Too much insulin, almost killed my pt

[ohclem3nt]

I work at a nursing home & rehab, I've only been a nurse for less than a year and I'm a charge nurse for 30 beds. I had just came back from my honeymoon vacation and I had misread a pt insulin dosage and had been giving her the incorrect one for the last 3 days. Nothing happened to the pt but on the 3rd day this pt went to major hypoglycemic. I informed the md and also the DON. My job gave me another chance seeing how it was somewhat of a typo, but I super scared and lost major confidence in myself. This is my first time working in a rehab, my old job was a home health. I need encouragement and advice..

[Elladora]

Med errors happen. Don't let this define your career. One thing..your title of "almost killed a patient" is terrible for your self esteem. You say nothing major happened. Yes, it's bad but you did what you needed to in admitting the error and contacting the correct people. In those actions you are showing that you care about your patient. I know nurses that would never admit to making a med error. You did the right thing.

Learn from this mistake and move on.

[FlyingScot, RN]

OP...please have the mods remove your post. It's never a good idea to admit on a public forum that you "almost killed" a patient (whether you did or didn't isn't the point). In our litigious society even hyperbole can be taken as fact. Grovel before the mods if you must. Offer them a sacrifice of beer just get this removed!!!