I made my first med error last NOC... I feel like the worst nurse ever. My NOC started out bad... not an excuse...but I had to catch up for the nurse on the previous shift, and did I mention I've only been a nurse for just about 2 months... and I'm still on orientation, sorta.
Ok, sorry, that sounds like an excuse... I'm just frazzled I had 7pts & 2 wouldn't behave, 1 had a K+ of 2.6 & needed riders that were not done on PMs... yada, yada.... So I ended up giving a pt a med intended for another. Totally my fault... then I have to call the MD, thankfully he was nice & didn't expect the pt to experience anything adverse other than drowsiness... but still.... my fellow staff nurses were like stuff happens & they were supportive, too.... but I fell like such a bad, bad nurse... I know I will not do what I did last night... the circumstances surrounding it again...but What IF I HAD Hurt the PT???? God I wish I could take it all back & I can't... sorry this is so long, but I feel like... I don't know...it's just totally weighing on my mind...
Thanks for listening.
I don't feel better, but I feel a little less heavy getting it off my chest.
IMHO, if a nurse tells you she/he has never made a medication error, watch out, you're either talking to a liar or worse, someone who isn't aware the she/he has made an error.
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You reminded me of a "seasoned" nurse I worked with (thank God she's gone now) She bragged she NEVER EVER made a medication mistake...NEVER! She told this to everyone.....and being 'new'I was like wow!
Then I caught her act...she poured everyone of her patient's meds in diff med cups(like out of their packaging) into unmarked med cups and she was all set for her med pass....She wouldn't have a clue who got what in my opinion! Even when that was clearly against policy she continud to dothis:nono:....She got the AX (after 20+ years)
People who brag and have to tell you how GREAT they are are often the very worst offenders/nurses/people in general.
I made my first med error last NOC... I feel like the worst nurse ever. My NOC started out bad... not an excuse...but I had to catch up for the nurse on the previous shift, and did I mention I've only been a nurse for just about 2 months... and I'm still on orientation, sorta.
Ok, sorry, that sounds like an excuse... I'm just frazzled I had 7pts & 2 wouldn't behave, 1 had a K+ of 2.6 & needed riders that were not done on PMs... yada, yada.... So I ended up giving a pt a med intended for another. Totally my fault... then I have to call the MD, thankfully he was nice & didn't expect the pt to experience anything adverse other than drowsiness... but still.... my fellow staff nurses were like stuff happens & they were supportive, too.... but I fell like such a bad, bad nurse... I know I will not do what I did last night... the circumstances surrounding it again...but What IF I HAD Hurt the PT???? God I wish I could take it all back & I can't... sorry this is so long, but I feel like... I don't know...it's just totally weighing on my mind...
Thanks for listening.
I don't feel better, but I feel a little less heavy getting it off my chest.
I know exactly how you feel. But let me tell you if a nurse tells you they never have made a medication error they either: didn't know they made a med error, are lying, or haven't practiced long enough. The important thing is you learn from it, and in the future check, double check, and hell if it's a night shift and I'm tired I will triple check. Good luck! Remember it happens to the brightest, most senior nurses. And, 7 patients GOD BLESS YOU!
The important thing is you learn from it, and in the future check, double check, and hell if it's a night shift and I'm tired I will triple check. Good luck! Remember it happens to the brightest, most senior nurses. And, 7 patients GOD BLESS YOU!
Learn, learn, learn.
For me everytime I make a mistake rather than forget about it, I like to review it and find out what happened in the process. What could I do, to ensure that same error will not happen again.
I too am a newbie and recently made a med error, and I too survived. It's scary and nerve-racking, but like others have said, you learn from your mistakes. The worst thing to due is brush it under the rug and not tell anyone, you should always admit to your mistakes. We're all human, nobody's perfect. My med error was that I got two patients mixed up, both in a "B" bed, one had a fever the other was fine. Well, I gave the wrong one Tylenol, and didn't even realize it till I was halfway through pushing the meds THROUGH HER PEG!! I couldn't even take the med out of the med cup, it was crushed and mixed up with everything else. Luckily it was only Tylenol, and I also gave it to the correct patient afterwards. I reported my mistake to my director and wrote up a med error report. Since then I realized that I need to reorganize the way I make notes of my patients and have re-done my binder that I carry my patient reports in. My advice: have a separate page for each patient for notes (common sense, but I didn't do it at first), you can highlight the dosage of the med of your med sheet, and I also highlight all the insulin doses on the sliding scales because the ac, NPO, and bedtime scales all print on the same sheet and aren't separated well and they are easy to mix up, especially when you are so busy. Just triple check yourself, and remember, you are human.
