Medication Errors

I am shocked to hear that a preceptor told a new nurse that performing the five rights of medication administration was a waste of time!!!! The five rights are there as a safety stop-gap to hopefully prevent an error. I won't even spend the time writing about how skipping the five rights is a violation of the law and can result in disciplinary action against your license.

I can look at cases where my client has made a medication error and point to which right(s) was skipped. Most of the time the nurse is able to move on and learn from these errors, but what of those errors that will haunt a nurse forever---to know that by cutting seconds, you killed someone.

I have spoken with nurses that face that knowledge every single day and it does haunt them. Most quit nursing and many face years of therapy to deal with the depression and guilt. It is even worse when it is a child.

Does this horror seem worth the few seconds gained?