Suspended

Hi Ajuma,

I do not think you should quit (especially before finding another job). How will you explain not being employed? It will look more suspicious and they would probably think you are lying when you said you quit. What would you say? "I left before they could fire me for making a medication error". We ALL make mistakes, some of us just forget them (or deny that they ever made them). Even if you weren't a new grad, it would be difficult to find a new job (but you probably should start looking, if you haven't already). You owned up for your mistake which is a good thing. You should not mention the other nurses getting away with things while you are not. That just shows immaturity (and it will probably make them "target" you more, "who is she to tell us how to do our job?") Please do not say that under any circumstances. Also, do not change your number, address, etc. as that will also be viewed as immaturity. That being said, I am sure you have learned from your mistake. I am sure that you will not do that again. No matter what happens, it is not the end of the world and this will make you a stronger person. You will be fine. Good luck! Please let us know what happens. :)

The original poster came to these forums seeking advice. Although it is perfectly acceptable to disagree with and criticize this person's viewpoints, let's please stop insulting his/her usage of grammar and choice of phraseology from this point forward. We are not the grammar police.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding. :)

ABSOLUTELY! My spelling is BAD, my grammar is often fuzzy, but I'm a good patient care provider. I found some of the original post a bit flippant but, honestly, thi is a friendly forum to interact with our peers in an open non threatening way. Last time I posted on a "grammar" thread I got flamed and couldn't bring myself to return to AN for a few weeks. That isn't what I want to happen to any of our posters.

To the matter at hand- I bet there is more to this issue than a single med error. As you said- others have made like errors and suffered less consequences. You don't want to miss the chance of hearing what the DON has to say- it may save you your next job. I have known people who were "targeted" but more offten that not it is just a lack if clear perspective on what is the real problem. It's hard to be objective in our self evaluation. You have an opportunity to get a real picture of why you are being "targeted". It may be true, but there is a reason for it above and beyond this med error- you said so yourself, you were being targeted before this error came up. Find out why.

Start looking for a new job. It should not be that hard to find one. Do this before you have been there to long to say that you took a maternity break. Do not use them as a reference. Learn from your mistakes. The end result from you staying at a job where you do not get along with your supervisors is a bad rep and possible threat to your nursing career.

While I agree that you should maybe look for another position, I would listen to what administration has to say. When I was a new nurse, I made mistakes, too (anyone who says they have never made any kind of error is a big fat liar!) and got pulled into my DON office. I was crying the entire time - the patient was ok, but I felt so bad that I could have done anything that would hurt anyone. Did anything bad happen to your patient? But I digress. She did me what was probably the biggest favor in the world and told me she thought I was going to be a great nurse (don't we all hope!) and that I might do better in a less stressful environment until I got my feet under me. She arranged for a transfer for me and I have been, for the most part, blissfully happy (and have become a leader) in my new unit and have never looked back. You did the right thing in owning up to it. Make sure you emphasize that when you talk to them - that you took accountability for your mistakes and that it will certainly make you pay even closer attention from now on, especially with coumadin, but also for looking for orders that may not have been put in. It sucks, but in the end, it will make you a more careful nurse, wherever you end up. I'll be praying for you. Please let us know how it works out for you.

I know how hard it is, when you own up to a mistake. The department are responsible for looking into these errors to identify the problem and find a solution. As you have said that other nurses have made mistakes around coumadin, then there is an obvious pattern here. Maybe you are the unlucky one, but what is their choice - wait for just one more nurse? then investigate? - I hope not because that means one more patient too!!

There needs to be an investigation. They may find that the way the coumadin is written needs to change. This is a mitigating circumstance. I am certain that they will take this into account, as well as the fact that you are new, and any other factors. They will then either change the way the prescribing is done around coumadin, or not if they find it sufficient. They will certainly request that you do a medicine administration update in a clinical skills lab, which wouldn't be a bad thing. Then it would be over for you to continue, but you would now be that bit more competent and that much more experienced.

Try not to take any of the process personally. It is just a process that the DON has to go through to ensure patients are not hurt and staff are competent. They won't want to lose you, because that means the hassle of beginning again.

Just trying to clarify--

Sounds like you didn't see the order.

Sounds like you did.

Either way, pretty harsh consequences for a med error like that even if you did forget to give it. To me, and yeah I'm cynical- sometimes people who forget to enter orders notice the system malfunctions right exactly when they were supposed to enter it! The computer ate my new order!

ya....i think you and i are on the same page, if the OP is feeling targeted, would not surprise me if this was a set up, and the order not put in until after the fact. If they have computor charting, maybe the entry time should be checked. Also, if comp., how often does the screen refresh?

I wonder why there is so many problems with the giving of coumidin? you seem to mention that med as the one nurses are making med errors on so much. Where I work we have 2 nurses intial the Mar. when there is a new order or a dosage change in coumidin. for the first 3 days we do that. Maybe your place should consider that.

Repeated medication errors by different nurses with the same medication? As others have stated it sounds like a system problem. And if management wants to blame nurses instead of fixing the problem then I would be looking for another job.

If they have computor charting, maybe the entry time should be checked. Also, if comp., how often does the screen refresh?

Morte, in regards to your question about computer MAR's, speaking strictly from MY facilities computerized MAR's..if the nurse has the MAR open and passing meds for say the 5-6:30PM medds, and someone enters an order for that time frame, when the nurse goes to that patients meds, the new order will NOT show up. In order to see it, you need to close the MAR and then bring it back up..almost like refreshing the page, except you have to close it out to refresh it. Now that being said, I only close my MAR out when I'm done with the med pass, it will then bring up a report of any and all meds you have not signed off, meds you put on hold, or meds that you marked as refused. It will now show a new order that was entered and I didn't sign off. I wouldn't know there was a new order unless for whatever reason I went back into that person's MAR..then and only then does it show up.

This is why I heavily rely on the supervisor (who is normally the one entering any new orders) to call me and let me know that he/she entered a new order(s) and for who.

So it is very easy to miss a new order that was just entered for us. And really with the exeption of pulling up everyones MAR and closing it out over and over, there is no way to see/know about a new order unless the person who entered it tells you. This is one of my biggest gripes at monthly meetings. Everything is time stamped for us, so it would show i was signing off meds and at what time, for what med for whichever person. If it shows that i was signing off meds at 5:17pm and the order was entered at 5:03pm, it really isn't an accurate "picture" of what really happened.