Mistake Flashcards
Tell us about a mistake or error you have made during your training to date
I was on my first rotation in the FY1 programme on a general surgical ward, when a nurse came to me saying that a patient that I knew well felt nauseated despite having been given a PRN ondansetron. After a quick review, I asked the nurse whether the patient was allergic to anything, and upon finding out that she wasn’t, asked for a PRN cyclizine to be given without checking the chart. It was only after the nurse has administered the cyclizine that I checked the drug chart and realised that she had an adverse reaction to cyclizine in the form of light headedness. I immediately went to the patient to check on her, and, fortunately, realised that the patient had minor light-headedness to cyclizine, which is a common side effect, not really an adverse effect. Nevertheless, as doctors we are bound by duty of candour, so I explained to the patient what happened, that I failed to check her drug chart myself and offered my apology for what happened. I then went and filled out an incidence report on Datix where I explained what happened.
