Medication error during Alliana nurses' strike changed hospital’s CMS status

CMS placed Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis on “immediate jeopardy” status after a replacement nurse was involved in a medication error during a recent nursing strike.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the nurse severely injured asthmatic patient Joyce Tagba on Sept. 17 by contradicting doctor’s order by administering adrenaline through an IV instead of into the muscle. The error caused an irregular, rapid heartbeat in Tagba, who lost consciousness and was placed in intensive care for three days. She is reportedly progressing with physical therapy to regain the feeling she lost.

“That just never should have happened. I suspect it was due to people who were not used to working with one another” during the strike, Gary Manka, Togba’s attorney, told the Star-Tribune.

The hospital self-reported the error and CMS accepted the corrective actions of placing a nursing observer in the emergency department when needed and retraining nurses to repeat back verbal orders.

The strike at Abbott and four other Alliana hospitals lasted a week in June and then from Sept. 5 to Oct. 16, during which time replacement nurses were brought in to keep the hospitals in operation. Alliana CMO Timothy Sielaff, MD, said the incident couldn’t be blamed solely on the replacement nurse, characterizing it as a communication breakdown.

For more on communication problems during the nurses’ strike, click on the link below: