An alarming story out of the UK reminds all of us how easily nursing care mistakes can be made if careful procedures are not followed each and every time patient care is rendered.
Infant Fed Fabric Softener in NICU
A baby was accidentally fed fabric softener through a feeding tube in a neonatal intensive care unit. The mistake was quickly discovered after the infant reacted to the gastric tube feeding.
According to the story, the mother brought in the fabric softener from home in an unlabeled container. It is unsure, based on the account in the article, how the nursing staff mistakenly replaced this liquid for the baby’s regular feeding.
Keeping Nursing Patients Safe
Whenever an article like this one surfaces, I try very hard to not assign blame. In the early reports, the reporters often get details wrong or assume things that aren’t verified.
What I do try to do is wonder what I would do differently; how I, as a nurse, paramedic, or other health care provider can make sure that a similar mistake doesn’t happen in my own patient care interactions?
This story proves to me the importance of establishing a routine for patient care that ensures double checks on doses, medications, routes of administration, correct labeling, etc.
If bottle of saline is considered usable for 24 hours after opening but the person who opened it didn’t label it with a date and time, when was it opened?
It doesn’t matter –
There’s no accountability labeling on it so assume it was opened more than 24 hours ago. Go open another bottle. (make sure you label it appropriately – patient sticker, date, time, your initials for a start)
Nursing Care Safety System Ideas
Got your own system for keeping yourself straight and providing safe care for your patients? Share it with the others here in the Nursing Show community. Comment using the link below this article so that we all may benefit from your experiences.
