Medication Error With No Harm: File an Incident Report

Quality Improvement & Incident Reporting · Question from the ATI RN Leadership 2023 Proctored Exam study set

Correct answer: File an incident report

Why this is the answer

Any medication error, regardless of outcome, requires an incident/occurrence report for hospital quality improvement and safety tracking.

The bigger concept

The incident (occurrence) report exists for quality improvement, not punishment, and the exam loves the trap that an unharmed patient means nothing needs to happen. Every medication error, fall, and near-miss is reported so the facility can find system causes — look-alike packaging, interruptions, unclear orders — before the next patient is hurt. The report is a confidential quality document: do not reference it in the chart. Document only the objective facts of what was given and the patient's response, and notify the provider.

Related Quality Improvement & Incident Reporting practice questions

• Not Documenting a No-Harm Medication Error: Veracity
• Staying Silent About a Doctor's Mistake: Non-Maleficence
• Leaving Against Medical Advice (AMA): Nurse's Role
• Giving a Medication the Patient Refused: Battery
• Unjustified Restraint: False Imprisonment

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