Sick over a mistake I made

[EmilyrenaeRN]

Hey guys. A few days ago at work I discharged my patient without taking her staples out from her c section. I called the patients midwife the next day to let her know and she wasn’t familiar with the patient but stated that she’d look into it. Now I’m feeling nervous, like what if she forgot?? Or what if she passed it on to someone who forgot? I’m so scared this will fall through the cracks. It’s possible the patient has already called her doctor wondering about the staples, but then what if she didn’t. Should I call the midwife again and make sure it was followed up on? Should I call the patient? I’m just so torn up about this mistake. What should I do??

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

On 4/4/2019 at 10:23 AM, EmilyrenaeRN said:

You know, now that you mention it, we aren’t really supposed to open a patient’s chart after we stop being that patient’s nurse. Do you have a suggestion on how to go about documenting my call? I feel like this is a special situation that definitely needs to go in the patient’s chart for future reference if needed.

Every facility I have ever worked at has a policy for making a late entry into a discharged patient's chart. Just ask what your facility policy is an get permission.

Hppy