When preparing to hand off a patient at 1900, the nurse notices that the patient did not receive her daily dose of enoxaparin (Lovenox) at 0900. In addition to notifying the physician, administering the medication late as ordered, and notifying the charge nurse, what other documentation must the nurse complete prior to leaving for the day?

Explanation

•All medication errors and near misses should be documented in the occurrence reporting system to allow nursing leadership and pharmacy to identify and resolve any processes that contribute to medication errors like poor labeling and packaging, inefficient workflows, and knowledge deficits.

•Medication errors can be due to human error, but more often are due to faulty processes in the medication administration process. Reporting that you made an error is important to help make changes that will prevent other nurses from making similar mistakes.

Incorrect options:

•An e-mail is not the best way to get this information to both nursing and pharmacy leadership. 

•A blog post can be a violation of confidentiality and is an unprofessional way to share this type of information. Documentation is required for every medication error.

•Documentation is required for every medication error.

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