The best thing you can do is use this as a learning experience. Rethink giving the meds. Did you have your med record? Did you check pt ID? Did you pull meds for numerous patients at once?
Figure out were you made the mistake, and be more careful in the future. I recent new grad gave the wrong meds to a patient. She gave a patient was a usual BP of 80-90/50-60 180mg of Diovan that was intended for another patient. Gave us all quite a scare. The event happened because she simply had gotten in a habit (after 2 weeks of orientation) of not taking her med record the bedside. She was upset, and admitted her mistake. Then, less than a week later a signed the med record with her on some insulin (two nurses have to sign for insulin). She left the med room WITHOUT her med record. I checked, and she had 4 patients recieving insulin. IMO, she didn't use her error as a learning event.
Know just how you feel, in fact I am a new grad too and made my first one last night, same as you. I caught it, wrote an incident report on myself, told team leader and handed it over in the morning. It was my last night of 4 straight. I can not think clearly at 0200 after 4 nights-- being a new grad in ICU is hard enough without having to struggle with an unwilling brain!!
Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
I thanked everyone on this thread, simply because I could relate to everything that was said. I have written a medication error report on myself. I think it shows honesty. But how sick and embarrassed do you feel? And you think about your patient too.
You will feel horrible for a while. But remember, you are not the only one. Look at all of us admitting to mistakes!
I know this...uh...this other nurse and she accidentally gave the wrong med to the wrong patient. It wasn't even one med, it was a cupful of evening meds. She was running around and the LTC unit was chaos and a bunch of the patients were lined up by the nurses station waiting to get their meds before they ate. She was talking to someone across the hall and just like that the patient opened their mouth wide open and she gulped them all down.
The nurse panicked and ran to her supervisor. They both went over the medications she had given and decided the only measure necessary was to monitor the patient for the evening. Turns out the patient never knew the difference and is still raising heck on this unit today.
This nurse was also a new nurse at the time this happened.
If there is any nurse who has never made a mistake they need to make themselves known because they need like, a religious shrine built in honor of them.
*big hug* Thanks for sharing your story, you're 100% not alone. I'm also a brand new nurse, and made my very first med error the second week of orientation...I was so frazzled and behind on everything and I accidentally OD'ed my patient on Colace. It should've been 50mg, but I gave 325 by accident because she was supposed to get 325 ferrous sulfate which was written right under the colace on the med sheet and I saw it wrong and they're in similar containers and I wasn't familiar with the usual dosing of these meds yet. After I gave it I saw the med sheet again and nearly had a heart attack! Everything turned out okay in the end and it scared me enough that I haven't had a med error since and thank god it was just colace!! It was so scary, but people do understand that you are new, and people understand that nurses do make med errors. We'll survive okay, you'll see!
Everything turned out okay in the end and it scared me enough that I haven't had a med error since and thank god it was just colace!! It was so scary, but people do understand that you are new, and people understand that nurses do make med errors. We'll survive okay, you'll see!
YellowFinchFan
228 Posts
You reminded me of a "seasoned" nurse I worked with (thank God she's gone now) She bragged she NEVER EVER made a medication mistake...NEVER! She told this to everyone.....and being 'new'I was like wow!
Then I caught her act...she poured everyone of her patient's meds in diff med cups(like out of their packaging) into unmarked med cups and she was all set for her med pass....She wouldn't have a clue who got what in my opinion! Even when that was clearly against policy she continud to dothis:nono:....She got the AX (after 20+ years)
People who brag and have to tell you how GREAT they are are often the very worst offenders/nurses/people in general.