Cedars Was Warned Months Ago About Heparin Dangers

31. MY DAUGHTER IS A R.N. AND IS IN THE INTENSIVE NEW BORN UNIT. SHE SAYS THIS HAPPENS BECAUSE THE DRUG REPS. STOCK THE MEDICINES IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE HOSPITAL. IT LOOKS AS IF WE NEED SOMEONE TO FOLLOW BEHIND THE REPS,AND MAKE SURE THE MEDS ARE WHERE THEY SHOULD BE. THE DIFFERENCE IS THE COLOR OF THE BOTTLES ,ONE LIGHT BLUE AND ONE A DARKER BLUE

Posted at 7:21PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Paula

32. The one for adults should be red.

Posted at 7:24PM on Nov 21st 2007 by enough already

33. As a nursing student we are taught over and over again to make sure to do the 3 checks( 3x checking person and medication against the orders) and the 5 rights( right person,drug, route,AMOUNT,time.) This is drilled into our brain repeatedly. How the nurse could forget this not only 1but twice is negligence.

Posted at 7:29PM on Nov 21st 2007 by bre

34. Nurses are supposed to double check the meds before giving them. The pharmacy tech and the nurse that gave it are to blame. I hope the babies are ok. I would be furious!

Posted at 7:34PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Shelley

35. How simple would it be to have the vials be TWO different colors? DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 7:32PM on Nov 21st 2007 by laxcomm

36. How is it possible for anyone with or without glasses to not be able to tell the difference between 10 and 10,000 and the dark blue and light blue colors on the bottles? must have been someone who couldn't speak english or was color blind...stupid asses.

those babies might grow 3 ears or be deaf, dumb, blind and crazy as a result of a mistake like that.

Posted at 7:46PM on Nov 21st 2007 by vlo

37.
where is "flyonthewall'" today did it already go on vacation...........sorry for the interruption........

Posted at 8:10PM on Nov 21st 2007 by ohpleeez

38. I'm not even a medical person, but after just a quick look even I could see the difference in the labels! WHY couldn't hospital personnel see it??

Posted at 8:15PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Seattlelite

39. @41 Seattlelite -- because they're probably perusing TMZ posting their comments instead of doing their jobs like "AUNT DAR, Fly on the Wall and jr" -- they're on here all day, I see the comments in the evening when I arrive home. jr works in the medical field in Canada, so he says -- God help our maple leaf neighbors who are hospitalized.

Posted at 8:27PM on Nov 21st 2007 by BLINDED

40. I sure hope Cedars is not charging the Quaid's or their insurance for all the medical needs of these babies due to their negligence

Posted at 8:26PM on Nov 21st 2007 by Grannygeese

41. wow. I'm somewhat surprised, even with the different color labels. The one who administered the drug is liable, overall.

Always check the medication, the patient, the dosage and everything that follows it.

It is easy to make a mistake because we all take "short-cuts" and it becomes a bad habit.

Someone in one of the comments said her daughter worked as a RN in that particular hospital and the drug reps are the ones who put drugs in the wrong area? Thats when RNs either need to band together and voice their concerns or they can warn other nurses to make sure they are following the protocol of drug administration because they shouldn't trust whomever (tech, drug rep, etc.,)

PS...the one ADMINISTERING the drug....needs to slow down, read the bottle, and hopefully they read the in-service training policy that Cedars-Sinai posted (but, most times, there are registry nurses (outside the hospital) that come in and they aren't taught the many policies and changes, instead they are given a mini-orientation and put to work. Some of these nurses aren't too familiar with the different floors BUT, it is still on the person who administers the medication (even if its tylenol) to follow the 5 rights at all times when it comes to giving out medications.

The Five Rights are:

* The Right Medication
* The Right Dose
* The Right Time
* The Right Route
* The Right Patient

When observed, the possibilities of medication errors are significantly reduced; if not eliminated.

If that RN caught the wrong bottles the first time, she would have caught a critical mistake and been the hero for the day.

Someone posted in a different thread, that the manufacturer is going to do away with the higher concentration heparin. Finally! This has been an ongoing problem for many years!

I'm glad this story is out there, why? We all have to be educated!!! Learn some things about life rather than read about Britney or whomever's troubles of life.

One day, I went to work and wasn't feeling well when I got to the floor. I thought popping two tylenol when I got to work would make me feel somewhat better but, the time I got on the floor, I noticed I really wasn't feeling well. I could tell I was coming down with something (flu). Patients need their medications in the morning, especially their insulin dosages before breakfast so, I had to get to work.

I drew up the amount of Insulin and waited for another RN to cross-check. He eyeballed the order and the amount in the syringe and I told him what the blood glucose level was. He said, "Its okay." and walked off.

When I arrived at the bedside, the patient told me, "That looks like it is way to much?" So, I stopped and went back to the medication room and re-checked the order in the chart, the insulin bottle dosage, and the patient's medication administration record and realize my patient was right! (The medication administration record was wrongly transcribed)

It scared me so bad that I did the right thing....I called the risk management team, told them I didn't administer the dosage, but didn't catch the error, and not only did I not catch the error, the RN who "cross-checked" the dosage said it was OK!

Truly, I didn't have to call risk management but, I DID because they are risk management and the hospital needed to look at this problem. They saw the order...hand-printed (not protocol) and also noticed the mistake had to do with the physician's squiggly handwriting on the patient's chart, etc.,

So, there are other aspects of drug administration that takes place. Risk management saw how the error started with the physician's handwriting, to the person who hand wrote it in the patient's medication administration record. I was going to give the first dose that morning, too as he was admitted during the night.

That was the first time in over 5 years as a RN, that I had drew up the wrong dose of Insulin and although I thought I followed the 5 rights and also, followed the policy to cross check with another RN, I almost gave a strong dose of insulin. Thank God, the patient was alert and knew his medication and I listened to him!

After that incident, I let the staff know, I wasn't working and I was too shook up by the incident.

There are too many intricacies involved in working as a RN. Too much stress, remembering what needs to be done, staff shortages (nationwide), etc., etc., makes being a RN a huge liability!

Posted at 8:36PM on Nov 21st 2007 by kat

42. The censors must be off for the holiday they just let me post slut and whore.

Posted at 8:37PM on Nov 21st 2007 by free-for-all

43. they're letting anything through. they usually won't even let ass through.

Posted at 8:38PM on Nov 21st 2007 by sailor

44. There is no excuse for this, but maybe an explanation. The
lay public has no idea the under staff and work load
demands that exist in hospitals. Staff is stressed to take care
of everyone, and no one wants to wait.

Posted at 8:41PM on Nov 21st 2007 by no excuse

45. Please don't end the day with this.

Posted at 8:42PM on Nov 21st 2007 by sailor