WWYD? Medical Profession related

[wvjules]

I agree with Dawn's posts and all the others like them. Sorry but I'm feeling to lazy to go back and quote everyone.

I also firmly believe that at 17 the girl should have been aware of what she was getting. Is the Gardasil shot given in the behind? If it isn't, that should have been the first clue that something was wrong. If it was then I guess it would have definitely been harder for her to know something was wrong.

How would a patient getting their first injection know where it was to be given? Besides, it doesnt have to be in the hip. I've gotten them in the arm before.

I think it should be reported. To who I have no idea. But I think it definately needs to be documented in case that nurse starts developing a pattern of dispensing the wrong medication. However, I'm sure it was most likely an accident.

 

[luvmy3]

Actually DH's profession has nothing to do with my opinion. I am a nurse and as such, realize that all healthcare workers are more than willing to give a 110% perfection but it isn't always humanly possible. We ALL do our very best. If absolutely perfection were the standard, there would be no patient care. There is "no other place" to file the incident unless a formal complaint with an investigation is pursued. Filing such incidents are not standard practice for dealing with unintentional errors.

I guess being a nurse would make you more than a bit bias when it comes to this incident.
I still stand by my statement about it needing to be reported. Filing incidents are not standard practice by who, the patients who the mistakes are made on? Or the doctor in charge of the patients care, or the nurse who made the mistake? And, if its not standard practice then how would a formal complaint always result in an investigation for such an incident? Its not my job to decide whether there should be an investigation, but if thats how its done then so be it. If it turns out (in this case) that is was just an accident then an investigation does no harm, only to document the error. If an investigation occurs and its found that disciplinary action IS needed then all the more reason to have reported it, right?

I realize that nurses and doctor's make mistakes, but I don't think its okay to brush it off becuase they are only human and expected sometime. If there isn't a system in place that documents these types of incident, there certainly should be. I'm not saying each and every incident should be disciplined, only recored so that we patients have access to it if we went looking for such information.

 

[Chicago526]

Just throwing this out there, but are they sure they gave her the wrong shot? Maybe they gave her the correct BC shot but just wrote it down on her chart incorrectly as the vaccine.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I agree with you, Delilah. I didn't mention it in my other post, but what the heck is a 17 y.o. doing on Depo when she needs to be using condoms?!?!? I would also be very concerned about a sexually active 17 y.o. dd. Very, very concerned. To each their own, but those are more harmful decisions than this error was!

There is a good chance they are using both.. might as well double protect to be safe than sorry. This coming from someone who had her first child 7 weeks after my 18th birthday.

 

[DawnCt1]

As a nurse, the mistake is a very serious one and yes I would feel like absolute doo-doo if I were the one who made such a big mistake! I once gave someone 10 mg of something instead of 20 mg and I had nightmares for a week (thank God no harm was done, I discovered my error the next day so he wasn't underdosed for long). That's why I am obsessive about double and triple checking orders and labels, I am very worried about medication errors since they are so incredibly common in all medical settings. The office should definitely review their procedures to make sure this doesn't happen again, there are a lot of safeguards they can employ to greatly reduce the chance of error (procedures for labeling, storing, paperwork, checklists, etc.). This incident should be taken very seriously, but it seems it has been since they came clean and apologized up front as soon as the error was discovered. As a parent, I would take a deep breath and say to myself, okay, so the worst didn't happen. She's not pregnant, praise the Lord, and now I can have a discussion with the doctor about Gardasil, which quite honestly I don't recommend for everyone (my daughter doesn't have it) but I DO recommend for a sexually-active 17 year old!!!!!!!! She is the exact demographic in need of this shot, IMO. And as the other poster said, talk with my daughter about being very aware of what she's being given, what treatment has been ordered/is being delivered, etc. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade if at all possible! And no real physical "harm" was done to the patient, in this situation. It could have turned out so much worse, so as long as the issue is addressed properly I would not go filing a complaint. JMO.

Unfortunately for this parent, she couldn't anticipate at the age of 12 if her child would be a sexually active teen at 17, which highlights the benefits and the shortcomings of Gardasil. If she has had multiple partners, or even one infected partner, she has been exposed to the virus that causes cervical cancer. Immunizing her now may or may not be of benefit. That is why it is crucial for any parent considering this vaccine for their child to do it when it is recommended by their peds and the CDC.

 

[DawnCt1]

I guess being a nurse would make you more than a bit bias when it comes to this incident.
I still stand by my statement about it needing to be reported. Filing incidents are not standard practice by who, the patients who the mistakes are made on? Or the doctor in charge of the patients care, or the nurse who made the mistake? And, if its not standard practice then how would a formal complaint always result in an investigation for such an incident? Its not my job to decide whether there should be an investigation, but if thats how its done then so be it. If it turns out (in this case) that is was just an accident then an investigation does no harm, only to document the error. If an investigation occurs and its found that disciplinary action IS needed then all the more reason to have reported it, right?

I realize that nurses and doctor's make mistakes, but I don't think its okay to brush it off becuase they are only human and expected sometime. If there isn't a system in place that documents these types of incident, there certainly should be. I'm not saying each and every incident should be disciplined, only recored so that we patients have access to it if we went looking for such information.

If you read the article that was linked to previously, you will see that any referral to a state oversight agency really requires a lawyer. It is essentially like going to court, even if you are never disciplined and found to be innocent of any wrong doing. It was a mistake. It wasn't brushed off. The patient knows, the parent knows, its in the record.
If the incident was reported and you could access it, how does that balance the quality of that practice against all of those in which incidents were never reported? Would you assume that Practice A has more mistakes and Practice B has no mistakes? One may report, one may not. How do you measure consistency? Some patients look at mortality rates for heart surgeons. Heart surgeon A may have a mortality rate of 5%. Heart surgeon B may have never lost a patient. Does that mean Heart Surgeon A is not as good as Heart surgeon B, or does it mean that Heart Surgeon A takes on very difficult cases that Heart Surgeon B would never consider?

