Messed up at work today.....

[Hosstheboss]

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I rang out a lady today and accidently gave her the wrong prescription. Similar name, similar address and everything. Luckily she caught it when she got home. She's coming in tomarrow to return them. I feel bad I've been at the store for almost 6 months now and haven't made a stupid mistake like that. I was wondering if anyone else had made a similar and how you dealt with. I feel terrible and don't know how to face the lady tomarrow.

 

[sdn1977]

I rang out a lady today and accidently gave her the wrong prescription. Similar name, similar address and everything. Luckily she caught it when she got home. She's coming in tomarrow to return them. I feel bad I've been at the store for almost 6 months now and haven't made a stupid mistake like that. I was wondering if anyone else had made a similar and how you dealt with. I feel terrible and don't know how to face the lady tomarrow.

Yes I have and yes I felt terrible!

You admit to what you've done, apologize profusely & tell her you'll be more careful with her rxs in the future & offer her any "benefit" your corporation allows for her trouble (coupon, gift card, etc...)

THEN......you think really, really hard about what contributed to your error. Were you too busy to look at the detail? Did you forget to ask her specific questions ("are you picking up your glyburide for your diabetes?" or are you picking up your husbands prescription?").

Remember....if your rx never gets to the right pt....it doesn't matter if you did everything else right. Go slower & be careful.

It won't be the last mistake you ever make......we've all been there - just be humble.

 

[ndearwater]

I have made that mistake a couple of times in the 4+ years I've worked in a pharmacy- plus countless other smaller mistakes.
Anyway- yeah you feel HORRIBLE and you picture this woman dropping dead from taking the wrong person's med. It feels like the end of the world.
But apologize like sdn1977 said and offer anything your company allows and hopefully the person is understanding. Sometimes they are not understanding at all and threaten to sue you or the store or call Dateline.
Everyone makes mistakes! You'll be shell-shocked for a while and be super super careful. Then you'll slowly get a little more relaxed and a little less cautious and maybe 6 months down the road you'll make some other mistake like that.
Hopefully not- but that's what happened to me!
Make rules for yourself to prevent that kind of an error. Always ask for the birthday and name or name and address etc... at LEAST two identifiable peices of info. This really helps to prevent that kind of error. Don't compromise safety because someone is rushing you either.