Assignment task:
When you go into the room about an hour later you find that Mr. Donald has been running D50 instead of Normal Saline and the vancomycin bag was accidentally never started on the IV pump. When you review the chart you notice the vancomycin was scanned but the fluids were never scanned into the electronic medical record. You report the errors to your charge nurse and manager. Mr. Donald, his family, and the provider are also notified about the error overnight and it seems like there has been no harm to the patient.
When you see Sam later toward the end of your shift you don't say anything about the medication error hoping that the charge nurse or manager will say something to Sam.
Assessment:
1. Cases like this are all too common. Please identify 3 strategies you would use to help identify this medication error quicker, and more efficiently. For all 3 strategies how would you plan on incorporating these into your practice?
2. Identify at least 2 communication strategies or tools discussed in the readings to double-check the other team members. Discuss how both of these strategies or tools will help you keep the patient safe.