious and simply apologize for wasting so late. The mistake was made, time passed, and there was no bad outcome as a result.
By admitting your mistake and cover up at this point, you've managed to drag another nurse to the stake with you.
I hope you come out of this ok, but expect the worst just in case.
She dragged another nurse to the stake? The other nurse chose to willingly and knowingly collaborate to cover up a med error and falsify documentation. That is simply egregious. She deserves any consequence that may come her way because her willingness to follow through with that request displays a total lack of character. There is no innocence on that nurse's part. Does it suck that she got caught because the OP fessed up? Sure. Does she deserve it? Yes.
Goodness....I'm so sorry, I know you must be stressed and want words of comfort right now. But you must realize that your actions looks like textbook drug diversion? The documentation you provided, you admitted was false, so there is no record of where that substance went - to the patient, to you, to your grandma, to your fellow nurse's grandma....
Lawyer up. Diversion of a controlled drug is most certainly a reportable offense. And next time....just fill out the freaking incident report! The side-eye/ note on your annual eval/ verbal warning/ write-up is nothing compared to this ****-show. Best of luck to you.
She dragged another nurse to the stake? The other nurse chose to willingly and knowingly collaborate to cover up a med error and falsify documentation. That is simply egregious. She deserves any consequence that may come her way because her willingness to follow through with that request displays a total lack of character. There is no innocence on that nurse's part. Does it suck that she got caught because the OP fessed up? Sure. Does she deserve it? Yes.
I know what she technically "deserves", but my lax conscious is giving her a pass.
If I had no self preservation instinct at all, I would have at least thought about the second nurse involved before deciding what to do.
I gave the entire 80 mg dose and 'wasted' 5 mg with another nurse with her knowing that I gave the entire 80 mg. I didn't confess until suspicion was raised with the waste being done so late. That's the main issue.
Of course, another problem is that you dosed the pt incorrectly, didn't report it to the doctor, didn't do an incident report.
On top of the error itself, which would likely not have been a real issue, you lied and covered it up. And for whatever reason, the other nurse lied on your behalf, so now she is in trouble. Did you show her some other pill that she was led by you to believe was Methadone?
Why did you waste so late?
I don't know what the BRN will say or do, if they are involved at all.
You made a very poor decision by doing this. I can imagine you would face discipline at work and this is definitely a reportable incident. I would take this and learn from it. Honesty is the best policy. If you accidentally gave the additional 5mg, all you had to do was admit it, call the doc, write it up, and it likely would not have progressed to anything serious. Now you've opened a can of worms. Best of luck and hopefully LESSON LEARNED!
While you say that you learned from this, I don't think you truly grasp the seriousness of what you did. Especially considering you seem to think that your wasting late was the main issue, and apparently the reason for your confession. And if your manager is going to leave this as a medication error, you are truly fortunate as I doubt that many managers would have done this.
Granted, this did start as a medication error. And had that been the extent, and had you admitted what you had done then, this wouldn't have been an issue at all. However, what you ended up doing was to falsify the medical record, as well as the administration and disposal records of a schedule II medication. And, to make matters worse, you enlisted the aid of a coworker, and thereby placed her or his livelihood in jeopardy.
I hope you have truly learned from this, and wish you the best going forward.
Guest219794
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Is this a med error? By definition, "error" implies a mistake.
The OP doesn't mention a mistake, only that he gave 80 mg in place of 75.
OP- any chance of clarification? Maybe what you did is common practice in your unit, etc... Just curious how this all went down.