So I made a med error....

Published

Specializes in LTC.

Where I work, we have TMAs that assist the LPNs. This is new to me bc I just moved to this state and where I am from, we did not have TMAs. Now usually a TMA will work the med cart and my job as the LPN is to do all the treatments, charting, and co-sign the narcs. Today, however was a day that I worked the cart and there was a TMA on the floor working as an aide. So the morning is going on and I had a patient that was having issues. So, I started to deal with her, getting on some O2 and something for pain ect. All this was going on around my med cart, parked by the nurses station.

Long story short: I messed up. As soon as the error was noted, I went directly to my nurse manger and told her what had happened. I was by this point in tears. This is not my first med error and I know its not the last. But the thoughts of "What if" played over and over and over. Plus add to the fact that I a new nurse and new to the facility. You can say I was a wee bit emotional. It took about 20mins for my nurse manger to calm me down. We filled out the paperwork. Both the TMA and I got a med error. I just about to report this to the DON, when she came up to the nurses desk. I am still doing the incident report, filling out the MD notification form and was about to call the family. She asked about the error and I wondered how did she know about it already. Then it hit me. One resident has a daughter that works there. She is an RN and does MDS. Her office is right next to our station. So my guess is she heard everything before I had a chance to tell her. Just as I hung up the phone after talking with the daughter, the RN daughter walks by and mumbles how I didnt tell the "whole story". :confused: I was still upset about this med error and I know what I did wrong. But for her to act like that? Its not like I tried to cover it up, which I see a lot. So what did I learn from all of this?

1) NEVER EVER pull meds and give them to anyone else to adminster.

2) NEVER EVER take meds from another nurse to give to a resident.

3) Double check, Triple check pts with similiar names ( btw..I have five on my unit)

4) I dont think its a good idea to work in the same place if you have family living there. It would be too hard to seperate myself as a nurse from a family member...

okay..thanks for letting me vent...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow! You had a craaazy day! I hope your next shift is better. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CVICU, ED.

I'm so sorry you had a bad day! :hug:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

Geez, I don't miss working in nursing homes with the politics involved. That RN sounds like kind of a douche. My grandma always told me, "Those that do, do. Those that can't, don't." That may be why she spends all day trying to coordinate that MDS crap instead of being out on the floor. Administrators and paper pushers tend to be a little out of touch with reality.

I feel bad for you, I do. But don't sweat it. This shall come to pass.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Trauma.

You learned something. And a cheap lesson at that. I'd call that an opportunity, not an error. Look at all the things you learned! And you taught me some things, too. Do it again and it's an error, and THEN you can beat yourself up.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

The RN that called the family before you had a chance to...way out of line. And when she said you didn't tell the whole story, that wasn't quite fair, since she got all her information via eavesdropping, it's very likely she didn't have the whole story either. I think her error was greater than yours.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

(((blessedmomma))):redpinkhe

So sorry about your bad day. I'm glad you were able to look at your mistake and "learn from it". Hope you have a much better shift when you return.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
Geez, I don't miss working in nursing homes with the politics involved. That RN sounds like kind of a douche. My grandma always told me, "Those that do, do. Those that can't, don't." That may be why she spends all day trying to coordinate that MDS crap instead of being out on the floor. Administrators and paper pushers tend to be a little out of touch with reality.

I feel bad for you, I do. But don't sweat it. This shall come to pass.

Wow...you are vicious. For one thing, not all nursing homes have 'politics'. For another thing, that 'MDS crap' pays your salary so I wouldn't treat the MDS nurse badly. Believe me, she's been a floor nurse before she started MDSs. She can do what you do, but I doubt you could do what she does.

I am in administration and I am not one bit out of touch with reality. I've had your job; I've had the MDS job; I've had every job there is to have in a facility so I know what it's like.

I'm sorry the original poster made a med error and was treated badly. But, so far no one has mentioned the RESIDENT. Is he/she okay? Was there any harm? We do incident reports to see WHY things happened and to try to prevent them from happening again.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.
Geez, I don't miss working in nursing homes with the politics involved. That RN sounds like kind of a douche. My grandma always told me, "Those that do, do. Those that can't, don't." That may be why she spends all day trying to coordinate that MDS crap instead of being out on the floor. Administrators and paper pushers tend to be a little out of touch with reality.

I feel bad for you, I do. But don't sweat it. This shall come to pass.

I was amazed to see you are actually an RN with some experience. Your comment sounded like something an angry CNA would post...you know the ones who think nurses don't do anything but pass meds and sit in the station. I'm with Cape Cod...how is the pt? Hopefully the med error was something minor with no ill effects.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have a nurse like that one, always tattling to keep the RN managers in line and make sure we aren't getting over. :rolleyes:

Just hang in there.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatrics, Hospice, Palliative Care.

I'm sorry that you made the med error, but please - pat yourself on the back for recognizing it and taking the proper action. (I'm assuming that the patient is okay, or you would have told us that.)

Every facility, not just LTC, has nasty people working in it; that's the nature of mankind! And may the gods bless the MDS nurses - I couldn't do that stuff for more than a minute, even though I know how critical it is for the facility. There's a job for everyone in this world, and it drives me nuts when we don't support each other.

Hope that you can put the emotion of this behind you and remember the lessons,

[[hugs]],

e

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion