The line between med error and crime?

[Lisa CCU RN]

When do you cross it?

I mean, I hear every nurse will make at least one and if a nurse tells you they haven't, they are lying.

So, what determines whether or not you are charged with a crime or if it is simply an error? Does the patient have to suffer permanant damage or die?

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

There was a case in Fort Worth last year where a doctor was found guilty of criminally negligent homocide (I think) because she did something to a breathing tube to cause a patient to die. Can't remember the details, but the doctor's defense was that the patient was actively dying, the breathing was just agonal respirations, and she wasn't going to take up a scarce ICU bed with that patient. It was a nurse who told on her, but the doctor didn't deny anything, just said it was proper. The jury disagreed, as did the medical board (she lost her license).

What do you folks think about that?

Sounds like they made the right decision by taking the license.

[1pinkrose]

I am a nursing student and find posts such as these such a learning experience! Can all you staff nurses please help me out with a few questions that I need for a paper I am working on?

1. What did you learn about med errors in your nurisng program?

2. What do you believe is the frequency of med errors?

3. How often do you believe errors don't get reported by nurses?

4. What do you feel are the reasons they go unreported?

5. What is the procedure if an error occurs?

6. What do you feel would be the most helpful information to give a new graduate to prevent med errors?

7. How are med errors used to continuously improve client care?

8. What has been the most fatal med error that you know of?

9. In your opinion, what do you define as a med error?

Thanks in advance for sharing!

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

I am a nursing student and find posts such as these such a learning experience! Can all you staff nurses please help me out with a few questions that I need for a paper I am working on?

1. What did you learn about med errors in your nurisng program?

2. What do you believe is the frequency of med errors?

3. How often do you believe errors don't get reported by nurses?

4. What do you feel are the reasons they go unreported?

5. What is the procedure if an error occurs?

6. What do you feel would be the most helpful information to give a new graduate to prevent med errors?

7. How are med errors used to continuously improve client care?

8. What has been the most fatal med error that you know of?

9. In your opinion, what do you define as a med error?

Thanks in advance for sharing!

You should really start your own thread for this.

1. I was taught that a med error is a violation of the 6 rights: person/drug/dose/time/route/documentation. Making such an error is serious and could/would result in being dropped from the program.

2. They happen. They are not rare. But I would think that they are neither common nor uncommon but somewhere in between.

3. More often than not. Maybe reported 5% of the time. That would be my guess.

4. Reporting is punitive, even if they say it's not.

5. Call MD, write an Incident Report along w/ a Medication Variance report.

6. Follow the 6 rights. Look up any med you don't know until you know it. Question anything you don't understand. Until you know better, follow the 'rule of 2': if you have to give more than 2 (pills/vials/amps) of anything, check with someone first.

7. All errors are looked at for improvement in the process.

8. Potassium by IV bolus.

9. A violation of the 6 rights.

~faith,

Timothy.

[1pinkrose]

Thank you for sharing the information. Sorry, I didn't mean to step on any toes.

[RetiredMSN]

Zashagalka, That is very interesting that you should bring up Duke. I had a friend who went to work there soon after graduating from Nursing School with a BSN. She was working 12-hr. shifts and made more than one med. error. The staff there was anything but supportive or helpful. She left there pretty broken up in pieces, at my suggestion. Talk about nurses eating their young! I thought that was a prime example.

RetiredMSN

[rnmi2004]

ITA with previous posts that talked about intent. If a true med error is committed, it seems that a case could be made that it becomes a crime depending on how the nurse (or any other facility staff) handle the situation after the fact. If the error is covered up, especially if there is an adverse event, it crosses the line to crime.