I am panicking? Ugh?

[Anonymous]

I give medications on the night shift as a DSP. One client got 2 tablets, and he only had one in the blister pack, and I popped it out cause I thought the other tablet got stuck in the foil.

I called the on call supervisor, and he told me to just give him the one tablet. I emailed my actual supervisor as well to let him know what was going on, and I charted it.


Now I feel so stupid and slow because I should've called before popping it out of the pack. Now I'm worried I'm gonna get fired. :/ cause I'm a medication manager, and it's a violation of the 6 med rights. I'm now worried I'm going to get written up and fired over this.

I'm having bad anxiety right now. I love my job.. :(

[Oliverlogan263]

Omg girl, don't freak yourself out too much! I'm sure it'll be fine. Mistakes happen, that's why they have protocols in place.

Deep breaths - you did all the right things by contacting the supervisor right away and documenting it. That shows you took it seriously. I highly doubt they'd fire you over a simple error like that, as long as you learn from it.

Just give it a day or two to blow over. Follow any instructions from your boss, but otherwise try to stop apologizing or overexplaining - you said your piece. Quit replaying it in your head too!

These things may seem huge in the moment but places know we're all human. As long as clients weren't hurt, they'll likely just remind you to call first next time. You care about your job and clients, they can see that.

Chin up! You've got this, don't let the anxiety win. Treat yourself with self-care tonight instead of spiraling. You'll get through it - and it'll be such a relief once it's in the past! Stay strong girl. 💪

[DoggyDude]

First, I know its reductive, but keep calm. In that respect, I'll explain why you should be calm and hopefully reading this helps.

Firstly, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone decent feels awful making them, doubly and trebbly when live might be on the line for those mistakes. So first point, allow yourself to understand that, understand others, more experienced know this truth well.

Second, you show how you did the right things; You communicated your situation to your superviser and made an accurate record (in the unlikely situation I misaprehend, thats the first thing you need to do if it isn't already accurate; correcting the record is most important and it sounds like you did exactly right already).

I'll do more, but will get this initial response to you right away to help you feel less paniced.

[DoggyDude]

Thirdly, its okay to feel stupid. I know I do in my job, but what helps the most is to feel others aprechiating your taking the responsibility for the mistake and trying to make right. It really sounded like you where, and I'm sure your email and communications would reflect your regret.

Now, regarding worrying about your job. It would be good to speak with your supervisor in person at a time when it will not cause a problem to do so. This can be hard in the medical profession because I know eveyone tend to be continuiously busy. Just catch a moment with them and reflect how you learned from you mistake, recognised quickly it was a mistake and express how you hope you took all the right steps and express you would be happy for them to give you and advice on anything you may have missed in handling things. This reflects a care for your job and will allow your supervisor to retain the trust and faith they have in you.

[DoggyDude]

Do this as soon as you can without causing a fuss, remain very calm because that is something that will show your being caring and professional, not just worried for your own skin (and I get the sense you are doing that, your just sharing here because this is something mattering a lot)

So, I think any experienced professional knows the kinds of mistakes people make. So no worries there, you make people aware right away, showing your sought to make it right;

Hopefully the medication overdose didn't represent a serious health risk to the patient. Even if it did, your quick notification should have rectified. Hopefully you also spoke to someone in person? if you didn't you must do that soon/immediately if you suspect a serious threat to the patient. However, knowing medical practice its unlikely they would perscribe any drug for which the dosage is so strict it could not support some margin of error safely (for precisely these kinds of occurances and patient mistake).

Hopefully reading this will make you feel a bit calmer, and talking in person with your supervisor as soon as is reasonable to do so should end this.

Everyone makes mistakes, and some people make critical mistakes. This one sounds, gladly to be at worst an inconvience for a patient. Lets hope thats all it is, and even on the outside, if it was worse, remember no serious resonsibility should rest on any single person but must be distributed across the team.

[Jmmmfi4]

WELL... IF YOU DIDN'T TRY TO HIDE IT I WOULDN'T WORRY TO MUCH