Is it a medication error if...?

At your hospitals is it considered a medication error if a medication is pulled from the omnicell but never given (or scaned for computer charting)?

At the hospital I work at the pharmacy department has been writing up more medications errors. When asked what these errors are they state that medications have been pulled from the omnicell but never scaned as given. Therefore they are considering it a medication error.

Is that a true medication error or just a financial error since they just want the patient to be charged if that pulled medication was given or not?

I do not see how it is an error when it did not happen. now in OSHA-land it is considered a near-miss which is supposed to documented, I find much of OSHA to be ridiculousness. I have pulled out IV bags on D5NS another nurse tossed in the NS pile, given I look at the bag to make sure it is NS I put it in the D5NS box and take NS, the hospital would come to a grinding halt if every nurse spent their day reporting a near miss (or every employee anywhere for that matter, a box which falls down near a Walmart employee is also considered a 'near miss'.) Imagine attempting to get from point A to point B if one had to stop and report to highway patrol every time they touched the yellow line or forgot to use turn signal.

I can see several instances where what you are describing could occur if a patient refuses the medication. On my floor this happens most often with heparin, colace, and senna. If the package is already open, or the patient is in isolation I throw the med away. I don't think any of the nurses I work with go back into the pyxis and "waste" the med. Narcotics/controlled substances of course are a whole different animal. Another instance might be that the pill falls onto the floor as I open the package. I throw that pill away, and remove a 2nd pill from the pyxis to give. Again, if it is protonix or magnesium, none of us "waste" the original pill in the pyxis.

As far as patient billing, at least where I work, patients are billed when we scan a med, not when we remove it from the pyxis.

I can see several instances where what you are describing could occur if a patient refuses the medication. On my floor this happens most often with heparin, colace, and senna. If the package is already open, or the patient is in isolation I throw the med away. I don't think any of the nurses I work with go back into the pyxis and "waste" the med. Narcotics/controlled substances of course are a whole different animal. Another instance might be that the pill falls onto the floor as I open the package. I throw that pill away, and remove a 2nd pill from the pyxis to give. Again, if it is protonix or magnesium, none of us "waste" the original pill in the pyxis.

As far as patient billing, at least where I work, patients are billed when we scan a med, not when we remove it from the pyxis.

But you can see how that leaves you wide open if/when someone decides to start asking what actually happened to these meds.

At the very least, check your current nursing policies to make sure that your (and your colleagues') handling of this is in accordance with policy.