When Darlene Sredl, PhD, RN, realized she had just made a medication error, a number of temptations raced through her panicking mind. Someone must have made a mistake!
But it was Darlene who made the mistake, and she candidly reflects on what she learned from the experience in her article, “Temptations after a Medication Error,” from the Journal of Christian Nursing.
It was her next-to-last day on the job. Should she report her mistake, or just sign off and leave with a perfect record?
Darlene’s temptations were very similar to the temptations that Jesus encountered and overcame. The first was the promise of instant gratification by not reporting her error. She heard a voice say, “Nobody need know about this. Just sign it off and don’t tell.” She remembered how Jesus refused to turn stones into bread for his own gratification.
Then a second temptation came that appealed to personal power, “You just got your PhD in nursing! All that education, and you made such a stupid mistake.”
A third temptation made her decision even harder, “You are going to leave this job tomorrow; you could leave with a perfect record.” Darlene confesses her struggle with pride and the temptation to minimize what she had done.
If you’ve ever made a medical error, you’ll relate to Darlene’s genuine internal struggle. Read the article and discover the surprising outcome.
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