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The care home that my father is living in provides the absolute best care, they made an error in giving medication last night, but as of now there have been no ill effects other than sleeping thru the night for a change. they gave him someone elses Blood pressure Med, along with a low dose sleeping pill and colace. They have been very proactive in their approach, hourly BP checks and monitoring. I am very glad that they told me, as this type of thing could easily be hidden. The person responsible has been counseled by her supervisor and administrator, and is truly heartbroken. When I talked to her, she appeared truly sorry, and explained what happened, and told me that she has never done this before. As I said there seem to be no ill effects to this point, what now? Do I chalk it up to human error? Do I report it to someone other than those who already know. Or ????

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This happens more often than you think. What is unique, as the expert noted in her reply, is that the facility and the actual staff member took personal responsibility, notified you timely, and took appropriate steps to monitor for ill effects. Good facilities might have done one or two of those things. Bad ones, which many are, wouldn't do any and you would have never known about it. You have an EXCELLENT care facility and and an OUTSTANDING staff member. Very few people would be willing to face you and admit their mistake the way she did. You should send flowers or a very large box of chocolates to that employee and thank the administrator for running a first class care facility.
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I'm so glad he's doing better. Hang on to any documentation you have of this error. They've done right by him and I hope he continues to improve.
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Thanks so much to every one for sharing. His blood pressure is stabilizing this evening, though somewhat lower than desired.
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I would also chalk it up to human error. The mistake was discovered, action has been taken to monitor him and it was brought to the employee's attention. It sounds like the facility has done a great job in handling it.

Unfortunately, medication errors are not that uncommon and while there are numerous safeguards in place to prevent them in facilities they still happen because humans make mistakes.
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That's what I would do. There's so much good going on here that it's a shame to spoil things since they owned up to the mistake and took the correct steps. I hope that his BP comes back quickly and everything evens out. Please do keep us posted.
Carol
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Thanks Carol, I am not for contacting the ombudsman, I believe that they are doing everything they should, and can, and as long as they are acting appropriately, I think I will ere on the side of Gods Grace. His BP is still somewhat low, which is a concern, but they are monitoring it hourly, keeping someone with him pretty much at all times and will continue to do so all day long.
Thanks for your comment, it let me know that I am doing the right thing.
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I think that the home has handled this admirably. Unfortunately, human error is part of life. As you said, they could easily have hidden this but they didn't so I'm assuming that they've taken all of the steps that they are required to take. Since their care is overall high quality, I'd be satisfied with things as they are.

If you do want to take more action, you can contact your ombudsman for the home. That is your choice.

Take care,
Carol
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