Ethical dilemma

You are the Chief Nursing Officer of a regional acute care facility in the Midwest. You have just been notified that one of your senior nurses with 16 years of experience provided a 2-year-old with the incorrect medication causing the child’s death. The parents of the child are non-English speaking immigrants unfamiliar with American law. What action are you going to take?Upon learning that a medication error occurred resulting in a child’s death, the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of a regional acute care facility held a press conference to announce the mistake. The conference centered on reporter questions about why the nurse was not fired. The CNO explained that the nurse was highly regarded and that the problem was a “system” problem, not simply a problem of an incompetent nurse. The CNO also explained that an examination of the medication administration procedures was ordered and that an electronic medication error avoidance system would be implemented to ensure that such an error would not happen again.