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Discussion

wrong order

busy day the other day, accidentally ordered the wrong urine test (tox screen instead of culture)...repercussions? urine culture had already been ordered the day before, too late to cancel urine tox. thoughts?

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    • Featured Replies

    Anything pertinent come out of the tox screen?

    Otherwise. . .lesson learned.

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    • Author

    un, nothing, all negative. patient was 80+ years old. that's called, not paying attention! but could i get in trouble, like placing an order; practicing medicine without a license sort of thing?

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    It was a mistake. You could ask your CN or NM if there is a way to remove the charge to the patient since it was ordered by mistake.

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    Louise, I don't think you have anything to worry about. We have all made that mistake at one time or another. Hi-Ho is correct in suggesting that you simply ask your NM to remove the charges.

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    seriously, no biggie.

    (make sure you ordered the culture stat, though...if cultures can be statted.)

    leslie

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    • Experts

    when i was a brand new nurse, i checked the wrong box on a lab form and ordered a pregnancy test for a pt. in her early 90's. i was tired and copying from what the orthopedist had written on the order sheet. i transposed lines. by the way, my hip replacement pt.was not pregnant.

    my manager said "don't let it happen again." and that was the end of it. the business office removed the charge. after that, i put a piece of paper under the line i wanted so i was sure i had the correct

    box.

    you'll be fine.

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    If this is the gravest mistake you make in your career, it's all good. 8-) Don't give it another thought.

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    Small mistake, make sure and discuss with nurse manager. Also, look at policy. Some places you have to do incident report for misorder labs but, most do not. The only way you never make a mistake is don't go to work. Ensure that you take your breaks and don't work past your limit. Fatigue is a significant factor in errors. I know it is bothering you and we all try and get it right. But, it happens. Give yourself a break. :nurse:

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    • Experts

    I think it's sad that OP fears such a serious charge for such an innocent MISTAKE. It shows the degree of stress nurses endure.

    I wonder about the advisability of telling ANYONE she made a mistake.

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    Just a mistake that will not affect the patient. Like someone above said, "...if that's the worst thing you do in your nursing career..." Relax.

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    Yes if this is your biggest mistake you're doing okay. And test wise think about it this way.....if you ordered a cx instead of the tox the culture one day later will just show more growth if +.A tox one day later could possibly change the test--depending on what and when a pt used last you could miss a window of showing positive for a drug by testing a day later, as each drug shows positve for only a certain window of time. So really the mix up in the way you did it wouldn't likey change the results if you know what I mean. The only issue would be a one day delay in treatment of a +cx. Of all the things we as nurses can screw up that isn't that bad. Lesson learned. This is why most places do a double and somtimes triple check on orders--nurses make mistakes, even the great nurses. We are human.

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    I hope that is the worst mistake you ever make

    But I doubt it because if you work long enough mistakes will happen.

    Keep fighting!

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