Serious medication error

[Tabakb19]

As a new nurse I have made several errors when I first started as a nurse. Nothing major but still an error. Well until a big one happened. I looked at a bottle of a liquid medication wrong ..i still don't understand how...and calculated the wrong dosage for a high alert medication.There is no excuse for it and I'm so sick about it. The patient didn't die at that time..but already had a huge amount of problems so I don't even know if she did pass if it would be my fault or all the other problems she had. I keep playing in my head constantly everything i did wrong and what i wouldnt give to take it back. All because i didnt listen to myself i listened to a coworker who said dont call the pharmacy. So i was obviously terminated. All of this school and hard work i was a top student in class to questioning whether or not I should even be a nurse. The thought of medicine terrifies me now and it's still in the back of my head that this is the day I will get a certified letter from the board of nursing. I have an interview and I know this is going to come up. How do you even say something like this in an interview an expect to get a job. I feel so lost right now and depressed.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Sounds like you wont ever make that mistake again.

Be honest in your interview, tell them you screwed up and realize you have to verify the med yourself, know the proper dose yourself, not take a coworkers word. Your regret will come through during the interview, and they may decide you have positive attributes that outweigh tht one mistake.

[Chrispy11, ASN, RN]

This sounds familiar...

[Tabakb19]

Thank you..i know i have to be honest and tell them but I also know what that could mean. I just feel like nursing is not what I thought it would be..i put in all this work for school with the mindset that I would be able to help people and I felt so powerless when it actually came down to it. I felt like what's the point of all this to do these med passes day in and day out to the point where I couldn't do my job as a nurse. It became so task oriented that one day a patient became sick and I almost felt like omg I don't have time for this then thought to myself it's my JOB to take care of this person I should never feel this way. I had actually considered putting a notice in prior to this but this happened before it came to that. Maybe it was just the facility i worked at i dont know. I always felt like I was walking on eggshells or a tightrope and that any minute it would be over. I can't blame the facility though they did what they had to do. It was all the mistakes in the beginning that cost me. I needed more training and more time, but it was the cardinal 5 rights so I can only hold accountability for myself at the end of the day. Hopefully this interview will go well it's a smaller facility also. And thank you again.

I looked at a bottle of a liquid medication wrong ..i still don't understand how...and calculated the wrong dosage for a high alert medication.There is no excuse for it and I'm so sick about it.

All because i didnt listen to myself i listened to a coworker who said dont call the pharmacy. So i was obviously terminated.

Take responsibility and move on (if there is no BON action). Leave the coworker out of it, as you said, don't make it an excuse. Own it and take the next step forward. Good luck.