 

[luvmy3]

I agree with you, Delilah. I didn't mention it in my other post, but what the heck is a 17 y.o. doing on Depo when she needs to be using condoms?!?!? I would also be very concerned about a sexually active 17 y.o. dd. Very, very concerned. To each their own, but those are more harmful decisions than this error was!

I take depo for another reason other than BC, it just so happen to have both the benefits for me. We have no idea why she is on this medication, there are other options much better for a person who is looking for strictly birth control. Fact is it doesn't matter if she is sexually active, what matters in this case is she thought she had received medication that was prescribed and she did not.

 

[DawnCt1]

I take depo for another reason other than BC, it just so happen to have both the benefits for me. We have no idea why she is on this medication, there are other options much better for a person who is looking for strictly birth control. Fact is it doesn't matter if she is sexually active, what matters in this case is she thought she had received medication that was prescribed and she did not.

It only matters because the Gardasil may not be as effective as it was intended to be, if they had chosen to get it.

 

[luvmy3]

If you read the article that was linked to previously, you will see that any referral to a state oversight agency really requires a lawyer. It is essentially like going to court, even if you are never disciplined and found to be innocent of any wrong doing. It was a mistake. It wasn't brushed off. The patient knows, the parent knows, its in the record.
If the incident was reported and you could access it, how does that balance the quality of that practice against all of those in which incidents were never reported? Would you assume that Practice A has more mistakes and Practice B has no mistakes? One may report, one may not. How do you measure consistency? Some patients look at mortality rates for heart surgeons. Heart surgeon A may have a mortality rate of 5%. Heart surgeon B may have never lost a patient. Does that mean Heart Surgeon A is not as good as Heart surgeon B, or does it mean that Heart Surgeon A takes on very difficult cases that Heart Surgeon B would never consider?

As a patient I feel its my responsibility to report any mistake when it is regards to things like giving the wrong medication. What people do with that info and how they make their decisions based on it is not for me to say.

It only matters because the Gardasil may not be as effective as it was intended to be, if they had chosen to get it.

True, but I meant that the issue is not the fact that a 17 year old is sexually active, the issue is that she was given the wrong medication.

ETA, your post made me think of something. If this 17 year old was in need of BC, then it would be too late for her to get the Gardsail so there would be no need for her mother to talk about it with her doc, or she needed the depo for reasons other than BC.
(This isn't directed at your Dawn, to the other pp that was concerned about why she was using depo for BC).

 

[wvjules]

I just thought of something...isnt Gaurdisil supposed to be given on a schedule? How will getting this accidental shot impact the schedule or her even being able to get it now?

 

[DawnCt1]

I just thought of something...isnt Gaurdisil supposed to be given on a schedule? How will getting this accidental shot impact the schedule or her even being able to get it now?

She had the first dose. She can now have the subsequent doses.

 

[luvmy3]

She had the first dose. She can now have the subsequent doses.

What would be the point if she's sexually active? Also what does missing the other doses do if she decides not to get them?

 

[wvjules]

She had the first dose. She can now have the subsequent doses.

I thought they were supposed to be given at a certain interval.

 

[corndog]

I agree with this as well and may I add that I am amazed at the number of people who would go right to reporting and suing for what sounds like a mistake. The doctor and office was honest. They are human, they will make mistakes.

That's what all medical malpractice claims are--suing for mistakes.

 

[ReneeA]

What would be the point if she's sexually active? Also what does missing the other doses do if she decides not to get them?

Just because she's sexually active does not mean that's she's necessarily been exposed to the HPV virus yet, so it would give her coverage...and also coverage for several different strains.

Besides, aren't there here that suggested she may not necessarily be on the Depo shot for BC?

As for intervals...now she's had the first vaccination, she'll just have to time it so that she gets her second in 2 months, and the third in 6.

 

[DawnCt1]

What would be the point if she's sexually active? Also what does missing the other doses do if she decides not to get them?

That would have to be evaluated by her PP.

I thought they were supposed to be given at a certain interval.

Yes, but the intervals can be timed from the first dose. They know when the first dose was.

 

[Mom2Nick]

What would I do? I would address is specifically with that office. I may or may not find a new Doctor depends on how mad I am but I wouldn't take it any farther.

 

[luvmy3]

Just because she's sexually active does not mean that's she's necessarily been exposed to the HPV virus yet, so it would give her coverage...and also coverage for several different strains.

Besides, aren't there here that suggested she may not necessarily be on the Depo shot for BC?

It is a BC medication, and I don't believe it is approved by the FDA for any other use so technically she would have had to have it prescribed for BC. I happen to be on it for other reasons, more important than BC, but still use it as my BC choice. I was just suggesting that she may have other medical issues that would be benefited from the use of depo, and that is why she picked that particular type of BC over another like condom use.

As for intervals...now she's had the first vaccination, she'll just have to time it so that she gets her second in 2 months, and the third in 6.

If she was going in for another depo shot, it would have been passed the 2 month mark.

 

[Muushka]

I'm not advocating that she should sue just that she may. As someone about to take the bar exam I agree that the justice system is flawed. In this particular case I wouldn't want to take it to trial(however if the evidence was there and the client wanted to I would). If the patient was truly upset I would suggest a mediation between all invovled parties.

I guess I am not surprised that you are about to take the bar exam.

Sorry if I insulted your profession, but this suing has gotten way out of hand.

 

[ReneeA]

If she was going in for another depo shot, it would have been passed the 2 month mark.

She can still get another depo shot and use another form of BC for awhile as well, then just back to her normal depo schedule.