Clinical Medication Error Reflection

This assignment is a reflective essay by a nursing student on an incident where they forgot to bring prescription charts during a Clinical Practice Unit session while administering oral medication to a patient with pneumonia. The student describes the situation, their feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan, referencing appropriate sources.

REFLECTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
A) DESCRIPTION STAGE ...........................................................................................................1
B) FEELING STAGE......................................................................................................................1
C) EVALUATION STAGE ............................................................................................................1
D) ANALYSING STAGE...............................................................................................................1
E) CONCLUSION STAGE.............................................................................................................2
F) ACTION PLAN STAGE............................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

A) DESCRIPTION STAGE
During our Clinical Practice Unit (CPU) session I was administering oral medication of a
patient suffering from pneumonia. But I forgot initial step of bringing prescription charts and
drug reference book. Then I ran and managed the situation and provided the patient with required
amount of dosage of an appropriate drug at that time. At the same time, there were two students
who were engaged in giving injections to their respective patients. Among them one was giving
subcutaneous injection of heparin, and he followed all the procedure correctly. Steps for giving
subcutaneous injection are pinching the skin and putting needle at 45º degree, then inserting
needle into the skin and injecting it slowly (Ortega and et.al., 2017). Similarly, another student
was administering intravenous injection but he was not able to find the vein for inserting
injection this complicated the situation.
B) FEELING STAGE
I was disturbed with my work as I forgot the most initial step of medication which may
result in delayed treatment of patient. On the other hand, I was really inspired and motivated
from the student who had adopted good practice of administering subcutaneous injection. It
reflects the dedication and hard work of that student which he learned from his lessons. While, in
case of student who was not able to find even the veins made me disappointed, as it is the first
step in giving intravenous injection and a small mistake may cause threat to patient’s life.
C) EVALUATION STAGE
This session of core practice skills was a complete lesson for me and I learned the
importance of lectures taught during classes regarding proper administration of medication.
Negative aspect of this practice session is the lack of practical skills which are basics in clinical
practice. It is important to keep all the principles in mind and follow the protocols taught during
college while giving medical assistance to the patients. Positive aspect of this core practice
session is that I came to know about my mistakes and even got time to work on it before my
placement sessions.
D) ANALYSING STAGE
Clinical learning practices that are considered important during practise session are
appropriate practical skills, proper treatment and communication skills (Beaman and et.al.,
1

2017). It is important to provide patient with proper treatment but in my case, I realized that I
was lacking practical skills and knowledge regarding medication. By knowing about mistakes
during practice session made me understand suitable practices and come up with them which
helped me a lot in preparing myself for OSCA exam.
E) CONCLUSION STAGE
If I had referred books and practical manuals regarding proper process of oral
administration of medicines I would have performed well in clinical practice unit session. By
getting appropriate knowledge, I would have not done the mistake of forgetting the prescription
chart and drug reference book and could have performed practice in more efficient manner.
F) ACTION PLAN STAGE
For improving future practices and avoiding the repetition of mistakes, I will go through
lessons that I have been taught during classes. It is important to start with basic knowledge for
mastering over a complex practice. I will start learning and reading research papers and scientific
journals to update myself with many new medical administration techniques. It will help in
developing knowledge and creating understanding of medical practices which will ultimately
contribute in dealing with patient in more effective manner (Ng, Badry and de Lemos 2017).
2

REFERENCES
Beaman, N., Routh, K. S., Papazian-Boyce, L. M., Sesser, J., Mills, H., & Maly, R.
(2017). Pearson's Comprehensive Medical Assisting: Administrative and Clinical
Competencies. Pearson.
Ng, T., Badry, N., & de Lemos, M. L. (2017). Rationalizing the use of auxiliary label for oral
oncology drugs. Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice, 23(5), 338-343.
Ortega, J. L. D., Castaneda, D., Quintanilla, D. M. A., Martínez, D., Trumbo, S. P., & de Castro,
J. F. (2017). Antibody persistence in children aged 6–7years one year following booster
immunization with two MMR vaccines applied by aerosol or by
injection. Vaccine, 35(23), 3116-3122.
3