Have you ever made a medication error- yes no or almost.

Nurses, how many of you have ever made a medication error. I don't know if the system will allow us to answer yes - no, almost or never.
Quote from YiggsNurses, how many of you have ever made a medication error. I don't know if the system will allow us to answer yes - no, almost or never.

YES.. it scared me to death! No harm to the patient but enough of a scare to me to get me to leave the job! Couldn't sleep, always afraid I'de "Make a mistake" terrible ,terrible feeling!

Yes, I have. I have been a nurse for over 24 years and have made about 4 over those years. I have found several of them that someone else has done. I can remember all of them as if they were yesterday. No harm came to any of the patients but it is still a mistake.

There are three kinds of nurses:Those who have made mistakes, those that haven't done so (yet), and those who don't realize they are making mistakes.The last group is the scariest.We are all at risk to err. The trick is to learn from our mistakes, including identifying what internal & external factors put us at risk.

yes, I have...luckily for the resident all were just like half a dose of right med and not a wrong med...but it makes you feel terrible...I have identified how it happens, rushing to get the task done and being interrupted. I now keep a alert sheet to myself by my medex to slow down and recheck before I adm. So far, so good.

Of course I have, I'm human! My goal is to never make the same mistake twice...so far, in that I've been successful. But I can't let myself get lax about making any mistake.

been a nurse two years. my answer is yes, and almost, in different situations. luckily the 'yes' didn't end up being a critical error; i gave one 0.25 mg xanax instead of the full dose of four (i misread the MAR). the almost was scarier.. but luckily caught it during my third round of checks.

Yes, I did the same thing years ago... didn't want to make that mistake and knew that I couldn't do "all" that was requested or made to do and still do a good job. I knew I couldn't give the care that needed to be done so I found a place to work where I could do one patient at a time... the OR....

I've heard SO many horror stories of nurses making mistakes and it could have happened to ANYONE. even when they do their 5 rights, a mistake happens. Like one time...pharmacy mixed the medication wrong. The RN checked what the sticker on the bag said, but didn't read the actual bag to see it wasn't NaCl.mistake anyone could have made.So when i'm doing medications, i am in my ZONE! Our hospital has actually talked about making us wear something when we are doing meds to tell people we cannot be talked to. Instead they thought that was a little excessive and tried the "safe zone" tape. when we are standing in the "safe zone" (a square of red tape infront of the pyxis) we are to not be talked to by anyone! even docs. we are to not answer our work phones.

Quote from YiggsNurses, how many of you have ever made a medication error. I don't know if the system will allow us to answer yes - no, almost or never.

I gave a little girl her prednisone tab two hours early - I do remember it clearly and am thankful it was not something that harmed her. It bothers me now that nurses report a lot of harsh and punitive responses to medication errors these days, which to me just means there will be more because people will fear filling out an incident report.

Yes of course, gave med at wrong time, told on myself, and was shaken to my core, but thankfully no harm done.