Running Head: THIRD WEEK PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE 1

Third Week Practicum Experience

Name:

Institution:

Date:
THIRD WEEK PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE 2

During my first practicum, I made a medication error while I was on duty, administering

drugs to different patients. It was my first assigned duty during the practicum period. The duty

assignment made me realized that time was moving fast as I was now halfway the practicum

period, where I had to take duties. However, at the beginning of my shift, I had to go through a

head-to-toe assessment which entails hand hygiene, assessing the condition of the nursing

station, introducing myself to the patients, confirming patient identification, elaborate each

process to the patient, ensure patient safety and privacy is maintained. This process helps me

understand the health condition of the patient. After preparing drugs for each patient, I started

distributing them one by one. Due to a large number of patient in the nursing room, I had to give

out medication as fast as possible with a lot of precision.

While I was carrying out medication various patients, I was also collecting and

documenting feedback from each patient to determine their health progress. I had to listen

carefully, ensuring I use appropriate communication and questioning skills to record and collect

accurate data. The process became tedious as time went because I was not used to attending so

many patients at the same time. This made me lose concentration while administering drugs.

Patient identification became tedious, not knowing the next patient to attend to. However, I

continued giving out the drugs but with an incorrect method of patient identification. When I had

finished giving out medications, I returned to the preparation room.

While going through the doctor's recommendation for various patients to ensure that each

patient had received the correct medication, I quickly noticed that there was a recommendation

from the doctor for a change in medication for a particular patient. I quickly returned to the
THIRD WEEK PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE 3

patients' room and called out the name of the patient. I located the patient and asked him if he

had taken the drugs. Luckily enough, the patient who I had given the wrong medication had

requested to take his drugs later as he was still taking his food, and I had left the drugs for him. I

took the pills back and told the patient that I would get him another medication. I explained the

situation to the other senior nurses and apologized for what I had done. They accepted my

apologies and encourage me to be keen next time. Their encouragement made me communicate

freely with them till the end of my practicum.