Top Nursing Errors

Nurses General Nursing

Published

This video discusses the top nursing errors whether it is a medication error, poor nursing documentation, or patient falls.

Medication errors occur when nurses get distracted and included given a patient a higher dose of a medication, giving the wrong medication, or simply not checking the patient's labs or vitals prior to giving a medication that can affect these.

Documentation is the most important thing nurses need to do since it protects them from family member accusations which include lawsuits, patient investigations when things go wrong for a patient, and against other medical personnel including physicians.

Finally, patient fall prevention is another medical error nurses make since it affects patient safety. Patient falls can fatally injure the individual and if nurses poorly document there fall precautions or implement there fall prevention plan as a nurse you might be held liable for the patient's injury sustained in the hospital.

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Specializes in ICU; Telephone Triage Nurse.

Love your videos.

Thank you so much it means a lot we put a lot of work into the videos

Specializes in Med-Surg/Neuro/Oncology floor nursing..

Great video! Its scary how easy it can be to make a mistake. I remember my first day flying solo I was so terrified I was going to make a mistake. Every time I went to draw up an IV medication I was thinking to myself..that's it? I get to go give this to the patient? No universal system besides myself to double check and make sure the medication/dosage is correct? Obviously that fear subsides a lot after time passes.

Errors are scary!!! I was fortunate that i had no falls or med errors, however we had amazing support from our nursing care partners that helped prevent that. I only was bedside for about 5 years, so now i don't have to worry about those errors, but i see how they are easy to make.

So I'm getting called to the phone for someone who'd asked for another RN..not me. The OTHER RN is avoiding this call like the plague. I'm wondering why, but whatever. The upstairs LPN isn't IV certified and wants an IV hung..but REALLY HAS TO TALK TO THE NURSE WHO'D HUNG THE PREVIOUS IV. This particular nurse hunches over in her chair typing even more feverishly.

Ok, I'll do it!

Suddenly this 'other RN' realizes that I'm going to find out what happened, and she stops me...

"Uh, I kind of hung an IV at midnight for her that should have been hung at 8 pm. It's every 6 hours so the next dose was supposed to be at 2 am but I told her I'd hang it at 4...'

So..med error number one---8pm dose not given. Second med error---hanging it at 0000 instead of changing the times, noting the missed dose and extending the course of tx. Med 'erroroid' three-- trying to hoodwink another nurse into an obvious med error of hanging the dose only 4 hours after the previous one, and at the wrong time.

In this facility's favor, they do require their nurses to have a pulse.

I've heard this terrible story about an error an RN made ; a medication injected into EVD line, which was supposed to be given IV. And You know what happened. This alleged stupidiest error still gives me chills

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