Transcription error

[mak0076]

I wanted to ask - if medication was transcribed wrong in the system, and medication was given as it was transcribed, and found out later that it was transcribed wrong from the original order in the chart, who would be responsible for the med error, the nurse who administer the medication as it was written or the nurse who transcribed it wrong?

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

If this happened to you, I am very sorry it did. It's happened to me, one time a 24 hour chemo was cut one bag short, so I ended the chemo and when night shift came along, the nurse working all week with the patient said 'no, tonight should be the last bag!' so we went a'researching in the chart and sure enough. The pharmacy made the error in the MR and by not sending up the seventh bag. Oops.

I was the one that 'executed' the error, so my name is included in the incident report. Even so, considering all the times we get it exactly right, the times an error is made is (hopefully!) rare. And human. Going hardcore into 'who exactly IS TO BLAME??' doesn't really help YOU cope with the aftermath. It's the attitude about blaming that I'm trying to illustrate.

It is AWFUL to find yourself responsible for a mistake, there's no feeling like it .

But rushing to assign the blame on another and absolving yourself is . . . well, bad teamwork. And, getting caught up in that messes with your head, makes you feel worse, not better. I've seen nurses go on for MONTHS defending themselves lest they have any blame whatsoever, and my impression was they were miserable and creating the misery themselves. It may not be OK to screw up but its gonna happen in spite of your best efforts. So go easy on yourself, and go easy on the coworkers, you're all in this together. Especially go easy on yourself. That is actually a sign of maturity, to be willing to accept responsibility in whatever capacity you were involved. Your life as a nurse will be SO much better when you ease up on yourself as well as your coworkers :)