What!?!?!?!

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Aug 10, 2011

get a grip. You made a med error. The fact that the "drug" did not kill the patient is not relevant. You will learn from this and continue to provide good care. We all make mistakes, but do not think that "rules" are meaningless. They are usually based on protecting the patient (and by extension, YOU!)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Will this affect me with applying for other jobs? Is this even a legitimate and normal reason to "counsel" someone?

Hi, there. I hope that you are having a good day so far. :)

You're already thinking of applying for other jobs when you're still orienting at this particular workplace? I would focus on never repeating the action that led to the written warning. Ideally, written disciplinary action is supposed to be something from which you can learn and improve.

If scanning the bag of IV fluids is one of the facility's rules regarding medication administration, then this would be considered a legitimate reason to write a nurse up. I wish you the best of luck!

klone, MSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

You sound very upset, but like the previous poster said, med errors are serious. They have the cross-checks in place for a reason (patient safety) and if it's circumvented, it puts the patient at risk.

The good news is this is a great lesson learned without any injury to a patient, and I bet it's a mistake you'll never make again.

A quote I heard recently that I really like would apply here: Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.

SitcomNurse, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Just about every nurse out there has made a mistake, be glad this one is minor, and can be corrected for the future.

As you go along in nursing you will find that you are a great self reporter too for your mistakes. When you accidentally give the wrong drug or wrong dose, come back and vent pitch a fit and comiserate. I feel for ya. I do, have been written up for innane things and shook my head like.. WTH?

And remember, the LPN you gave the med to... let him/her know that part of the team work effort is for eachother to trust fully.. and without that,, next time she can pixys her own damn bag. The time you saved them, you used doubley to get written up for.

silentRN · Aug 10, 2011

punching a hole in the wall usually works for me.

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Let me clarify: You hospital requires you to scan meds into the system before you give them. The scanning is your documentation that the med was given. So the patient received the correct fluids, but you did not fluids the med/document that you gave the fluids. Is this correct?

One of the rights of medication administration is documentation. If you don't document that you gave the fluids, there are a few consequences: 1. If anything were to happen to the patient (dehydration, etc) there is no documentation that the patient had gotten fluids. 2. The patient is not charged for the bag of fluid.

In my hospital, incorrect documentation is considered a med error. It's your facility's decision about what mistakes warrant a written reprimand. Since you are still on orientation, it does seem a little harsh, but you didn't say how long you have been on orientation. Are you nearly finished? There is probably a good reason for this policy.

No, this shoudl not affect you in other jobs. Most facilities are only allowed to release the dates of your employment and the position you held.

You can get bent out of shape and being really mad about this, or you can learn from it and move on. I bet you won't forget to scan a bag of fluids again.

tmartin83 · Aug 10, 2011

I just could not believe it, ya know? I was a bit upset about it, because all i needed someone to do was say "you dont do that", and then we can call it a day, but here a write-up puts you at risk for not being able to climb the clinical ladder, no raises, etc.

I am only thinking about other jobs because I know that I will not be here for long (we're moving :-/ ). I'm just frustrated at the fact that I've never had anything bad happen to me like this. ...

tmartin83 · Aug 10, 2011

@ Ashley, what happened was I took the bag out of the pyxis (under the pt. name, where it wa s sitting there waiting to be pulled when a new bag was needed), and then gave it to my lpn since she was going to give other meds anyway... Because I took it out of the pyxis, I had to give it... The lpn still scanned the pt. and the med (it was charted under her as given, so the verifying process was done correctly)...

Yea, I'm just gonna pull all of my meds AND give them next time...

justami · Aug 10, 2011

I don't know why some of you are calling this a "med error", because it is not a med error. What she is saying is she forgot to scan the bag, which is a tool used for insurance reimbursement.

Just ridiculous, nurses have got to start to see the light. Hospitals are piling on the nonsense drop by drop and it will only get worse if nurses do not stand up and say enough Nurses doing insurance reimbursement, on top of having unsafe patient loads. I cannot believe what these hospitals are getting away with, before you know it, nurses will be replaced with robots.

MrChicagoRN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

Okay, so I need to vent... seriously....
I JUST GOT WROTE UP FOR NOT SCANNING A BAG OF D51/2 NS!!!!
Will this affect me with applying for other jobs?
Is this even a legitimate and normal reason to "counsel" someone?
Thanks for listening yal'...

Yes, it is legitimate to counsel for this. This is your institution's policy & scamming is probably tied into the EMR.

There are often many levels of corrective action, and I'm assuming yours was at the lowest level. Usually after a year it will drop off your record & disappear. Learn from it & forget about it.

.

ckh23, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2011

I don't know why others are calling this a med error. It sounds like a policy issue. I would check into your facility's policy, sounds like there might be one in there about if you pull the med you must be the one to give it. Also get to know your other policies so that you can avoid this in the future.

I can relate to why you are upset, but if those are the rules then there isn't much you can do about. Learn from it and move on.