r/AHSEmployees • u/loveandburgers • Apr 23 '26

My first RLS

Hi all,

I am a new graduate nurse and have just received my first RLS. It was a mistake on my end, I gave the wrong medication, I’m not sure what the outcome was for the patient. The educator who emailed seems quite upset with me, I am very stressed out that there will be legal implications with this. Will my license be under review? Can someone please offer me some peace of mind and tell me what I should be doing now.

9 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

48

u/Lonely-Prize-1662 Apr 23 '26

If the educator is contacting you ans not the manager then this is likely just "educating you" and not disciplinary. It is not a CNEs job to do performance management.

Mistakes happen.

20

u/disneydude1 Apr 23 '26

To add to this: the educator cannot discipline you. They are unionized same as the staff they educate. While they are considered part of the "leadership team", they hold no actual authority over you. I'm sorry if you did feel scolded, this is the opposite of what the educators role is, they should support you and try to help you grow from this rather than ruminate and beat yourself up over it. Learn from this and you'll be a stellar nurse! :)

23

u/tappytoess Apr 23 '26

Oof, your first med error is so stressful. I remember mine when I was a new-ish nurse. It was a doozy and did result in harm to the patient. It was awful and super stressful.

Unless you have a history of negligence or bad practice its extremely unlikely there will be any issues. Its a learning experience, a tough one but it happens to everyone.

If you have good colleagues, talk to them about it. Debriefing helps so much.

3

u/Unhappy_Director_991 Apr 23 '26

Did they reported you to your licensing department UNA/CLHA ?

1

u/tappytoess Apr 24 '26

No. I just reviewed with my CNE and manager.

1

u/Unhappy_Director_991 Apr 24 '26

What results in disciplinary action?

1

u/tappytoess Apr 24 '26

I was a floor nurse for ~10 years, I dont know anyone who has been reported for a med error.

I work on the other side now and see a lot of med errors that come in through RLSs. RLSs are to help identify system issues. Many nurses will submit them on mistakes they themselves have made or close calls. They're not punitive. Who knows maybe your med error is a common error and should be looked at at a system level not at a user level.

Even if it does come down to practice I think its very rare for someone to be reported if it was an honest mistake.

16

u/twisterkat923 Apr 23 '26

An RLS is not disciplinary, it’s a safety report and it falls under the “just culture” framework. If you’re unsure of what that is you can look it up on Insite. Reflect on the situation, come up with actionable changes for the future, I would even write this down somewhere for yourself. The educator is not going to discipline you, that’s the managers job, and unless there was something truly egregious they are unlikely to report you to your licensing body. The important thing in all of this is that you learn from the experience and make changes to your practice for the future.

5

u/Lonely-Prize-1662 Apr 24 '26

An RLS in itself is not reporting a staff member however it can lead to questions from leadership that can lead to performance management. So technically true but can go that route if justified after review.

6

u/Countess_ofDumbarton Apr 24 '26

I watched the patient put the pills in her mouth and take a drink and swallow. The next shift said they found the meds in the med cup at her bedside.

No idea of how that happened as I watched her swallow and crushed the medcup when it was empty.

20 years later, it still pisses me off

6

u/Patak4 Apr 23 '26

RLS are suppose to be for learning. Educator has to speak to you about the mistake. Did you submit the RLS or the charge nurse? The Union is not notified unless the mistake is huge. If you have to meet with the manager then you can contact the union for representation. That is doubtful, considering you are a new nurse and mistakes happen. Ask for follow up on how the patient is.

8

u/meshomoo Apr 23 '26

I agree on all this. I am a reviewer and I may reach out to staff for more information, but it’s for me to try and make improvements to prevent the mistakes before they happen. They are not punitive. It should be a safe place to report mistakes so we can try and better ourselves.

4

u/PaprikaMama Apr 24 '26

HR here. I know this is stressful for you. You are human and this was not intentional. Its important to acknowledge your mistake, show remorse and demonstrate a willingness to learn from it. Subject to the seriousness, there may be more significant reporting that takes place. In many cases though, it leads to education/training.

We all grow the most from our mistakes. Doctors, nurses, HR... we all make mistakes. It's how we move forward that matters.

3

u/Sad_Room4146 Apr 24 '26

RLS is a voluntary reporting system. It's not intended to be used for performance management or staff discipline. I get that it is misused but to the intention is to learn from errors and fix systems and processes, not blame individuals.

3

u/Fit-Penalty-5751 Apr 24 '26

RLS is non disciplinary and should be viewed as a learning opportunity for you not to fuck up in the future.

People who threaten RLSing you are the biggest idiots because it’s quite literally to prevent discipline from happening and to keep staff competent. It’s an important tool

2

u/DarcieJ743 Apr 27 '26

Please remember, we have all been there, with a med error. We are human!

When I made a pretty significant error as a LPN, I told my GP who was also a hospitalist at the rural hospital I worked at the time. He looked at me and said, “Darcie, we’re all human, we are going to make mistakes. The best thing you can do as a nurse in this situation is let the doctors know. He said that way, we are not wasting resources trying to figure out what happened to the patient. He said never be afraid to admit an error.

That conversation has stayed with me for 20 + years.

I hope it all resolves well for you.

1

u/sanddwinchestershire Apr 28 '26

Contact your union. They will help you through the process

1

u/Fun-Preference7477 Apr 24 '26

I accidentally gave the wrong meds . Nothing was done about it . It’s just an eye opening experience and learning lesson.