I made my first medication error error today, and I feel awful
Hi everyone. I’m a nursing student on my second clinical rotation, and today I made my first medication error.
I was assisting a nurse with medication administration. I scanned the patient’s wristband and medication and popped the tablet into a medication cup as instructed. The nurse picked it up and administered it, but right as the patient was swallowing, she realized the dose was incorrect. It required the pill—carbidopa/levodopa- to be split. Instead of 0.5mg, 1mg was administered. Unfortunately, it was too late. We reported the error, and the patient appeared to be doing fine when I checked on him later.
Honestly, I wasn’t independently verifying the dosage because I’d gotten into the habit of following the nurse’s direct specific instructions throughout the morning. I recognize that I should have checked the order and verified the dose myself rather than relying entirely on her process. The nurse was very reassuring and said it was ok, but I felt terrible and responsible for the error. When showing me the correct dose later, an alert popped up after scanning that prompted you to cut the pill. I don’t know how I missed it- if I originally overlooked it. or if I didn’t click into the right page in order to see the alert after scanning. I’m brand new so I don’t have alert fatigue.
My instructor was nearby and asked what happened. When he asked if I administered the medication, I said no because I wasn’t the one who physically gave it to the patient. He asked me again later, and now I’m worried he thought I was being dishonest or avoiding responsibility. I wasn’t trying to lie, but I was embarrassed and didn’t fully explain my role. I also didn’t want to embarrass the nurse. She said it was her first time making a med error, and she’d been working in healthcare for 20 years.
Later, the charge nurse also brought up the error, so now I feel extra embarrassed and I’m wondering who else knows about it, and whether my school will take action. I just wanted to hide and shrink into a little dust mite.
I’ve been unknowingly exhausted this rotation, getting only about 3 hours of sleep per night the last few weeks due to stress, time zone change, homework etc., and this happened on my last day of my 4 day 12 hour shift rotation. I don’t have any healthcare background so this is all new to me. I’m extremely sad and disappointed in myself and realize I need to strengthen my pharmacology knowledge and be more intentional about verifying medications, even when working under supervision. The experience did make me much more attentive during subsequent medication passes.
For nurses and students who’ve experienced this, how are medication errors typically handled in clinicals? Should I expect consequences, and what should I do next? More importantly, I welcome any feedback regarding this. Please be honest. I’m not looking for reassurance that I did nothing wrong. I want to learn from this and figure out how to move forward.
