The nurse made a medication error. Which statement reflects the traditional "blame game" approach to such errors? Select all that apply

Question

1. The nurse manager says, "You have to complete the incident report and notify the patient's physician. You made the error, not me."
2. The nurse says, "Why did I make this error?"
3. The physician says, "Is there some way we can prevent this type of error from happening again?"
4. The nurse thinks, "The patient is okay, so I won't tell anyone this happened."
5. The risk manager says, "How many errors has this nurse made this year?"

Answer 1

1, 4, 5
Explanation: 1. The traditional approach to medication error has been punitive and blaming. This manager's response is not supportive of the nurse who made this error.
2. This nurse is trying to discover what in the system allowed the mistake to be made. This is the quality improvement approach to error.
3. The physician is trying to discover how the mistake occurred and is trying to find ways to prevent further error. This is the quality improvement approach to error.
4. Unfortunately, this is a common thought for nurses and is related to the punitive nature of many medication error policies.
5. This risk manager is also looking for blame and not focusing on the system problem that allowed the errors to occur.