Problem at work

[Orangejuice30]

So, I work in the medical field and while at work the other day I noticed a medication error that had been going on for a few weeks and no one seemed to have picked up on it. This was quite a dangerous drug to be getting a double dose of for so long, especially with the patients I work with. So i went to my manager to report it and to get advice as to what to do now.
About 4 of my colleagues were involved in this error over the time and were pulled into the office. They are now very angry with me, saying I threw them under the bus and i shouldnt have told anyone, etc. It has made work quite awkward.
So my question is, was I wrong for reporting it? Am I the bad guy?

No you most definitely were not! You are doing your job correctly and they weren’t.
you say it was a dangerous error so thank god you did report - and that’s all you have to say about it if they continue to have a go at you.

You were right to report it. Imagine the trouble they would have been in if they had made someone really ill!

In hindsight, an anonymous report would have been safer but how do they know it was you? Your work should absolutely not have told them it came from you - why did they?

It should/would have been highlighted in whatever your medication handover, second checking and/or medication audit processes are. Incidents such as this highlight poor practice or gaps in governance that are learnings for everyone.

Even if those responsible noticed their own mistakes it’s against legislation to amend/falsify meds records to cover the mistake. The whole point of recording incidents is to have a culture of openness and learning

It was going to come out eventually and you did the right thing to report this. Your duty is to your patients/people who use services not colleagues

Of course you weren't wrong! I've made plenty of medication errors in my time (none serious) but if they aren't pointed out then how do we learn and develop. Your colleagues were embarrassed but you were absolutely not at fault.

@jackstini I work in an area that only has one registered nurse on at a time so unfortunately it was obvious that it was me that reported it. It didn't concern me at first because it was all staff that had been involved with the error, not just one person and it involved the pharmacy as well so it was quite a big error. I think the other staff here believe all errors, big and small, should be covered up but I'm not happy to go along with that.

You are right to not want to go along with their opinion! Mistakes should not be covered up in medical fields

Sorry they are being horrible with you - they should be thankful it's been spotted before it caused a serious issue they could be sacked for!

@MrsOnions0 Thanks, that's made me feel a lot better. The staff in question seem to think that we should just cover up any mistakes so no one gets in trouble but it's my registration on the line if/when it gets found out.