Would you have done this differently?

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

No, I wouldn't have done this. I would have taken my lumps and learned from my mistake so it wouldn't happen again.

AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN · Nov 4, 2009

Well, I will be in the minority on this one, but I would have done the same thing, and I am NOT a new nurse. Yep, it's nit-picky, but so is cherry-picking who to write up and who not to. A simple "This happened, be more careful" would have sufficed if this was your first error.

That being said, I'd watch my back. Those of your co-workers who also made errors and got a pass may not be happy.

For those who suggested a team approach, obviously the whole team has problems, or there would be no other errors for the OP to go back and find. And instead of calling a TEAM meeting, management chose to single out the OP (from what I am understanding from the first post).

I do agree with an earlier post, if you notice that you are getting all the flack and others are not, find another job. If they are not fair about this, I can't imagine that they'd be very fair about other things, either.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

Yes, I'm a recent grad:)
I can say we lived a sheltered life in nursing school..lol

At my facility, and I think most others, being "written up" (incident report) for a med error is not a disciplinary action. The emphasis is supposed to be on figuring out why it happened and how to avoid it in the future. It's natural to feel a little defensive--believe me, I've been there--but it isn't the same thing at all as being "written up," (written warning) as a disciplinary action (been there, too, after an unfortunate run of absenteeism that was hard to avoid, but still absenteeism).

In answer to your original question, I probably wouldn't have named names, for the same reasons as others have given. If you find yourself in a similar position, someday (and you probably will) take ownership of the part you are responsible for, and if possible, already have some ideas in place how to avoid the same error in the future, and don't lose any sleep over it. A "med error" could mean not covering a fingerstick of 152 because you were saving the life of someone else with much bigger problems and didn't get to it. I sometimes wonder how many of those 100,000 errors you hear about on the news are things like that. On the other hand, I've heard that something like 40,000 people a year die from hospital errors. Hard to believe, but it would be scary if it was 10% of that.

I've actually heard the advice: You will make errors. Just try not to make life-threatening ones. Sounds crazy. If you could consciously choose which errors to make, why make any? Still, there's a logic to it. Be careful with anything you give. Strive to be perfect. But be doubly careful with the most important ones. A lot of times, I'll have a med pass in which one patient only gets Pepcid and Colace. They're last. If I'm going to be late with a med, I'd rather it was something that isn't needed urgently or time-critical. I don't even consider a 2200 Pepcid at 2245 a med error, although my nurse practice act says it is. Double-dosing, omitting, or even just being late with Digoxin, that's a different animal.

systoly · Nov 4, 2009

I have to agree with the majority. Life is not fair. Expect to be called on the carpet for things that you may not have had any control over, or that happened on your day off, but you happen to be handy at the time of discovery of the problem. Ask your self one question: How will you benefit from exposing others? And I'm not talking about a short lived sense of fairness or satisfaction, but rather the fact that you did err still remains and isn't going to be erased by exposing others' mistakes. As far as I can tell from your post, you were verbally counseled and not written up. Take it down to experience and go on. Most likely the person who counseled you was venting their frustration or feeding their need for a quick (however non productive) fix to the problem. I'm a bit puzzled by the facility openly proclaiming it a med error, because med errors have to be reported and in my experience managers tend to want to keep this internal.

HealingBalm · Nov 4, 2009

I had an omission on the MAR and was told about it, and even though it had been rectified, it was still going to be considered a med error. Okay.
The part that bugged me was that other people make this same mistake frequently and they are never( that I have seen) called on it. So took matters in my hand, went back to the MAR and made copies of all such omissions and took them back to the manager, who paused and then said all should be equally treated. Long story short, would you have handled things differently?

Most of us that go into the field of nursing are not only caring individuals, but we also are perfectionists at heart.

As one poster put it we" strive to be perfect". I believe that nurses have a much higher expectation of themselves, due to the fact that lives are in our hands.

However, being a team player is paramount nursing! I can't tell you how many times (over decades), I have taken over a shift an caught omissions,cups of meds left in the cart, a syringe in the pts bed, an order that hadn't been picked up, etc. Others have caught my mistakes too! We would leave a sticky inside the medex for the next shift to sign, or, if I was off next day..call and tell the nurse (never the supervisor!) what needed to be rectified. You have been given some excellent counsel from those on this thread. Just remember,even if you leave this job,you can meet up with some of the same co workers who will spread the word...

Your sense of "fairplay" was shaken, it will be many times in your career. Just take this as a learning experince. One day, you might be management. I wish you the best. HB :redbeathe

OldnurseRN · Nov 4, 2009

In our hospital an incident report is a tool (yes it does make an error part of a record) but it's purpose is to teach and cause one to see what caused the error and more importantly, how to avoid it in the future. I have "reported" myself on errors I've committed and reported INCIDENTS (NOT people) on errors I've discovered.

Katie5 · Nov 4, 2009

Nobody was reported. A comparism was made to point out a weakness in the system is all that happened. The nurse manager chose to take up on it to rectify it.

No where was it mentioned on reporting people- you added a new meaning to it.

Cherybaby · Nov 4, 2009

I absolutely would not have done this. You made a mistake. Own it. Don't drag other people into it. I think that if you were truly more concerned about the error being made as opposed to the fact that you got caught and other didn't, there is a more productive way of doing things.

Me personally? I would have taken my lumps. However, it is possible that I would have gone back to my fellow co-workers who are making the same mistake and discuss it with them. I would tell them that I got written up for such and such...and noticed that they made the same error. I would let them know to be cautious in the future so that they do not get written up as well.

Nursing is a team effort. I am willing to take one for the team...and then, share my experience with regard to it afterward. I would never throw any of my co-workers under the bus and would hope they would not do the same to me.

If it was a life-threatening error, which it does not sound like your incident was, then perhaps I would draw management into the scenario.

Cherybaby · Nov 4, 2009

Nobody was reported. A comparism was made to point out a weakness in the system is all that happened. The nurse manager chose to take up on it to rectify it.
No where was it mentioned on reporting people- you added a new meaning to it.

Yes, but when you brought that "weakness" in for comparison, you are now opening the door for a lot of other people to get written up. You might not have meant it as a way of reporting people, but ultimately, that is what it will become. It reminds me of the mentality little children have...when they say "but I wasn't the only one who did it" in order to save their own backsides.

Like I said, I would have taken that information to the others who have made the same mistake and let them know that management is looking at these errors. I wouldn't want to risk getting any of my co workers in trouble just because I happened to be the one who got caught. I'd rather handle it on the floor level before taking it upstairs to management. Then, if the problem does not rectify itself or, as I stated earlier, becomes a life threatening potential, then I would definately be the first one to let management grab the reigns.

Katie5 · Nov 4, 2009

Learning is a life-long process. Owning my mistakes has never and GOD willing, will NEVER become a problem for me.

I believe in team nursing and though not perfect, I practise it as best as I can.

This nurse on my TEAM TOOK the MAR to the nurse manager.Now that is what irked me the most, I desperately wish I could state

all situation around this but I'd rather not.

I welcome your comments even without fully knowing the facts but I'm not too sure it's constructive criticism when my words begin to be taken out of context. Pls let's try and keep this to what was written:up:

leslie :-D · Nov 4, 2009

I welcome your comments even without fully knowing the facts but I'm not too sure it's constructive criticism when my words begin to be taken out of context. Pls let's try and keep this to what was written:up:

from what you've posted, you made copies of all the mistakes/omissions, and presented them to your nm.

isn't that right?

what was taken out of context??

leslie

P_RN, ADN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

No, I wouldn't have copied the MARs.

But I surely would have pointed out to the NM in writing that others have been seen doing the same thing you were cited for, and ask if they were also cited. I'm not a nitpicker but I am a thorough follow through Nurse. (AKA the paper trail Nurse.)

Make an occurrence report, name it as a systems error and suggest a better way to improve the MAR. Don't get into a "she did, I didn't" pzzing match you will lose every time.